Rainy Days and Mondays

I love Idaho. Yesterday, when I rode to work, it was 91 degrees. Today, it rained all day and never got out of the 50's. July the friggin 13th, and it's 57 degrees! In the deep south, where I grew up, that just never happens. Back there, it gets hot about the end of May, and stays hot until the middle of September, with no breaks. The only relief is when the humidity drops from 80% to 60%. Out here, it's a humid day when the humidity gets above 25%, which rarely happens this time of year.

I plan on riding to work tomorrow. I know that I rode to work yesterday, but it was Sunday, and I only went in to catch up on some paperwork. I didn't have to take a change of clothes. and I didn't go in until 2. Tomorrow will be the real thing, panniers loaded, early start, and , the best part, that ride home. Work, as work tends to be, has been incredibly stressful lately. I have missed that afternoon ride home.

Commuting by Bike

For the first time since March 13, I commuted to work by bicycle. It felt pretty good. It was Jeremiah's and my 4th ride (Jeremiah is the name of my new ACL), and it was a pretty good one. Very little pain, just some pressure behind the knee cap, but that is to be expected. I'm being very careful not to push any big gears at all. It's a little hard to granny gear up all hills, but I'm doing it. I'm also having to make sure I drop it into the small ring at all stops. Starting in too big of gear really hurts.

I'm not to the point where I can ride 2 days in a row, but I'm going to try to ride to work a couple of times this week. We'll see how it goes.

Yep

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Money maker

Since I can't ride or run right now, I have some spare time on my hand. Plus, the only mail that I get these days is medical bills, so I decided to make some extra money by inventing something that the world desperately needs. I now present the Ed CaM.



We have only had one trial run so far.




Order information will be available soon.

What are Friends For?

The following post is dedicated to my ski buddies.

My initial intent of this blog, as I have stated before, was to write about bicycling, in particular, commuting, as well as skiing and other assorted activities. Unfortunately, as you well know, my active life has been interrupted by my knee injury. Now, I know that the best way to get people to continue reading a blog, is to write on it often. However, and trust me on this one, rehab ain't exactly an exciting topic. Let's see, Monday I had 123 degrees of knee flexion, today I had 128 degrees. Today, I stood on one leg (the surgically repaired one) on a soft mat for 2 minutes. Now, that is gripping stuff. I bet you are glued to your lap top.

Things are going pretty good. My rehab has progressed enough that I am able to go to the gym 6 days a week. I alternate between swimming and hamster work (see last post). It's not as much fun as riding, but it is not bad. My evil friend, Rebecca (not her real name), wants me to tell my Doctor that he should allow me to start riding my bike, because my over all health and mental well being is every bit as important as the condition of my knee. I promised Rebecca (I swear that is not her real name) that I would, but that's only because I'm a little, ok, a lot scared of her. But, in the end, I am going to do it by Doctor King's protocol. I am as frustrated as I have ever been with my body, but I am going to do this right. I want my knee to be healthy, I want to climb cave trail on my mountain bike, I want to run a marathon, and next winter, I want to make my ski buddies, Rebecca (I'm not even sure what her real name is) and Banana, suffer, just a little, in the "Sweet Cedars."

A Hamster's Life

Today marks one month since my ACL surgery, and according to Dr King's protocol for post surgery rehab, I can start adding a few things to my routine. So far, I have basically been doing some pretty simple leg exercises, as well as riding an exercise bike, all to increase my range of motion. The only real cardiovascular exercise I have been getting has been the swimming. Today though, four weeks after surgery, I added the Elliptical Machine, and the Treadmill. Woo-hoo!

I have never been much of a gym rat, but if you live in northern Idaho and want to swim more than 4 months of the year, you have to find an indoor pool. So, last fall, I joined the Coeur d'Alene Fitness Center to use their pool. However, now that I am a full on rehab candidate, I will be making full use of all of their facilities, including, for now, the elliptical machine and treadmill, and later the weight machines.

Anywho, as I was mentioning, today I started my new program. I began last night by downloading some appropriate music onto my iPod (Flogging Molly, Kings of Leon, Placebo; fast and loud). Then, today after taking G to the Pain Clinic, I was off to the gym. I started out on the Elliptical Machine. My PT had told me to be careful, that it might take a few minutes to get my balance on it, but I didn't have any problems. So there I was, on my machine, next to a pregnant chic, well... ellipticalling. It kinda simulates..hmm..., nothing that I have ever really done in real life. It's not like walking, or running. Maybe more like frolicking. Yeah, that's it. It's like frolicking on a cloud, or something.

And then that feeling hit. The same feeling I always get on "cardio" machines in a gym. I am a friggin hamster running in my wheel. I am getting nowhere, but I can't not do it. If I don't keep turning my wheel, I'll go crazy, so I just keep going, and going and going. I pay no attention to the other hamsters around me, and they pay no attention to me. We are all going nowhere fast.

I rode(?) the Elliptical for twenty minutes. I figured that would be good for the first time, see how the knee does. I then got on a treadmill and practiced walking. It felt pretty damn good to be walking without by brace, without a limp. About 5 minutes into it, I thought, man this is rehab. I am getting my knee stronger. If I work hard enough, I just might make a comeback. Somewhere, a hamster smiled.

AA

I need help; serious, serious help. I am afraid that I am in deep trouble. As you know, I am unable to ride a bicycle right now. As a result, I seem to be completely obsessed with my bicycles. The end result, is that I have begun to accessorize them. My road bike, the Fuso, now has orange cork handlebar wrap with a matching orange seat bag. Admittedly, it looks pretty good, but I didn't stop there. I bought blue Time pedals for my blue and white Kona mountain bike, and tore the really cool Rasta wrap off the bar ends, and re-wrapped them with matching blue wrap. Oh, my God! What is next? Contrasting tires? A blue handlebar bell? Where will it stop? Help me!