ON THE MEND

Although my raccoon eyes would indicate otherwise, I feel pretty good, all things considered. Thank all of you for your prayers, concern, and words of encouragement. I know my family and friends care a great deal about my well being, and I appreciate that.

Reactions to my accident were varied and very interesting. Remarks ranged from "been there, done that" from fellow cyclists, to "I guess you'll give up mountain biking now", to "well, you know, you're not in your twenties any more", to advice on how to properly complete a jump. I have been very tactful in my responses, but had to bite my tongue listening to many because I know they were made out of concern for my well being.

For those who asked if I would give up mountain biking, my response would be "have you ever been in a car accident? Did you quit driving as a result?"

For those who said "you're not in your twenties any more", I would ask "what does age have to do with it?" It would be different if I was trying to do tricks like BMX or extreme bikers, but I wasn't. It would be different if I was racing against men half my age, but I don't.

Bottom line is, I enjoy mountain biking because it is good exercise and a good stress reliever. I don't look for opportunities to injure myself; in fact I am very careful most of the time. Obviously the two times I've been injured seriously, I wasn't as aware of my surroundings as I should have been. But I learn from my mistakes.

In reality, I am more fearful for my life every time I get in my truck to drive to work. With all the road rage, lunatics, drunk drivers, etc. on the road, the odds of me being in an auto accident are very high every time I leave the driveway.

With mountain biking, I am in control of the situation as long as I am aware of my surroundings. If I come to a technical part of the trail, I can always walk my bike or turn around; I do both regularly. I never ride without a helmet, I have a GPS, cell phone, first aid kit, whistle, etc, in my back pack at all times.

The trails I ride are usually within 100 to 200 yards of people's houses and are well traveled by bikers and hikers alike. I am actually very conservative when I ride, taking precautions while doing so. That doesn't mean I don't occasionally spaz out and forget to pay close attention to my surroundings, but with every ride I learn more. Just as I have learned from this latest miscue.

I feel safer riding trails than I would riding road bikes. I would much rather take my chances against rocks and roots, than a 2 ton car or truck. Again, you are not in control of others' actions.

I realize that I could easily get my exercise riding a stationary bike or lifting weights, but what fun is that? I like being outside, seeing new trails, and challenging myself. If you are a gym rat and like doing that stuff, more power to you. I would never ask you to mountain bike instead; different strokes.

I can't say enough about how Mel has handled this whole ordeal. It would have been very easy for her to berate or lecture me, or ask me to give up biking, but she didn't. She voiced her concern, but didn't do so in a condescending manner. She understands how important it is to me and realizes it was an accident. She knows I have learned from it.

Interestingly enough, the ER nurse, ER doctor, my own personal doctor, and my dentist, are all mountain bikers. In fact, when my GP examined me on Monday, he asked me "what would you differently on that trail? What did you learn?" He gets it. No condescending remarks, no judgment.

Again, thank you to all who expressed concern and gave words of encouragement. I know you care and have good intentions; I love you for it. Now if I can just figure out how to milk another week's worth of neck rubs from Mel....

I'D RATHER FIGHT THAN SWITCH!

Remember the old Lucky Strike cigarette ads where you'd see a picture of someone with a black eye, saying "I'd rather fight than switch"? I felt like that today.

Yesterday I mentioned the swelling on my forehead and bridge of my nose; today it turned into a black eye. According to the doctor, the blood from the contusion on my forehead seeped into the area around my eye, causing a horrible looking black eye.

It isn't painful, just bothersome because it almost was almost swollen shut last night. At least I could see better today, but it still looked awful. After lunch I came home to ice down my face and neck and the bruising started creeping to my other eye. What a sight!

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the Orthopedist, to look at my wrist fracture. I hope he doesn't put me in a hard cast; that's a pain in the butt!

I hope your week is going better than mine...Big Dog out!

JOB WELL DONE

After Sunday's accident, I've been EXTREMELY sore and beat up, but I was able to work half days the last two days. My neck and back started hurting quite a bit late this morning, so I came home after lunch.

I ate, then took one of my little yellow muscle relaxers and took a nap. Imagine my surprise when I looked in the mirror and saw "Cat Man" staring back at me. It seems that swelling is a possible side-effect/allergic reaction to my medication, so it looks like I'll have to stick with Ibuprofen from now on, unless I go to a Trekkie convention as a Klingon!

My helmet performed as designed, taking the brunt of my fall. I took it outside to check it out in good light and decided to snap some pics of the damage. Pretty cheap insurance policy wouldn't you say? The outside is flattened and inside it cracked in numerous places. Job well done!

I'M ON THE DL FOR A FEW WEEKS

The diagnosis from the ER read "SPRAINED NECK AND BACK; FRACTURED WRIST". If I hadn't worn my helmet, my injuries would have been much worse.

The ride started as many before; beautiful day, windy but bearable. I went to Salado Creek Greenway since I hadn't ridden there in a month or so. The ride itself was pretty uneventful. I rode to Loop 1604, took a GU break, then started my return to the truck.

My downfall was taking a more technical section of the trail that I was not familiar with. At one point, I took a fork to the left instead of to the right, and within seconds I found myself at a 3 foot ledge drop off with no time to stop.

Instinctively, I tried to lift the front wheel as I went airborne, but the drop was too steep and I wound up flying over the handlebars and landing on my head, compressing my neck and spine. I never lost consciousness, but it did take me several seconds to gain composure and make sure my extremities could move.

My chest felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, as it was painful to breathe too deeply. I checked for cuts and gashes, but found none too severe. The impact had knocked my Camelbak off and scattered some of my stuff in the creek bed bottom. I sat up, gathered my things into my backpack and tried to stand.

I wasn't dizzy, as should be expected with a concussion, so I mounted my bike to try and ride back to the truck. My bike wouldn't move. Upon close inspection, I damaged my rear hanger and the chain was frozen. My only choice was to hike the 2+ miles back to the truck.

I started walking the bike down the trail, trying to think of additional symptoms of concussion: dizziness, nausea, loss of memory, loss of consciousness; none of which I experienced. I remembered that Mel usually went to the grocery store when I ride, so I started thinking about making the dreaded call to tell her I was hurt.

I had already decided that I was going to the Emergency Room to get checked out. Matt had experienced a less severe fall a few years ago while riding with me and he wound up with a mild concussion. I needed to catch Mel before she left for the grocery store, without causing her to panic.

Cell phone in hand, I waited for her to answer.

"Hello"
"Hey, are you at HEB yet?"
"No, I was getting ready to leave. WHY?"
"You might want to wait until I get there so you can take me to the Emergency Room."
"What happened?" (Tension apparent in her voice)
"I fell"
"Where are you?"
"Halfway back, but I have to walk cause the bike is messed up."
"Should I come get you?"
"No, I think I can make it home ok."

A second call later and she convinced me to let her come to the trail head and get me. After loading my bike in the back of her car, we left. After almost 5 hours in the ER and countless x-rays later, we were on our way home.

I made it through the night with the prescribed "happy pills"; I wouldn't have made it without, as the pain is worse than I've had in a while. I'm going to make an appointment with an Orthopedist to give me an opinion on my fractured wrist, as it's in a cast right now. The ER doctor estimated that I will be off my bike for several weeks, so I guess I'm relegated to the stationary bike until then.

Lessons learned: ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET; I think my filled Camelbak probably helped absorb some of the impact too; let your loved ones know where you'll be; and slow down if you are on unfamiliar trails.

Until next time - One Armed Big Dog out!

STAMINA AND ENDURANCE LOST?

Most of the time, this title would signify an upcoming Viagra commercial; not today. After a three week layoff from biking, I headed out to Op Schnabel for a Sunday morning ride. Although a bit chilly, the sun was shining brightly and it was a beautiful morning.


In the past, if I missed two consecutive weeks without riding, I would be very out of shape and get winded quickly, requiring many breaks throughout the ride. To say I'm still in good riding shape would be a stretch, because any of you who know me, know the words "good shape" and "Mike" are not usually used in the same sentence.


I rode a respectable 10.5 miles for an hour and a half, so I was pleased. The trails were gorgeous, having blossomed into color with the recent rains. There was more wildlife than usual, as I saw several deer, a couple of rabbits, robins, and a SKUNK. Fortunately, the skunk appeared towards the end of my ride, so I just rode in the opposite direction back to my truck.


I met a nice biker named Ralph, who said he owns Guadalupe River Cycle and Fitness. It is a very nice cabin on the north side of Canyon Lake on the Guadalupe River. Check out his website link in case you're thinking of vacationing in this area this summer. http://guadaluperivercycleandfitness.com/aboutus.aspx


I was astounded by the number of idiots riding bikes on the trails without helmets! I don't understand why people do that. Obviously they are not experienced riders, as we have all fallen several times and know how important a helmet is for safety reasons. It's not just kids either; there were a few adults riding sans helmet. Don't even get me started on motorcyclists who ride helmet less.


After a quick shower and lunch, and I settled into my recliner for an afternoon of being a couch potato. I watched as Tiger Woods came from 5 shots down to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament on the last hole as the sun had set. This was his second tournament since having knee surgery a few months ago. That guy is INCREDIBLE!



The announcers were detailing his daily work routine/schedule. He gets up every morning and works out for an hour and a half before breakfast, then he heads to the golf course to practice his shots, then plays nine holes of golf before eating lunch. Then he heads back out to practice more shots, work on his short game, then play another nine holes of golf before finishing up around 6:30 PM at night! He works HARD to be as good as he is. He deserves everything he gets!


What a nice, relaxing weekend. Things are getting really hectic at work, so every bit of relaxing and stress relief I can do, the better! Have a great week!

SPRING BREAK 2009

I've been rather inactive the last couple of weeks in regards to my bike riding. Last week was too wet and the weekend before, I had a very uneasy feeling about riding, so I didn't.

Matt came to San Antonio last Saturday to spend Spring Break with us. Stefanie, Rigo, and Aiden also came down last weekend, so we had a house full Saturday night and Sunday morning. Matt and I left for Port Aransas Monday morning, arriving around 1 PM.



By 2, we had unloaded the truck at the hotel, stopped to buy bait and a parking permit, and were on the beach. As we drove through town, we couldn't understand why there weren't that many people on the streets. When we hit the beach, we realized why; there were wall to wall people for miles!



We didn't think we'd have a snowball's chance in hell of finding a spot to park and fish, but we persevered and eventually found one. We unloaded and rigged up and soon were wading into the surf. THE WATER WAS COLD! We only caught a couple of croakers and left around 5:30.



After a quick shower, change of clothes, a couple of beers and shots of tequila, we headed to Castaways in Port Aransas; one of my favorite restaurants to celebrate Matt's birthday. After dinner, we drove around town and wound up at Sharkey's to shoot some pool and play Foosball.



Tuesday, we awoke to a dense fog and chilly temperatures. After breakfast at Taqueria San Juan (awesome Mexican omelets), we ventured to the beach to find a spot to park and fish. We wound up catching a few fish that morning, but nothing more after lunch, except a Sting Ray that Matt caught. We packed up around 4 since too many young kids were tripping over our lines and we didn't want any accidents.








Tuesday we had wings and beers at Port Aransas Brewing Company; a micro-brewery on the island. After sampling a few of their most popular, we settled on a nice full bodied Bock. After dinner, we again went to Sharkey's for pool & Foosball.

After breakfast (again at San Juan's), we hit the road for our return home. We both had a great time and I was extremely pleased and honored that Matt decided to spend his 21st birthday with me! We made some great memories and look forward to doing it again as soon as we can.




Yesterday I had to get another tooth pulled as I was in quite a bit of pain during the entire trip. I had been putting it off in hopes that the pain would subside, but it didn't. Now I can look forward to paying for TWO dental implants later this year (ouch; in more ways than one).

I feel better today, so Mel and I are off to run some errands and buy groceries. We are both off today, so we can spend the rest of my vacation relaxing and enjoying each other's company. I am TRULY blessed.

I hope to feel strong enough to ride this Sunday, but we'll see. Until next time, Big Dog out!

FREAKIN' COLD!

The shining sun and cloudless sky were deceiving when I went outside to get the paper this morning. In fact, it was quite nippy. I drank my coffee and read the paper before I started getting my gear ready for my ride.

I decided to check the weather website and saw that the windchill was 33 degrees! Shit! Now I know Juanita and her bunch probably think 33 degrees is short sleeve, shorts, and chancla weather, but not those of us in South Texas!

I layered on three riding shirts to brace for the cold, starting with my thermal undershirt, a long sleeve wicking shirt, then topped it off with my Marin jersey. As I opened the garage door, a blast of wind hit me and almost made me change my mind and climb back in bed with Mel. As tempting as that sounded, I knew I had to ride - missed opportunities, you know.

I had already decided to ride the Salado Creek Greenbelt trail, having ridden Madrone last week and not wanting to ride OP Schnabel because they were having some sort of race or event and I knew it would be crawling with riders. So, Salado Creek it was.

As I was unloading my gear at the trail head, another biker drove up and we struck up a conversation. Turns out he was supposed to meet some buddies for a ride, but it appeared they stood him up, so I asked him if he wanted to ride with me.

He said he moved here from Austin, which I soon found out meant he could ride! I had flashbacks of riding with Bert when he used to leave me in his dust on the trails. It was almost as bad today. Although this guy hadn't ridden much the last 8 years because of back problems, it was very apparent that he was in great shape.

I did my best to keep up without passing out and embarrassing myself. Considering he appeared to be in his mid 30s (maybe), I held my own as best I could. After riding about an hour, he started heading back to the trail head. We stopped and I told him I was going to ride some more, so we exchanged thanks for the ride and went our separate ways.

All in all, I rode 13 miles in a little over 2.5 hours. Because he showed me trails I hadn't ridden before, which were more technical in nature than the main trails, I am BEAT! By the time I reached my truck, my quads were cramping during climbs and I was spent.

I got home, showered, ate, then hit the recliner for a quick nap. In fact, it felt so good, I think I'm headed back to the recliner now for a repeat performance! Hope you all have a great week! Until next time, Big Dog out...