Not Much

Not much new to report here.
Hiking, coaching, hiking, eating yogurt, coaching, hiking, drinking beer, coaching, hiking, drinking espresso, hiking, coaching, eating yogurt. 
-exercise
-calcium for my healing bones
-making money
-helping people reach their cycling goals
-drinking yummy stuff

Now, off to Fruita!  Alas...not for the sweet mtn biking that is there but for the hiking and friends that are there.  I may mix things up a bit while I'm there-
hiking, drinking lattes, hiking, hiking, hiking, drinking margaritas, hiking, eating chips.

Random Stuff

When I returned home from the hospital, almost 2 weeks ago, there were a few things that were funny.  Mostly it was my own body.  Weird stuff happens to you when you have surgery, are on IV antibiotics for 4 days, and mix it all with pain killers.
#1- my body functions were all off
#2- espresso didn't taste as good as usual
#3- Lucy dog smelled like a skunk

He Who Must Not Be Named suggested all the antibiotics in my system were messing with my sense of smell.  I'd never heard of the that, but he's usually right about everything so off to Pharmica I went.  Sure enough, the nice lady said "Yes, antibiotics can mess with your sense of smell and taste". She convinced me to buy expensive Probiotics and I'm happy to say Lucy Dog now smells good as ever, and espresso is YUMMY!!  Not to mention my body feels like it is "working" properly now.  Maybe better than it was before all this happened.

On another note, some good things have come from my injury.
#1- I get to hike and hang out with people I wouldn't usually get to see due to bike riding and racing. (pictures below)
#2- one of the girls' who crashed with me in the crit also broke her elbow and we are now injury friends.
#3- I no longer have any kind of saddle sores or weird tan lines
#4- CrossPropz supplies me with a few of life's needs (last picture)
#5- I've gotten to spend time with family

People are wondering if I am riding the trainer yet, or when I'll "be back".  The answers are "no" and "not for a long time".  For now, it's hiking, walking, Pilates, and friends.

Injured at Home

Home.  I love home.  Though, now I'm home with a broken arm.  Honestly, it's not that bad.  The only thing I can't do with my busted wing is make espresso from the la Pavoni.  So, every morning, I get espresso made for me.  Yummy.

 Since being home, my family and friends have been so thoughtful and supportive of my injury.  Friends and family have visited me, run errands for me, made me dinners, put my hair in numerous pony tails, taken me out for coffee, hiked with me, sent me an edible bouquet of fruit, etc.  The list goes on and on and I really feel loved and cared for.  I'm so appreciative of all that has been done for me.

 On Tuesday, I went to the doctor for a follow up visit.  They took x-rays and said all looks good.  Here you can see the staples.

 They took my cast off and sent me home with a sweet new removable split that I will be in for the next 5 weeks.  This cast, gigantic as it felt, was only 1.3 lbs.

 Once the cast was off, and I saw my arm, it hit me.  Oh fuck, I'm injured.  And injured BAD.  I cried for the first time about the sadness of it all.  Poor arm, poor body. I just put another big scar on it.  I have shit loads of PT ahead of me, and I will not be riding my bike outside until at least June.

 2 days later, it snowed, my Mom visited me, and I, for the first time, took the bus from Nederland to FasCat.  All this has made me happy again, and I feel lucky to have what I do and to be able to the things I am doing now: walking, hiking, coaching, laughing and being loved.

 And playing with dogs who get to play in the snow (who then bring " fur snow balls" into the house to melt all over the floor).

Hospital

 Not long after my last post, I crashed in the crit and went to the hospital. After a lot of waiting, and finally some x-rays, it was determined I had a broken Olecranon and humerus. Surgery was scheduled for the next day.

Wrapping me up in the ER. Finally something that felt good to my arm.

The welcome note in my room.

 My first dinner and my last meal before surgery.

 What they did to me in surgery

 My post surgery dinner.

 The next day, my teammies came to visit me. I liked that very much.

 Dinner that night was much improved.

 On Tuesday, I was feeling well enough to go for walk and get outside.  Boss  Lady Lisa, stayed in Redlands to take care of me.  She took me outside. Then we arm wrestled.

 The last few days of my hospital stay, I didn't take any pictures.  I was tired of being there with an IV in my arm. I stopped taking pain medicine- because my arm was feeling good- but then my entire body started to hurt. I had road rash, muscle pain and tightness from the crash, and my back had had enough of the hospital bed.

Finally, on Wednesday, after 4 days, I got to leave the hospital. Super Awesome Serena, picked me up and took me straight to Mexican for dinner. YUM

Kitty welcomed me to the host house.  Home the next day!

Behind the Scenes

Stage racing is more than just racing.  There's a lot that happens that has nothing to do with the actual racing.  It's as easy as this-there are 24hrs in a day and our longest races are 4 hrs-max.  That leaves us with 20 hrs of "other" stuff to do.

This "other" stuff varies depending on how hard the racing is day to day, and where the races are.
For example, if the start and finish are one hour away from our host house, that uses up an extra 2 hrs.  If the racing is hard day after day, most of that "other" stuff is done laying around in bed with a water bottle by your side.

Our race today is a Criterium at 2:30.  The start is 10 minutes away, by bike.  That means we have no travel time, and only 1 hr of racing.  So, pretty much, we have a "free" day today.

It felt good to sleep in, enjoy coffee and breakfast and be a little mellow.  At 9am, my teammies and I went for a chill ride around the "Sunset Loop". 

We ended at the coffee shop for post ride espresso and goodies. Though I love espresso and coffee shops, I don't enjoy the "scene" of bikes and bike racers (I know, that's weird). I rode home with a few teammies who don't drink coffee (which is also weird).

Drop off bike to mechanic
Get a car ride to host house
Eat lunch #1
Computer - which is what I'm doing now.

We've got a few more hours of free time before it's time to chamois up (again) and get to racing.

I've been VERY spoiled by my teammies in the other house, as they have been cooking dinner every night. It's GOOD dinner.  Though, tonight's dinner is Chipotle- give them a night off from cooking.

Tomorrow is one of the hardest races of the year. Sunset.  Despite the pain and suffering it brings, I look forward it to every year.