How Goeth the Proclamation?

Signs 2 and 3 have come to pass. Sign 1 experienceth issues. The battle against the dark forces continues and I shall triumph in the end.

Proclamation

The reign of the Queen of the Failed Endeavor ends today. You shall count three signs over the next week which shall serve as proof. The number of the counting shall be three and three is the number thou shalt count. Precedence for the counting hath been set here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk

The first sign shalt be the arrival of a 2009 Kestrel Talon. The Talon shalt endeavor to fill the mighty shoes of the Kestrel SCI.

The second sign shalt be the overcoming of the obstacles set forth by those naughty in our sight (Boeing and British Airways) to securith a seat on an airplane bound for the British Isles.


The third sign shalt be the finalizing of lodgings for visiting family members in August.
Let it be so.

Staying up all night

When was the last time you stayed up all night? and why? Now in my 5th decade on earth the reasons to stay up all night have changed since my teens and twenties. Back then the only time I would stay up all night would be either to finish a paper or project for school or to party. These days I am either doing a long bike event or I am at the hospital with my mom. Staying up all night is weird if you are the standard daytime person. 24 hour places like hospitals and even convenience stores don't seem to really notice that they are out of step with the rest of the world. They carry on as if most of those around them aren't snoozing peacefully in their beds respecting the circadian rhythms of their bodies.

Last weekend I rode the Fleche Northwest put on by my club, SIR. My team captain, Geoff Swarts did a great writeup so for the full story go here: http://greenhornetrandoing.blogspot.com/2009/04/amy-et-ami-food-friends-fun-and-biking.html.



Amy et Amis Fleche Team in Westport around 11pm. Nice how I managed to get on a team with 4 tall guys eh??? Notice the stylish matching reflective ankle bands - nice!



After catching up on sleep Saturday and Sunday nights it was off to Lacey on Monday where my mom was scheduled for hip replacement surgery. Cut on Monday, PT on Tuesday, and home by Wednesday was the surgeon's schedule. My mom doesn't follow schedules well. Short on sleep Monday night I was happy to get back home on Tuesday evening to my own bed again. Wednesday did not bring a hospital release for my mom. Back to Lacey and a night in a recliner in my mom's room to help monitor and make sure she got back on track. Luckily I have lots of siblings and the overnight guard could be switched daily. She is back home as of yesterday - yay!

In future if I get the choice I'd much rather be out riding and taking catnaps in Denney's at 4am rather than hanging at the hospital. Those in power - please make a note of it...

DNS

DNS stands for Did Not Start and that is the status I had for Saturday's 300k brevet. All conditions were perfect - weather forecast right on, some confidence in my legs, and Robin was planning to come out and ride the start. Bikes ready to go and alarm set for 4am - all systems go.

Okay so 10pm is a little later than I wanted to hit the hay with a 4am alarm but I could sleep all I wanted Saturday night. For the first couple of hours in bed I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting to sleep. I'd think I had drifted off and then something would wake me up. I finally figured out it was my sweet hubby. He is feeling a bit overwhelmed at work and also realizing the effects of just getting back into his riding routine after 6 weeks off. He was so stressed out that every time he started falling asleep he was jerking himself (and me!) back awake. Another couple of hours trying to get him to relax but no real success. By the time the alarm went off I figure we each had about 1 hour of sleep in 2-3 minute intervals. It was a "no go" decision. I suggested he go in to work for a few hours of uninterrupted time to get some things under control and we could head out in the afternoon for a ride. Seemed to do the trick because after that we both fell soundly asleep for the next few hours.

We did get up to Mukilteo (about 9 hours late for the start) and caught the ferry to ride some of our favorite roads on south Whidbey. A GORGEOUS day out on beautiful rolling roads. We got back to the mainland in time to see the fastest riders finishing up the brevet. Sad not to be among them (although I wouldn't have been among them anyway - I would still have been at least 3 hours out from the finish) but happy to have had a nice ride with my hardworking man.

It would have been nice to gain the confidence from the 300k to help me out mentally with the upcoming 24-hour Fleche (380km) in two weeks but what can you do? Just a tad worried that one of my Fleche teammates - Ward - was there with the extra fast boys on Saturday. He did claim that the Fleche is an entirely different animal so hopefully he and my other teammates will have all the patience they will need to drag along the Amy Anchor.

PBP Memories

I was looking at some of the pictures from PBP07 this morning and it brought back so many memories of that year and of the year I did it in 2003. I plucked a few of the pics that seemed to demonstrate the highs, lows, and in betweens of riding 1200 km in 90 hours or less.

Arriving in France is so great.













Here is the SIR gang the day before start day full of anticipation and nervous energy.









And then the real start line.








Many highs, high fives, and smiles.















































































And a few lows: Shermers neck and examples of carnage (carnage with energy bar wrapper, carnage by road signs, cafeteria carnage).















































And finally the triumphant (?) finish!













The agony and the ecstasy. It is a strange sport.

Broken Bones & Bikes

My hubby Robin broke his collar bone and fractured both wrists about 5 weeks ago from crashing on his bike. Just a couple of weeks after that my good buddy and sometime tandem partner, Peter, crashed his bike in CA and broke his scapula.

After Mark R broke his pelvis last year from a bike crash I began to mentally compile a list of bones that ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE BROKEN. You know, fingers, maybe an arm, or the frequently broken clavicle are not such a big deal (although I have never broken a bone, knock on wood, so am no expert) but there are those bones that are integral to the structure of the human frame that really ought not to be broken. Pelvis, skull, scapula, femur - those just really need to remain intact. I actually cringe when I hear that someone has broken one of those. Just goes to reinforce my motto on each ride - keep the rubber side down.

Back to my friend Peter. He is a very enthusiastic rider, loves to ride, has a great positive attitude, and is a big powerful guy. Two days before SIR's season starter 200k ride Peter emailed me to see if I would captain him on the tandem. I asked if he had clearance from his wife, Anita, and from his doctor. Without really answering the question he steamrolled the process and next thing I knew we were set to ride together. I hadn't captained the tandem for nearly a year and was VERY rusty. Combined with Peter's weight (all muscle Peter!) and my lack of recent experience I was doing a lot of oversteering and manhandling of the bike. Peter did confess that he hadn't consulted his doc about doing the ride and that Anita, while not forbidding it also did not give her blessing. So I got to add not just a little bit of trepidation about dumping my broken friend or just hurting him further by covering 200k of a pretty challenging bike course.

The weather was GREAT! After a winter of WAY too much snow and COLD we actually saw evidence of spring after the fog cleared. Sun and temps up to 50 degrees added to my stoker's sunny attitude to make even the tough parts of the ride fun. The last few climbs to Greg's house near the finish were looming large in our minds but we handled 218th better than expected (no walking!) and the hill on 240th passed quickly as we spent the time gossiping about our rando friends (what happens on the tandem stays on the tandem - right Peter).

No bravado here though, I was definitely wasted but pleased with our day. Always a pleasure to ride with Peter and all the other randos with terrific support and a great finish line chili feed at the Cox house. Not quite ready to think about 300k in two weeks...

Fun at the Emergency Room

Sunday started off in the usual fashion of late - layer on tons of clothes and bike down to the Southcenter Starbucks to meet up with the Charly Miller gang for a training ride. Rolling along Frager Rd in Kent events took a dramatic turn. I was on the front of the group chatting with Elaine when we heard a huge comotion behind us. After getting slowed and turned around my stomach lurched as I saw Robin on the ground. He'd had a bad fall on ice just a few weeks ago and was still healing up from that and it was obvious he wasn't jumping up from this one. A stick or something had gotten picked up by his wheel and when it met up with the fender stays and the fork the bike came to a sudden stop while Robin continued on the forward trajectory up and over the handle bars until he too came to a sudden stop on the pavement.

One of our favorite new riding companions, Vincent Mouneke, was on the scene immediately doing a status check. Vincent is a plastic surgeon but we have called on his medical expertise and calm demeanor more than once on a bike ride. After the initial all over shock Robin's main complaint was his right shoulder. We were in a portion of the road blocked from vehicle traffic so Mark rode ahead to find the nearest access point which he reported was about 1/4 mile away. Robin did not want to call an aid car and I was having a hard time watching him in pain so Peter Beeson and I rode back to his van and then drove to the access point by which time Robin, with help from the rest of the group, had walked under his own steam. Don Jameson had also hit the ground but seemed to be in good shape. Robin and his bike were loaded into the van and Peter brought us home where I got Robin into some dry clothes and he had a little rest before we headed to the Emergency Room at Valley Medical Center. X-rays showed a broken right clavicle and small fractures in both wrists. We left with pain meds, wound dressings, and various slings and braces. Sunday night was pretty uncomfortable for him and he got up Monday feeling pretty stiff and sore. Since then he has used only ibuprofen and has been doing amazingly well. The wrists are in fairly good shape and we'll go into the orthopedic specialist again in a week or so to get new x-rays on the clavicle to make sure it hasn't shifted and is in a good position to heal.

Thanks to all our fellow riders who took such good care of us and the staff at Starbucks who let us stow our bikes there while we took care of Robin. Hopefully in about 6 weeks he'll be back good as new. In the meantime he has a rather abused bike to concentrate his energies on.