A week later and still, iHurt.

Looks pretty nasty, doesn't it?

I was actually surprised when I went into the hospital and they decided to x-ray my wrist instead of my elbow. I guess they were able to determine that the injuries to my elbow were tissue only and not bone, but weren't so sure about the wrist.

The good news is that despite the size of this bruise (possibly the biggest I have ever had) it really doesn't hurt much anymore. More than anything what I notice is a loss of strength in the arm but that is due to the combination of this bruise and the one on my thumb. Otherwise, the arm is healing nicely.

My hip continues to give me grief though. I have a bruise on it also, but my biggest complaint is that I pulled something on the inside of my thigh so while I can walk comfortably (and ride, luckily) I cannot run at all without pain. This is the biggest area of concern I have right now because while I can still train, another wipeout will only make things so much worse. I figured that much out this afternoon when Holly and I were rushing to get off a bus and I mis-stepped, forcing me to catch myself with my sore leg. I pulled it again a bit, and it took about an hour to get back to 'normal'.

Oh, and I thought I would add a photo of the accident site, as I saw it. I was attempting to turn left here when I had to stop (too suddenly) to avoid hitting the truck that came out from that tunnel. Oh and let me just say again, thanks to the driver for stopping and being so helpful. I really appreciated it.

Wipeout

Nothing starts a day quite like an accident. As usual I was out for my morning ride, doing laps around Stanley Park. I was moving along the connecting road to start my second lap when it happened. Coming around a corner I noticed a truck approaching and I had to brake hard to avoid it, which, I did. What I did not do was control my breaking and weight distribution well enough to avoid going over the handlebars.

I hit the pavement hard enough to knock the wind out of me. This has only happened to me once or twice in my life so I recall noting the novelty of the experience. The other thing I remember thinking is wishing that all of this had been caught on video. Yes, I was thinking of how well it would do on youtube. The driver of the truck stopped and made sure that I was okay. He helped me off the street and offered me some water, which really helped to catch my breath. After about five minutes I felt a little banged up, but well enough to at least ride home. I thanked him for his assistance and got back on my bike (which doesn't seem to have any new scratches.)

I didn't go far without realizing that my right arm hurt more than the rest of me. Specifically, the bottom of my thumb (near the wrist) and near, but not quite at the tip of my elbow. I couldn't put much of my weight on the arm while riding so I figured I better get it checked out. But not before going home and getting cleaned up.

As it turns out, Friday morning at the Emergency Ward can sometimes be kind of quiet. I was lucky in that there wasn't much of a wait, although the way processing works I found that I still had ten to fifteen minutes to wait between each stop along the way.

The doctors wanted to take a couple x-rays of my wrist to be sure nothing was broken there. Once they confirmed that I had nothing more than a serious sprain, they sent me on my way.

Somehow I'm sure I will be paying more for this after a good night's sleep.

Riding with back pain

For the record, suffering from mild to moderate back pain has been a lifelong affliction. This is nothing new to me and to be honest, I am surprised that I went a few months on the bike without any problems at all. My back pain is directly attributed to the fact that I have an office job and haven't really spent a day in my life strengthening my stomach muscles. Add to that one weekend of lifting the dog incorrectly (not bending my knees) and you find me complaining around the house and office about a sore back.

However when I was out riding this morning I noted that my back felt fine while on the bike. Being able to support my weight with my arms helped to take a load off my back and it actually felt good riding. Sure, my wrists got sore quicker but that was a small annoyance more than anything else, especially since this was just a short early morning ride and not a marathon session.

So I won't complain. At least not much, and not too loudly. It's still a joy for me to be able to ride like this and when I look at how much the people I know have donated for this cause, well it feels good. Thanks again to everyone who chipped in, you all helped to propel me to over fourteen hundred dollars raised for cancer research - and this is before the anonymous donor makes a donation large enough to match what is raised. Truly exciting, at least for me. I just hope I didn't pester you too much!

The utility of cycling

Yep, that's right. I'm ordering pizza pick-up orders now instead of delivery. I can get to the pizzeria in under 5 minutes so it just doesn't make sense to wait a half hour to 45 minutes anymore. The 'za is still hot by the time I get back.

Of course, none of that matters when I get home and find out that what we have is not what we ordered. A quick call back to the store and I was off for a second trip to pick up a second pizza - this one free of charge, and this time made with the right ingredients. But hey, at least I'm getting the miles in on the bike, right? It's kind of like eating for free as I practically race home.

Not that I'm at a point where I am counting calories - unless it's something truly sinful like a DQ Blizzard or a hamburger and fries - if I'm going to go hog wild with junk food I will make informal calculations like 'it's probably going to take me thirty kms to burn this off.' But hey, if it keeps me motivated to spin the wheels, it's kind of justified, right?