Green Wing

The work week started off as quite a soaker almost three inches of rain fell over the past few days.

While I am still trying to get used to the non commuting life cold October rain has me happy to not be pedaling to work. What i need to do is find something else to get me moving through out 

the week. I may just have to charge the light system that I have and start riding the 

state trails just so I can move my fat ass. 

Speaking of moving there will be a lot of that going on this weekend,

I will be watching and cheering but if you wanted to race something with knobies on them

this would be the weekend.  Not only is the last race of the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series but also a top notch Cross event up in the Burbs of the Cities. 

The mountain race is a rain date from earlier this summer. It was a tough start to the season with 

one race Mankato that probably should have been canceled followed up by the Red Wing race

which suffered a ton of rain and was canceled. 

Mid Oct is late for a Mountain race and it falls smack dab in the middle of Cross racing season, so it should be interesting to see who show up.  As racing goes this is one of my favorites for a number of reasons,, more than anything it kick ass due to the fact that it is the closest to what riding is down here in the Drifless Region. 

I was really looking forward to racing this one as we have not had a good race there in years,, last year we had to race a shortened rain lap and the year before that in the end of the second of four laps the skies opened up and made the course almost impassable.  So this was going to be the year to put it

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all together,, But instead I will be on the side lines cheering on all my THC* teammates.

The Cross Race up in Lake Elmo is by far one of the best of the fall calender.  Green Acres is a tubing hill which throws a good bit of elevation change into each lap. I showed up two years ago on a whim racing the old Cannondale and had a blast.. Flash Forward to  last year I was the one week owner of a Brand New All/City Nature Boy,, that I had maybe 50+ miles of riding back and forth to work and I showed up ready to race.

At this point in the season this would be my first Number Pin of the fall and all that I would line up with would have been doing it for at least a month plus.  The Saturday race was cool and windy with moist ground that allowed the corners to be carved like a turn in deep snow. 

I had a blast on the new bike jumping the fly over and suffering for 45 minutes of pure sweet hell.

Sunday saw the temps drop close to 20 degrees and rain lots of rain,,, the kind of rain that is almost snow.  You got soaked and cold just warming up,, and the ground was slow,, so slow that I had to 

change the gearing on the bike to account for the drag that the mud was going to cause. 

First lap as a nightmare of just trying to stay up right through the sloppy slippery slop.

I got to the front and went backasswards for the rest of the day but continued to have fun even if my face did not show it. 

This is another one that I am going to miss,,, but not only am I in no shape to race anything still 

not cleared to go elbow to elbow with anyone. And from the sounds it should be a big weekend 

for the CX crew as some heavy hitters from out of town will be showing up. 

But non of this happens until we get to the weekend and over this Hump,, the sun is to 

come out and maybe some wheels will turn.

Results

As of Saturday it has been four weeks since my crash that landed me broken

and ER bound. Friday I had my fourth CT scan in as many weeks,

to check the healing of my fractured skull and broken cheek bone. 

My doctor called mid afternoon on Friday to give me the results and tell me what 

he wants from me as the process of healing continues. 

The bones he said are healing, and thinks that in another four weeks or so they should

be all back together, No bleeding or abnormal spots on my brain,, which is great news,, and the swelling is going down.  This is all great, each day my cheek starts to hurt less and less and the pain felt in my sinus and upper teeth starts to go away,, soon I should be able to eat on the right side of my mouth. 

The next part I was ready for as my wife had tipped me off the night before, as she works in the same hallway as my doc.  He went on to say that until my head was solid again or until he gives the

ok that I am not to be riding my bike in the woods.  Riding on the road would be ok,, and even on the rails to trails/gravel,, just no Mountain Biking. When asked why he responded that the risk of injuring my while riding rough trail even if I don't crash is too high. So I said what about the skate boarding that I have been doing with the boy?? He did not have a problem with this as long as I kept it mellow and stayed out of the half pipe. 

Needles to say I am very happy for the progress of my healing and happy that no long term brain damage has been done,, I am bummed that I can't ride in the woods during one of the most beautiful   times of the year.

                                                                     

                       I am very happy to be alive and still be able to provide for my family, and yes I do                               get to ride a bike or bikes as long as I stay out of the woods.

But that is when the extent of my happy ends..

The anger that bubbles up from under all of this is still fueling my dreams and

thoughts.

The list is long and I could go on,,, and on..

I am mad about all that this has put my family though mainly my wife,, 

I get pissed with I look outside or on the interwebs and see all the fall riding pictures or teammates out racing raging and have a good time. 

I livid when I think of all the money that is being spent due to the crash,, the 250 dollar hotel room my wife had to get in  downtown Duluth as starters. 

The fact that the insurance company for the event said sorry have a nice day.

The fact that the persons or person who helped cause the wreck has not come 

forward to at least ask if I am ok.. 

And the Fact that I still four weeks later don't know what happened. 

Yes I could go on for awhile about what grinds my gears,,  but I have

to try to stay positive and hug my wife and kids and be happy that I am not drooling on 

my self or force to eat nothing but mush.  I have ridden and raced bikes for

a long time and plan on doing it for a lot longer,, and never want anyone else

to have to visit the dark places that I been.... 

Sorry not trying to be negative on a monday morning,, but better here than in the monday morning meeting at work,, those poor guys take the brunt of my WTF anger..

Stay Classy Internet,,, And du nice things for one another.. 

A deeper shade of Rubber Sole

Recovery sure does take a while,, and it can come with a mix of emotions. 

My surface wounds have for the most part healed lots of new pink skin covering the places where blood once stained the fabrics of my clothes. The parts that are still healing 

are coming together or at least we'll find out tomorrow when they scan my head once again.

The headaches are few and far between but when they do come it increases my overwhelming feeling of being tired.  The slow processes is tough on a guy who never stops moving even while sleeping, but everyday is a step in the right direction. 

I had to send off my wheels from my wreck to have the good folks at Velocity USA take a look at them and see if they could be fixed or needed to be rebuilt.

I received two messages of "what the Fuck did you do" which was more rhetoric than anything, knowing that I have no memory and they have seen the pictures.

At Interbike this year they unveiled a new rim the Blunt SS,,

The keys here on the rim are they have gone wider not only  overall but also internally,, to allow the tire to open up even more... but also dropped the weight significantly  

over the Blunt SL of close to 70ish grams.

So when said and done a new flashy set of rims will be twisted into my King hubs and 

this here guy may be riding in the woods before all the leaves fall from the Trees.

With that all said again I have to give a big nod to the company's and the people there that have been standing with me and helping me forward before and after my wave of Mutilation.  

Velocity, Chris King, Thomson, and Of Spirit (WTB) are huge keys to my 

success and Recovery. 

So with all that happening yesterday, it was the spark that I needed to get out and ride a bike. 

Now the rules from the doctor are to stay out of the Human Powered Trails, due to the nature of the riding there,, and being burnt on road riding in the area at or around 5o'clock PM,,

I decided to stretch the concept and skirt the edges of my boundary's.  

I took the Nature Boy up the Bliss road and rode past the entrance to the trail system,, full sun on the ridge top was greeted by a nice strong north wind.

Now I never set foot where I was told by a medical doctor to go but what I did was dip into the quarry which in theory is an old gravel road..

I was so nice to get away from the cars and the noise of town and just listen to the wind

whip and watch the leaves in all their spender blow around.  It did a number on my bruised ego to 

just be,,    almost back to where I belong. 

Every step forward is another step in the right direction..

And I am going to lead with my Chocolate foot!

DogTown

Still not cleared to ride dirt by my local medical official till maybe friday,, when they 

take another picture of my skull, my lovely wife had the idea of getting the 

Hell out of Dodge.

Like stated last week I was going to go and watch people race bikes and drink beer up in the land of 

SSUSA 2013.. But the weather started to suck and get cold wet and windy, which is not bad racing weather but crappy standing around weather.  So 

other plans were formed and this band of merry pranksters jumped in the car and 

headed across the river to the 612.

The plan was simple take the boy up to the indoor park known as The ThirdLayer,

and let him get his skate on.. While his old man could roll around and tell story's of 

his glory daze. 

The park was packed mid day on a Saturday,,, Pack,, more kids on razor scooters that you could swing a dead cat at.  And if I am not supposed to be riding my MTB probably should not be on a Sk8 board?  And kids these days have no idea how to ride in a skate park...

When I was young we were taught the hard way by the older guys which back then were long haired guys in their twenty's.  If you stood on the lip too close to the coping they would either throw your board in the nearest puddle or just give you a verbal beat down. If you dropped in on their line or 

were not fast enough to get into the pipe,, again they let you know. 

Nope not now a days,, and since most of these kids have their parents sitting on the sidelines saying 

anything let alone giving them the evil eye would be unheard of.

So after an hour of total shit show,,, and I know that it is one when the boy says "dad this is a shit show can we leave" we went and toured the western burbs for places to skate.

We found our selves out in Plymouth my boyhood home and 

found a nice slap of fresh cement.

Some rails and stairs and big old wedge of a ramp that went slightly over vert,,

I had a blast laughing at the fact that some twenty five years ago the city came to my house and took all my ramps because it was unsafe and they may get sued.. 

Then it was off to SLP where we found again some more rails and some ramps and a 

young group of kids that we doing what kids should do,, getting rad and having a good 

time. 

We topped the day off with a nice dinner with the Bauers over pizza and bike racing stories,,

I use to race bikes...

The last time I saw Bavers I was sitting on his wheel on Hwy 77 right before the lights went 

out and my road to recovery started. 

Now back to the salt mines of broken down household appliance,,

While my bikes genitally weep of neglect in the garage. 

Falling in the Air

The seasons have changed and fall is here with  a 

tight grip on the upper mid west. We have gone from sun and warm days to 

Grey sky's and cold nights. We still have not turned on the heat in the house,

and I will hold out for as long as I  can especially after  only having the A/C on for 

one full day this summer.

With one week to go before I get my next CT scan,, I keep looking into the woods 

and drooling when I think about the single track just waiting for my wheels

to show up and ride the carpet of color that is the fallen leaves. 

My road wheels are still turning when I can make it out after work,

and at times my body feels like it remembers what it supposed to do,, but at the same time 

I have a long way to go to get back to the shape that was once had.

Once again the Holzinger Hot Lap will be up in Winona and again it looks as if weather 

may be a factor in the event. Now not as bad as last year but overnight they saw almost 2 inches of rain and more is in store for this evening with the chance of a flake or two of snow.

I may catch a ride up and heckle but am not totally sure if I am into the 40 degree temps and 30 mph winds.

Talk around here has been heading up to the cities and getting some Third Layer sk8 time in with the boy.

We were supposed to be going up to Copper Harbor this evening to watch Pip race the 

Michigan Tech race but pulled the plug last minute due to me still recovering. 

And just like here it does not sound like the weather is going to be all that great. 

The kid mentioned that they may also see snow by race time on sunday for the XC race. 

Having ridden and raced up there I can't imagine riding the trails wet let alone wet and cold. 

So fall is here wheels are still turning and hopefully larger ones with bigger tread will be soon,

I am itching to get out into the woods, and would not even mind to pretend like I know how to race a bike one last time. 

This recovery has been a long road and for someone who can't sit still it has been torture. 

But each day I feel better and better. Here is to more Better. 

R...E...A...L...X

Today was another day of first for this here guy..

The first day back to work after a long two weeks away.

Last monday when I went to see the doctor I thought for sure that he would send me back 

and he did not,, said I needed some more time to let my brain recover.

After today I am glad that he said what he said. 

As days go was not the worst,, my head never really hurt that bad.

More than anything it was trying to get used to all the movements and 

angles that I have to achieve to get through the day. 

Work is taking it easy on me and allowing me to stay at the shop and work on stuff there. 

I am not sure if this is a blessing or not,, part of what makes my job tolerable is 

getting to drive around and smell the fresh air. 

I found my self with three different sealed system jobs which just meant 

time with torches in my hand. 

The strangest bit of all was not commuting on two wheels, the company has been 

making a push for the Techs to bring work vans home, so we are using this

as a trail period.

My ride in and home were normally the Highlight of the day,

and if this sticks I am going to have to find time and or rearrange my  cycling habits to
make sure that I am getting the required amount of saddle time.

For five years I have rain, cold, sun, and snow ridden to work year round.

Yea their may be a day or two that I did not but for the most part is was  two wheeled fun both ways. 

Highlight of the day was coming home and 

finding a get well card in the mail from a former Hollywood teammate ,

wishing me well and making me smile.. Thanks Carrie for

turning a gloomy monday in to I can see the sun through the 

clouds day.

Now I need to get the Blackbuck back up and running so I can once cleared for 

dirt bring back the single track Joy!. 

MaRgIn WaLkEr

Thirteen days after by far the nastiest crash on a bike or board or skis,

I was cleared not only to go back to work but to pedal my Bike!

The Doctor is limiting me to  pavement, which I promptly asked isn't that what caused the 

issue to start with?

Still not wanting me to jiggle my grey matter too much.

That being said for the first time in almost two weeks I got to 

put on my superman suit and spin my wheels. 

The sound of my King Hubs buzzing along the lonely roads of western wisco 

was such a great sound. I kept it in the little ring and just tooled right along. 

Again huge thanks to my wife who has been there for me through out this whole 

situation,, I know that it has been  tough at times for you and could not have

recovered with out you.

I still have some healing to du but as of now my spirits are high 

for the first time in a while. 

Twist away the Gates of Steel.. And Keep the Wheels Moving :)