Getting Back on the Horse

It's been almost 5 weeks since the big crash and I continue to slowly improve. I started getting itchy to get back on my bike, mainly because riding the bus was getting tedious. Biking to work takes 25-30 minutes each way. Riding the bus takes an hour including the walking on each end.

Seattle is enjoying its typical Indian Summer. We often have beautiful weather for at least the first three weeks of the month before the rainy season (which lasts until July) begins. Sometimes the nice weather lasts into October.

Anyway, today is a gorgeous day and I felt pretty decent so I got out my bike and rode to work. It worked out great. Not much pain, just lots of paranoia. My friend and neighbor Jason gave me an escort.

Unfortunately, my good bike was terminally damaged in the crash. So it's back to my steel Lemond until I can afford to buy a new frame. May the Kestrel rest in peace - it was a great bike.

It's nice to be back in the saddle. Don't worry, I'm taking it easy.

'End of Summer' Vacation

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Carol and the girls spent the week before Labor Day in Richland with Carol's parents. As usual, the girls had a fantastic time.

There is a small playground within walking distance of Dennis and Mary's house and a large playground a short drive away. Both are on the river bank. The smaller playground has a small sand beach as well and the girls spent a fair bit of time in the water. Carol was so relaxed she didn't even bring a camera with her but she used her camera phone to get one good shot of Audrey lounging on the boat.

Speaking of the boat, the girls went out on it for the first time. They've always been afraid of the noise. But Carol worked on them psychologically for a few days and eventually they both agreed to go. Carol had purchased life jackets that had cartoon characters on them - that was part of the attraction of the boat was they got to wear their cool new life jackets.

They ended up crossing the Columbia from the launch near home, to a beach that is usually empty. The girls got to swim more there. Audrey got to play with the boat controls a little too, with Grandpa's supervision.

The girls never want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's "river house". Audrey kept asking if they were going to still be there the next day.

Our friends and neighbors Jason and Pam had invited us to spend Labor Day weekend with them at Pam's family cabin at Loon Lake near Spokane. On Saturday I rode over with them while Carol drove up from Richland to meet us at the cabin. I was really missing my family and looking forward to seeing them after being home alone all week.

The Allen family cabin was built right after World War II so it's more than 60 years old. It's a classic lake cabin. It has three bedrooms and two comfy living rooms, plus a decent kitchen. It has a great beach and dock. They are currently building a shed/bunkhouse. Jason roofed it while we were there.

Jason and Pam's son Alexander just turned six and he and Audrey get along well. They had fun playing together all three days, and Charlotte joined in some of the time. There are bunk beds in the kids' bedroom. Our girls both love bunk beds.

The weather was cooler than normal - around 70 for a high each day. The water temperature was probably in the 60s or low 70s. Audrey really wanted to go swimming regardless and showed us all what a fish she is. She swam twice every day. She'd stay in until she was mildly hypothermic. Then she'd get out and I'd wrap her up in a big towel and hold her on my lap and rub her limbs until she stopped shivering. She liked the sound of her teeth chattering. Alexander joined her a few times. So did Jason a couple of times while he was practicing swimming in his triathlon wetsuit. He said he was cold even with the suit.

I was happy to indulge Audrey's desire to swim even though everyone thought she was crazy. I hated cold water when I was a kid (well, I still do!) and I love the fact that she doesn't seem to even notice it. When entering the water she wasn't at all ginger - she just plowed right in every time.

We stayed until Tuesday morning and then hit the road about 9:30 am. Carol and I decided to return to Seattle via Highway 2 over Stevens Pass instead of the faster route via Interstate 90. Stevens Pass is a lot more scenic. We stopped in Leavenworth for lunch and had a good break from the car. Plus ice cream. Then the final 2 1/2 hour push for home.

We all had a fantastic time, but it was nice to get back home. It was a wonderful way to spend the symbolic end of Summer. Thanks to Jason, Pam and Alexander for their hospitality.

Bike Crash Follow-up

It's been eleven days since my bike crash. I figured I'd write an update on my experience since then.

The ER doctor was right that the worst was yet to come. My crash was on Thursday. Friday the pain started coming on, but Saturday and Sunday were the worst.

I couldn't recline at all. I spent the first three nights sleeping sitting straight up in a chair with pillows supporting me as much as possible. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds and I did actually sleep, but it got old really fast.

The very worst part was sneezing. I sneezed exactly once each day (I remember!). The first time I did it with Audrey in the room it terrified her. There was Dad writhing in pain and unable to breathe. I think those sneezes might have been the absolute most painful thing I have ever felt.

By Monday morning I was feeling a little better and getting slightly more mobile. Sunday night I was able to sleep on my back until about 3am (then back to the chair) and that helped. I was dying to lie down.

I went to work Tuesday through Friday but I was on narcotic pain meds and was completely unproductive. In retrospect, I should have just called in sick all week.

I had a couple of little setbacks. Some days I would gain some range of motion in my arms (i.e. I could use them without too much pain) and that would lead me to do too much. I'd pay for that the next day with more pain.

I went to work today and actually did some work. Went to my doctor at the end of the day for a follow-up to make sure I'm not developing pneumonia - seems like I'm in the clear there. Today I sneezed twice - it's still really painful, but I recover in a minute or so now rather then 5 minutes. Audrey is used to it, too. This morning I sneezed while she was sitting next to me and she barely noticed the writhing.

The girls have been very sweet. They tell me every day that I must be getting better because my owies are smaller. Audrey tells me all the time that she's sorry I fell off my bike and got hurt. She forgot a couple of times and accidentally pulled my arm during the worst of it and then felt really bad. I've told her that I really look forward to being able to pick her up again.

I can now lie on my right side (the injury is on my left side) and on my stomach (for a while) and even on my back if I arrange the pillows to raise my shoulders a little.

I had taken two weeks off the bike after RAMROD on July 31. I had only ridden to work one day before the day of my crash (August 14). I can't see getting back on a bike for at least another week and probably longer. That means about 5-6 weeks of essentially no riding. That's the most contiguous time I've had off my bike in at least 10 years; perhaps as many as 13 years (I started mountain biking seriously in 1995). I'm going to lose a hell of a lot of fitness. C'est la vie. At least so far I've only gained 4 pounds.

Hitting the Pavement

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I had a little accident on my morning commute today. Don't click on the photo album links if you're squeamish.

Since I'll have to tell all my cycling friends about it anyway, I figured I'll just tell the story in a blog post.

On the uphill side of the low-level Spokane St. bridge (3 miles from home) I overtook my coworker Diane on her bike. I slowed and chatted with her to the crest of the bridge, where she told me to go ahead. So I sped up on the downhill side of the bridge. The bridge has a good separated bike path that cyclists use. The bike path then takes a circuitous route that was obviously not designed by someone who had ever ridden a bike since it goes way out of the way to circle under the bridge and then make several right angle turns to cross a couple of branches of an industrial road. Instead, fast riders ride straight at the intersection of the bottom of the bridge, sideways across a wheelchair curb cut and then continuing east on Spokane St. My buddy Jason and I do this every day on our commutes.

I may have been going a little faster today because it was gorgeous out and there were no vehicles around. Regardless, I somehow hit the transition from the sidewalk to the street wrong and lickity split I was going down. I remember tumbling and trying to just go with it. Then I remember what felt like endless pavement going by my eyes really fast. It felt like I would never stop sliding. I was probably going between 25 and 30mph when I crashed.

Obviously the sliding eventually stopped. I was pretty dazed and had the wind knocked out of me. But my first instinct was to get out of the middle of the intersection. I grabbed my bike and dragged it and myself over to the weedy area on the corner. It took a while before I could breathe and even then deep breaths caused stabbing pain.

My coworker Diane was not far behind me when I crashed and she witnessed the whole thing. She reports that I did a couple of "cartwheels". I suspect my front wheel dug into something and I went over the bars. She stopped, very concerned. I told her she should probably call an ambulance. I suspected I had a fairly serious chest injury - maybe broken ribs. My breathing was constricted by pain in the area of my lower rear left lung.

The fire department showed up quickly. The station is just at the west end of the bridge. They checked me out and put some simple dressings on the more obvious wounds. By then I figured I didn't need an ambulance. Diane and the fire crew waited while Carol arranged for the neighbors to watch the girls and came to take me to the hospital. That probably took about 25-30 minutes from the accident.

The ride in the car was kinda painful. Bumps gave me stabbing pains in the back of my lung. But we got to the ER at Swedish Hospital soon enough. I had great care from the ER doc and a technician and nurse. They took chest and elbow X-rays and a urine sample to make sure I didn't have kidney injury. The Tech (Brett, a cyclist who is riding RSVP - Ride Seattle to Vancouver and Party - tomorrow and was disconcerted by having two injured cyclists in the ER at the same time) did a great job cleaning out the deep laceration in my left elbow - it had bits of road embedded in it. They numbed it so I only felt tugging while he was doing it and no pain. Then the doc examined it again and decided not to suture it because it will need to be able to drain freely.

The X-rays showed no broken bones in my chest or elbow. And no kidney injury either.

The crash happened about 8:45. I got home from the ER at 12:40. Lots of waiting in the ER, as usual. Got to listen to a couple of patients with mental problems ranting about various things in adjacent treatment bays. Had a National Geographic that kept me occupied. Plus I used my camera phone to get some photos of the damage before it was treated. I didn't get the scoop on the other injured cyclist I saw walk into the lobby just as I was going back for treatment.

By the time I left the hospital the chest pain was getting worse. We dropped off the painkiller prescriptions at the pharmacy drive-through. It hurts to lie down, so Carol wrestled the glider from the living room downstairs to where the TV is. That's pretty comfortable for me. Carol will have to go back to pick up the prescriptions, but I had some big ibuprofens left over from when I got my dental implant so I took one of those. That made a big difference within about 20 minutes. The doctor tells me the pain is going to be a lot worse tonight and tomorrow and then start to improve, but at the moment I'm having a little pain holiday.

The firemen took my bike back to their station since we didn't have an easy way to carry it without the bike rack on the car. We have to go retrieve it later. I'll have to have it checked out thoroughly by a shop for damage. All I remember is the handlebars are cocked sideways and there is a scrape in the bar tape near the left brake hood.

By the way, I may have been the cause of my own accident. For years, there has been a "temporary" traffic sign post in a 55-gallon drum full of dirt that was positioned very close to the wheelchair ramp I was crossing when I crashed. It was annoying because one had to slow down to avoid it before riding off the sidewalk, and sometimes people would throw road debris in it (like pieces of lumber) that would stick out over the bike path. There hasn't been a sign on the post for ages - just an empty post in a barrel. A month or so ago I stopped on the way home and moved the barrel off into the weeds on the other side of the path. That cleared the way for a faster approach to the sidewalk/street transition. Perhaps I reaped what I sowed today. I'll be taking that transition with a lot more caution in the future. Unfortunately, it sounds like I'm going to be off my bike for a week or two. The doc says this chest injury can take a month or more to feel normal.

At the hospital, Carol noticed some black spots on my fingers. They were little embedded particles of asphalt (the place I crashed was repaved about two months ago). Inspired by having just seen Iron Man, I guess, Carol asked if any superheros were associated with asphalt. We decided I would be Asphalt Man. My superpower is my rough skin - I rub the villains vigorously and give them road rash.

I've been riding a road bike seriously for 10 years now, and commuting year-around for two and a half years. This is only my third spill (one was caused by a car). That doesn't seem like too bad of an average to me.

Birch Bay Vacation

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My parents have had time share vacation memberships for years. Last year we shared a week at Lake Chelan with them, where we go with the girls for the first half of the week, then they come and take the girls for the rest of the week and Carol and I can have a little break. This year they reserved a unit in a brand new facility at Birch Bay on the Washington coast very close to the Canadian border.

Carol and I and the girls drove up Thursday morning. The weather was great on Thursday and Friday. We had fun walking on the beach. Audrey kept asking to go to a playground, so we asked around and were referred to the Million Smiles Playground in nearby Lynden. We headed over there and were well rewarded. The playground was built in 2007 and is the best playground I have ever seen. The girls thought so, too.

Charlotte loves any playground that has "baby swings". She'll swing on a regular swing, but she prefers the security of the "bucket" seat.

The playground had a lot more for Audrey. It had monkey bars and rings that were the perfect height for her - when she was hanging her feet were only a few inches off the ground. That made all the difference and Audrey mastered several new skills at the park. She went hand over hand on both the monkey bars and the rings for the first time. She was very proud and would ask anyone she encountered to watch her perform her new tricks. She also went down a fireman's pole for the first time and loved it.

Her favorite part was a high tower with a sort of clubhouse on the top (with crooked windows). Inside the tower was a long spiral tube slide. And to get to the slide there are winding narrow steps inside the tower that are maze-like. The slide is pitch black most of the way. Audrey loved it. She must have gone up that tower and down that slide at least a hundred times in our three visits to the playground.

We also had a good time at Birch Bay State Park about a mile from our condo. There were a couple of large driftwood trees with root systems that the girls had a blast climbing on.

On Sunday afternoon my parents arrived and we were all there that night. Carol and I had an adventurous night with Charlotte being a little sick and both girls being disoriented when they woke up in the night and came across musical beds (my parents were in what had been Carol and my room, we were on the sofa bed). We didn't get much sleep but we had to laugh about the ridiculousness of it all.

Monday Carol and I packed up and left the girls with their grandparents. Aunt Betsy (my sister Elizabeth) was also going to join them Monday night. Carol and I headed for Vancouver, BC for the day. We hadn't been there in years, and we are friends with a couple who moved there from Seattle a few years ago so we wanted to visit them. We had a nice day sightseeing and then met Matt at his coffee shop for a couple of hours. The border crossing was uncomplicated and quick both directions which was a bonus. Before border security was increased one used to be able to drive into Canada and back with no hassle at all, but these days there is almost always a long wait at least coming back. We were lucky. And we had very little traffic all the way back to Seattle, where we stayed up until 2:00 AM watching the Olympics.

I had one more day of vacation scheduled today. I worked in the back yard preparing for the alley fence. Carol got a bunch of work done for the pre-school. It was so easy getting projects done when it was just us! Then at 4:00 we went to see Iron Man at the local cheap second-run movie house we can walk to from home. And now more Olympics. A very nice last day of a very enjoyable vacation. Back to work tomorrow, so I'd better not stay up until 2:00 AM tonight.