The Crash and The Journey Back

Last Saturday: MTB on the GW and Roads again - Honestly it was fun - went to Kennedy Park again then meandered my way to Lick Run GW at Countryside Park. Kennedy Park is peaceful with several paved sidewalks that you can ride back and forth (up and down slightly). Last Sunday: Hiking on Mill Mountain - started on Ivy Road, went up the old road to Big Sunny (Car Trail) to the neighborhood, back down to Crystal Spring Trail - it was fun - the old road was tiring as it's all up hill.  Big Sunny was ok except I had forgot what a muddy mess it gets on the one spot under the power line and of course it's a steep little Pitch.  I made it carefully!  The trail itself weirded me out in a few places which is stupid because I have ridden it hundreds of times.  I guess my perspective is much different now.  Walking back down through the neighborhood wasn't too bad.  My quads tend to not like downhills, but we made it.  Crystal Spring is a mostly flat trail so ...

This from the day at the park Along the greenway at the park At the park Recumbent! 15 inch snow storm delayed my return to riding.... must have been that "cold day in hell" FIRST RIDE!!!

Going back to work - I went back to work on July 23rd despite the anxiety my doctor had.  He honestly did not want me back at work until I was able to put both feet on the floor and I wasn't quite there yet.  I was however bored, tired of sitting around and in need of earning a living.  I also was going back to work to a new job.  :)  Though I thought that would never happen when I wrecked; I was able to interview (two times) for the new gig after my second surgery.  I never would have thought going back to work would pull at my emotions either.  I've now worked at the VA 3 years, and had said many times when I went there that I didn't want to form bonds with people.  I had my heart broken too many times with circumstances in the past and just wanted to go to work and do that work.  Well as it turns out, I guess I have made quite an impact on people (those I work directly with or indirectly).  I had so many people (even ones I don't kn...

Let me pause with Goals and Milestones and take you back to the best day of my convalescence.  Paula S. is one of the best friends I have.  She and I met about 12-14 years ago (really, that long ago?) on a bike ride that she was the leader of.  I was new to riding and she was very experienced.  For some reason I kept going back to the ride - probably because I loved riding.  Over the years the Chicky Ride as we called it fizzled out.  Few others would come and it often wound up being just me and Paula.  Occasionally her husband, Warren would come along or ride nearby.  The three of us were on the same mountainbike team.  Paula and I have been friends through many different jobs, schedules, bikes, injuries, illnesses, etc. We just enjoy riding together and there's no judging; we pretty much can agree on what routes to take most of the time.  One cool thing about them is their house is at the bottom of a trail, so we can meet at her house ...

Aside from sitting in a recliner and watching TV, I didn't do much for the summer of 2018 other than an outing every now and then or MD appointments.  Some milestones were: Putting on my own socks and shoes - as trivial as this sounds, it was damn near impossible to do.  I discovered that I truly loved and understood why the OT gave me a sock tool.  I still use it some mornings now when I'm stiff.  My left foot stayed so swollen that often times I couldn't get my shoe on and if I did, I couldn't reach my foot to tie it.  There's a lot of limitations following a hip fracture. Shower by self - I have a great Mom - for weeks, she would not let me even attempt being in the bathroom alone - no balance, blood thinners, only using one leg made the most dangerous room in a home more so for me.  Eventually I snuck off into the bathroom and did my solo shower (sitting on transfer bench of course). Sleep in a bed!!!!   I think it was late July or even Augu...

It's funny how every January, just about every human decides on resolutions or goals for the upcoming year.  Like many others, I too had selected my 2018 goals.  It was to ride a century (that's riding 100 miles on bike, for the non-riding readers) and both days of the Shenandoah Fall Foliage Tour with my long ride being on Sunday and possibly as long as a Century.  I worked hard last winter riding Zwift or going outside and riding an hour per ride (on weeknights; longer rides on the weekends).  I spent a lot of time cruising the roads near my house and riding up and down hills.  I was having a good spring, setting PR's on segments on Strava and thoroughly enjoying my abilities.  I had ridden almost 1200 miles between January and April and had built a pretty good base fitness for road rides. I had previously ridden a century back in 2013 - Backroads Century - Berryville Edition .  It was a blast and beautiful roads.  There is just something abo...

I have some very good friends.  Amy K. and Sunny K. were my coworkers in the AR Dept at CRMH.  We had an absolute blast in that department.  I truly miss them!    Amy had come to see me early in my stay and brought a bag of my favorite snacks along with a gift card for my parents.  Sunny finished up her nursing shift one night then came and sat with me a while.  The 2nd night Sunny and Eric (her husband also a nurse) came by to visit I was asleep so I awoke to find Kermit and a balloon.  Kermit has become a daily part of my life.  If you've seen my Facebook page, you've seen it.  The balloon became the "blocker" for the unit of blood that I would get on Friday. The downfall of two major orthopedic surgeries in the span of three weeks plus blood thinners and blood loss in the OR was causing me to become anemic.  My H&H (red blood cell count) kept trending downward.  As a result I was feeling pretty poorly.  Friday m...