Making Progress

So I spent Sunday and most of Monday doing pretty much nothing, unless you count trying to grow new bone as something. It wasn't that there wasn't anything to do, either. I would have liked to make it over to the Bayou Boogaloo on Saturday, which would have involved a visit to Bayou Bicycles, but I reluctantly had to pass. The problem was that it was classic summer weather, which is to say that it was oppressively hot and unbearably humid for normal folks. Not being particularly normal, that wouldn't ordinarily have stopped me, but I have recently learned that staying out in the summer heat while wearing a Velcro vest is just plain miserable. Add to that the fact that I would have had to drive the car to something that I would ordinarily ride a bike to, and it was just too much. So I languished on the couch watching the Star Trek marathon on TV, eating oatmeal cookies, listening to the drone of the air-conditioner and looking forlornly out the window. I did take a short "work break" to replace the broken spring hinges on the porch screen door, but that was about it.

I had a followup appointment with the orthopedist at TISM Monday afternoon, and the news was fairly encouraging. The collarbone is making progress and coming along nicely. I really wish I'd brought the camera so I could have gotten a shot of the new improved x-ray. It looks like surgery will definitely be avoided and I was told I could start "weaning" myself off of the brace I've been wearing for the last three weeks. As long as I don't do anything stupid, like fall off of a bike, I can start ramping up the use of that arm and shoulder as much as my pain tolerance permits, which right now is just a little bit below the top of my head. I even got a reasonable amount of sleep last night despite the broken ribs that hurt every time I lie down. In fact, this morning I even rode the trainer for an hour without the brace, which made it a whole lot cooler. I guess it would be more accurate to say it was a lot less incredibly hot, because somehow the word "cool" doesn't quite apply here. It was still plenty boring and not entirely pain-free, but it was a significantly cooler kind of boring. Anyway, the timing is working out pretty well because I will be driving up to Iowa City again on Thursday. The Daughter is having some fairly major knee surgery on Friday, so we're going up there for about a week, and yes I'm bringing my bike. At the very least, I should be able to use her trainer, since it's a given that she won't be needing it until she gets into rehab mode. I might even try a little spin around the neighborhood if everything feels OK just to see if I can still ride a bike. They say you never forget..... We'll see. The weekend after I get back I plan on going up to Natchez to help officiate the LAMBRA Road Championships since our head official, Shane, won't be able to make it this year.

The Tour de Louisiane is coming up quickly too, and we've had a flurry of emails this morning about those plans. Keith is trying for a slightly modified criterium course that would start and finish at the new Covington Tammany Trace Trailhead (conveniently located across the street from a microbrewery, I think). Of course, much will depend on Covington city officials, but if we can get it, we'll have improved road surfaces for most, if not all, of the course. BTW, if you look at the little video slide show on the Covington website you'll see a shot from the Tour de La criterium. Anyway, I have work to do and my collarbone is achy, so peace out, y'all.