Completely Personal...

A goodly number of my children and their families were here in the valley yesterday for one reason or another. And we invited them all to be here with us for dinner (11 adults and four children).

All I can say is what joy I have to see all my children doing well and loving their own families. There is no greater joy.

On a cycling note, and as I posted before, I had x-rays taken, from head to hip, just to make sure I did not break anything from my crash. Apparently I did not. The doctor says no broken bones. I am, however, now very black and blue on my left side where I landed during the spill. And my neck and upper back are still very stiff.

My wife and I did go out cycling yesterday morning. We didn't get out until around 7:30. The temperature was 87 when we left and 93 when we got home. We only went a little over 12 miles. And no, I was not on the bike. I was on the trike. It was nice being back on the trike, and, maybe, the two weeks or so of two-wheeling helped. I didn't feel too winded and was able to keep up with a 14 to 16 mph pace (although our average overall was between 12 and 13 mph).

When I am completely healed (in that, it does not hurt to lay on my left side), I will entertain riding the bike again. I don't want to do so before the pain is all gone... just in case I fall on that side again...!

And the Doctor Said: "No more monkeys jumping on the bed..."

I went to the doctor's today to have the bumps, bruises, scrapes, and pains checked out. He didn't think that anything was broken, but sent me across the street to the local imaging center to have a full set of x-rays taken -- from my head on down to my hips. He should know by sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, he told me to take it easy and keep the weight off of my hip.

And he definitely said NO cycling for the next little while.

One Nasty Fall or Revenge of the Trike

My children, a couple of Christmases ago, gave me a "walker" as a gift after they realized I was serious about getting into cycling. I enlarged the note that was attached to the walker. We all had a good laugh... until now...

I have been riding the new bike (two-wheeler) for the past couple of weeks without incident. I did finally get new pedals on it that would allow me to use my regular bike shoes (with clips) that I have been using on my trike. So just last Thursday I went on our short morning ride with my feet clipped in. I had practiced getting my right foot out quickly and did not have any problems with that (the pedal clips are somewhat loose, which for now I thought would be good). As we came to our second stop, I had my right foot out of the clip and was coming to a stop. At the last moment I lost my balance and went down on my left side. OUCH!! I scraped up bloody just under my left knee and hit my hip pretty hard (very sore). The chain had come off, so I had to put it back on. I got back up and off we rode. That day and Friday I was limping about.

Well, Saturday we decided to go on a longer ride (about 30 miles). I decided to wear my sneakers instead of the bike shoes, which turned out to be fortuitous. We had gone about 13 miles up the Indian Bend Wash bike path and were just crossing over a pedestrian bridge over a small street, with my wife in front, when we encountered a jogger going the same way as us. My wife went to the left around him. I started to follow. Unfortunately, the seams in the concrete bike pathway there are quite large and my front tire got caught in one of those seams. It seem to act like a catapult and shot my bike and me sideways (I was now leaning about 45 degrees to my left) through the air. There was nothing I could do but yell "Look out!" My head and back slammed into the back of the jogger. I then fell straight down on my left hip again! DOUBLE OUCH!!!! Thankfully the jogger was a stout young man and was not hurt. Indeed he and another man jogging right there were most concerned about how I was.

Well, I wasn't too well for a few minutes. I think I actually was knocked out for a second or few before sitting up. When I went down, I had hit my head on the hard sidewalk, cracked my poor left hip again, put a new and worse bloody scrape on my left knee (next to the one I got on Thursday), scraped my arm, and cut my lower leg where it collided with my gears. I also wrenched most of the muscles in my shoulders and neck and lower back. I had been going about 15 miles per hour.

After the Good Samaritan joggers (including the one I fell into) were sure I was "ok", they jogged off. The chain had come off my bike, so I had to put it back on (this is a reoccurring theme with this bike, even when I don't fall off of it). The shifters were not quite right, but after playing with them for a bit, I was able to get them working again. Now my hands were black with grease on top of being sore...

We probably should have called one of my sons and had him come pick us up (or we should have at least walked our bikes over to a hospital which was only a couple blocks away), but instead I insisted that we ride home. IT HURT ALL THE WAY HOME.

I am still bandaged up and will likely forego cycling for a few days. And when I do return to riding, I think I'll start on my old friend, the trike.

Trike Heresy

I have bought a bike. Yup, one with two wheels. I wanted to see if I could handle the hills better on a bike (and keep up better with my wife on those hills).

We went to the bike shop and they had a used Fuji Newest 3 there on sale for about $200 to $300 less than new. They also had an instant $50 mark down on top of the sale price. And after I pointed out a rather nasty scratch in the paint, they knocked off another $50. So for an ok, used, first road bike it wasn't too bad. I did upgrade the seat though...


I indeed can power up inclines much better. But I am still getting use to two wheels instead of three.

Just this last Saturday, my wife and I went on a 24 mile ride (with me on the bike). It was a ride we have been on before, and yes, it was different. Some of the inclines were easier, but some, surprisingly, were not. I still need to practice standing up to pedal in the lower gears.

I did replace the pedals with ones that have clips. I tried those out this morning for the first time. I had no problem getting out of the clips. It was getting my "kick off" foot back into the clip that gave me grief. I am expecting it will get better with practice.

We'll give the bike a shot (and maybe even use it in the Tour de Tucson this year). Hopefully my back and seat will stop aching by then...

In the Tucson Desert

No, I didn't fall off a cliff on my trike. Between my last post and this one, my wife and I have become grandparents twice again -- a handsome little boy and a beautiful little girl. And there was my daughter's graduation from nursing school at the U of A. And assorted many other things.

Last February, while my wife and daughter attended a baby shower for our daughter-in-law there in Tucson, my daughter's husband and I went out for a 30+ mile ride around east Tucson (up and around by Saguaro National Monument). Here's the map:


My son-in-law thought that we would be going for about 20 miles, but we miscalculated and ended up going over 30. Even for February, it was a tad bit warm.

I think some of the hills would have been easier on a bike. You just can't stand up and pedal on the trike.