June rides, summer begins

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sheila. All things considered, pretty good. The source of pain has been the severe neck strain and that's gradually diminishing each day as the muscles ease up. They put me on heavy pain meds, but I really hate those things, so I keep use to a minimum. The neck brace is a matter of learning how to deal with all those little things, now that I can't bend or twist my neck or reach for anything above my head. My spirits are good, though. Still kind of overwhelmed with gratitude it wasn't worse. That will never change. As for trying to figure out what I will do with my summer, well, that's just another challenge and I eat those for breakfast. I'm fine.

[Crankin]

You have a great attitude, NWG. I wouldn’t be taking the pain meds, either.
We are on our last leg of our trip, sitting in our hotel lobby, waiting for an early dinner and then to the airport. This morning, we ate breakfast at a great healthy food place by the hotel, as the hotel breakfast, though free, really was horrible. Then we checked out and stored our luggage and went off to meet a friend from my childhood. I saw her 5 years ago to the day, at a reunion for the first time in 40 years. I was friends with her, really in elementary school, not even right before I moved in gr 10. We had a great visit, at a lovely hotel outdoor patio.
We were going to go to the contemporary art museum because of the heat, but it was really breezy and didn’t feel that bad, so we walked to an outdoor art festival. Of course, it got hotter and some of the walk was not shady, and we have sandals on. A mistake, but ice cream for lunch helped. Then we walked to Navy Pier and back to the hotel.
Have an hour to go until dinner. We probably won’t get home until 1:30 am, but we can sleep tomorrow.
We walked 20 miles and rode 7 in 3 days.

[emily_in_nc]

So glad you are still able to take walks, NWG! When I fractured my jaw, I couldn't even take walks for awhile, as it caused the jaw to move about (painful). Once I got it wired shut, I could take short walks, and that was a blessing. I know what you mean about imagining riding on various trails/roads, though; something I always do. I enjoy hiking, but it isn't quite the same as riding, is it?

I also empathize with your not being sure about going out in public. I looked pretty horrific for awhile with my swollen face and then terrible bruising, so I pretty much hid inside our RV for awhile until I looked more human. When my face started looking a little better, I wrapped a scarf around my horribly bruised neck and just went for it. I am sure some people noticed, but ultimately, you have to live your life.

This was me, with most of the worst swelling down (still some remaining), but with horrible bruising that caused lots of nasty colors in my neck a couple of weeks after my crash. Pretty scary, but if I dressed appropriately, it didn't show too terribly much. I also switched to much smaller band-aids for my cuts when we went out in public. I had a stitch under my nose and one on my chin.



I really do feel for you! This is not a fun time, but keep remembering "this too shall pass". It takes awhile, but things will get better. (Me now, for a comparison):

[north woods gal]

Cranking, that is a lot of walking! Sounds like you're having fun. Made it down to Navy Pier a time or two, myself.

Emily, yes, that is very similar to how I look right now, except it's confined to the left side of my face, mostly, and concentrated around my eyes and forehead. I'll need to buy foundation by the gallon if I expect to cover it all. Thanks for sharing the pic. It helps give me courage.

Rain and storms, today, so only got in a half mile of walking before another storm cut it short. Did walk at high speed, though, to beat the storm back to the house. My walking was out on the road, though, and Star was not a happy camper for being left behind. Just can't risk putting her on a leash and having her make a sudden lunge. She's very welcome behaved on a leash, but still ... Will take her for a walk on the trails, tomorrow.

On a positive note and one more bike related, I am thrilled that my husband insists that he continue his daily road ride around the neighborhood for the sake of exercise, even if he has to ride without me, for now. His fat bike needs some work and tuning, but I can't bend over to do that kind of work, right now, so we'll have to take it in to the shop. He is addicted to that fat bike of his and I'm good with that. Rides it on the road, year round. Fat bikes are as safe and stable as a bicycle can get, not to mention super comfortable.

[Crankin]

It is a hard call to decide when to go out, when one’s injuries might gross people out. But, you will find your comfort zone. I was in a car accident in high school and had 3 scars, a broken nose, with considerable bruising and blood vessels broken in one eye. When I went back to school, the eye was still a bit weird and some people were freaked out. The ones who were stoned handled it better!
At the airport waiting for our flight. I am exhausted from the heat and the walking. I hope I have enough sleep to get in a little ride tomorrow morning, before it goes up to 90.

[north woods gal]

Covered up with as much make-up as I could stand (I rarely use, any, now) and gave it a try for our breakfast outing. I did fine. Only people who commented were people that knew me, anyway.

Must be a bad week for wipe-outs. A neighbor saw me walking on the road this morning and asked me what happened, of course. He then told me about a young gal who was pumping hard on a tri bike, going the other way on one of our neighborhood roads, when he passed her in his truck, just this week. She was heading down a long hill at high speed. At the bottom of the hill, the county is in the process of putting in a new culvert. It is marked with a caution sign. For now, it's just covered with rough gravel and yet to be paved over. I know the spot. Rode over it a couple of times just before my accident.

The gal apparently knew the hazard, too, but remembered it too late. She jammed on both brakes and went too heavy on the front. Yup, did a nasty endo. My neighbor saw it all in his rear view mirror. He reversed, quickly, and gave her first aid. He said her face now looks like mine, but she got beat up in a lot of other places, too. Nothing broke, though. Called an ambulance and that's the last he heard of her. She's in my thoughts, whoever she is. As we all know, accidents happen with any kind of biking. Please be careful, everyone.

As for me, I almost made it to 2.5 miles on my walk, today (which I now call my substitute bicycling ). Hit 2.2 and called it good. Our neighborhood roads are all up and down, so very pleased. Very hot and humid, though. Bugs were bad and that was out on the road. Can't imagine how bad they would have been on my trails. Those are still too wet and slick for safe walking.

[Crankin]

I bet going out for breakfast was worth putting on the concealer! You are lucky your DH is also retired, so you have someone to talk to while you are recuperating.
Our flight was uneventful, but I read the whole flight, which woke me up a bit and then I could not fall asleep, despite being exhausted. It seemed like I fell asleep pretty close to dawn and woke up at 8:00. Couldn't get myself out to ride while it was still cool, though. I finally went out around noon and did a little 9 mile ride. Being it was 90 degrees and getting humid, I was surprised I could move at all. But, I achieved my goal of making myself feel better and more awake. My back, hip, and groin are screaming, though, because of all the walking, no foam roller and little stretching. I seriously need to get myself in better shape, as I am seeing changes in my body I do not like. It's not so much weight, though I could lose a couple of pounds, but rather gained inches in my hips, and some not so toned/muscular skin on my arms, abs, and back. It's not horrible, but if I don't do something now, I will pay. So, I told my DH I wanted a few months of personal training for my 65th birthday, which is in November. My instructor of my class is having a baby in August, so when she comes back, would be a good time to start. She gave up her business career to do full time training and teaching, and I trust her.