olive branches

Christmastime 1989. I was visiting a good friend in Freiburg during my year in Germany. Though I don't recall how she got there, there was an American girl with us in his apartment. I was "entertaining" her and while I don't remember her name and how or where I met her, I do remember she wanted to read each and every day of his daily Far Side calendar for 1990. Much to my friends distress, I humored her since she was female and I was a bachelor seeking companionship (it soon became obvious that once again I was looking in all the wrong places). I ended up escorting her home and leaving her there alone.

Every once in a while I am reminded of my friend's agony at having his entire year read out in advance by this girl and his "friend." Usually it happens when Bridget is upset that someone (we in her family all know better now) reads ahead in one of her daily calendars.

So I sent him a new Far Side daily calendar as a way of making up for this old faux pas.

4 weeks down...two to go!

Needless to say the closest I have been to a bicycle lately is watching the Tom Boonen win the Tour of Flanders on dvd.

I have been somewhat disturbed (but not surprised) by my complete adaptation to being cooped up in the house and on the couch for the past 4 weeks. I seem to be perfectly content to lay on my couch watching television and reading. "Made for TV" you might say. Nevertheless I am looking forward to the day I can move about again without crutches. The ability to carry a plate of food from the kitchen to, say, the couch is something I will never take for granted again. If I knew this injury was permanent I might be more freaked, that is for sure.

Just last night I was laying on the couch with my knee in the CPM last night thinking that even if I don't ever regain use of my leg and lose my job and house and have to go on welfare I would feel really happy because I have such a great family. My kids are the greatest and I know that when they grow up and are rich and famous they will take their ol' Da and Mum in off the street.

riding again

Went on a great ride this afternoon. A bit chilly at first but with the gorgeous sunshine that didn't last long. Explored the roads off of M west of Ashland down toward the river. Needless to say this was a gravel road ride. It was nice to be back out after the holidays when I didn't get out on the bike much. The hills sure didn't get any less steep during the same time! Damn there are some steepies out there!

three weeks down...three to go

Then I hope to start walking and eventually riding again.

two weeks down!

lowlander outdoor adventures

Check them out.
http://www.lowlanderoutdooradventures.com/index.html
Props to Paul for having the balls to go for it and start an adventure tour business. More power to ya, Paul!

operation and recovery

Here's a drill going into one of my bones in preparation for attaching my new ACL. (which it turns out was the simplest part of the entire surgery)

And here is my new ACL.

Here's my ripped and broken femur. Turns out I basically broke a bone. So six weeks no weight on it while it heals. See that pink part in the middle? That's exposed femur bone. It should be covered in a nice white cartilage.

Here is the cartilage reattached (with nails). It was floating around in my knee joint area.

Here I am on the couch with my newly reconstructed leg watching the 2006 Tour of Flanders (thanks John!).


Headed back to the doc today for an update.

post-op report

Finally go to ride with John B. again on Tuesday. At our usual time, 5:30am (0530). Unfortunatly, it was a short one, only a couple of miles, and, even less exciting, in a truck owned by MU. And the ride was to the Institute for Outpatient Surgery. My knee was repaired Tuesday morning. John graciously agreed to bring me in and stay with me until Bridget could get there after dropping Nora off at a friends house at 7:30. She didn't miss much as I didn't get out of there until 2 p.m. The staff of the IOS were great. (At least the ones I remember) Last thing I remember before 2pm was thinking that my glasses which were laying on my lap before surgery needed to go in my bag o' stuff under the bed. Evidently I chatted with John and the nurse for quite a while afterthat, even giving John some sort of emergency authorization (probably one of the smartest things I have ever done). Then Before I woke up I was chatting with the anesthesia people about Sam and Nora. If one gives out deep dark secrets under anesthesia, it sounds like I have a pretty clean life. Dr. Smith did one heck of a job fixin my knee. Evidently it was worse than expected and I think he expected pretty bad. I was in the OR for about 2.5-3 hours. A long time I later learned for a simple ACL repair. My ACL repair was simple but the rest was not. I had shorn off a bit of the end of my femur. Fortunately Dr. Smith was able to find the piece and replace it (Cool!). But that meant that everything will be a lot more complicated as far as recovery goes. I have to be off my left leg for 6 weeks. After that I have no idea what to expect. No weight on my left leg at all. That will be a trying time for all in our household. Started some electroshock therapy tonight. two little electrodes on my quad for half an hour. 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off. Kinda like a little massage. Anyway, enough pounding away at the keyboard. My knee is starting to hurt and I gotta go ice it again.

Pictures soon.

snowy day

bmi and sports

Girls sports. I had been thinking that Nora would like cross-country (she says otherwise). The Columbia Track Club has a youth xc program which looks like a lot of fun for the kids. She competed in a race recently with them and did really well but did not enjoy it. Now I read of Propam's experience in women's xc and I think Nora would be better off sticking to soccer. At least it seems that soccer doesn't have the obsession with weight that other sports such as xc and cycling have. Eating disorders that lead to lifelong problems. Sometimes I think that Nora may be a little small for soccer because some of those women are big. Not fat or anything but stout, obviously in good shape when you seem them running around out there. Since ACL injuries have been on my mind lately, I have found out that they are more prevelant among female atheletes than male. Especially soccer players. But a torn acl is nothing when you compare it to the problems that the eating disorders can create.

Now to male eating disorders. It's holiday season and for the first time I can't run or ride off the food I eat. If I didn't want to be competitive I wouldn't really worry about it at all but it will be that much harder to get back in shape after surgery if I have to ride off extra weight too. Just ask Jan.

surgery

Wednesday December 6 is the first day of next season. Training for Fall 2007 cyclocross racing starts then. That is also the day after I have knee surgery to repair my torn acl, ripped medial meniscus, and the worn-out covering of the medial condyle of the femur (in other words, osteoarthritis). I will be receiving an allo graft. That is a piece of ligament from a dead guy (now I'll have to sign the back of my driver's license!) and physical therapy starts about 24 hours after my outpatient surgery. Actually I already have started therapy as I have some pre-operative exercises to do 2x per day; leg lifts and other quad strengthening exercises.

this really sucks

Well I ain't going to St. Louis to race today. My knee which is now the size of a grapefruit was totally screwed up yesterday trying not to fall off a damn mound on the downhill course which was included in the cx course that we raced yesterday. I guess I'll go to the doctor tomorrow. I can hardly walk. The best I can do is shuffle around stiff legged. Dammit dammit dammit, I suppose this probably means that the entire cx season is blown. Dammit!

I did see Bubba. He looks a fine hound.

Friday, Nora took an IQ test to see if she qualifies for Triple E, EEE, the advanced education program here in Columbia. We should hear the results in a couple of weeks. Talk about a test, "Here kid, we know you are smart but let's see if you are smart enough to earn the official label of Smart Kid."

glass houses

"The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, has given up his post while a church panel investigates allegations he paid a man for sex. "

hee hee

i thought i had legs redux

The results are posted for the Rock Bridge Revenge. I finished 17th of 32 runners in the 20k. I prefer to think of that as not Middle-of-the-pack but First Place! in the second half of the pack. Also I finished 3rd in my age group (out of 8, if I counted right). Props to Bill Stolz for a great 3rd place finish overall in the 10k!

In other news: I am now a Cat three cyclocrosser. Middle-of-the-Pack here we come! Thanks Mike W. I did more CX races in my first year of cyclocross than I did road races in all my years of cycling (33).

In non-cycling news: The Columbia Business Times (which I haven't read at all until a few days ago) evidently has some very fascist leanings or at least it's columnists do. Some guy named Larry Schuster. A paragraph from his recent column in the CBT whining about the smoking ban:

Our brands of do-gooders are self-righteous souls who live under the narcotic delusion that they are the conscience of our community. They make exceptions to fit their playtime but not mine. In my opinion, their concentration in Columbia is akin to the goose population in Stephens Park, just a few too many in a small place. Maybe we should sponsor a roundup and relocation program. Surely scientists will soon discover these folks to be a new breed of hypocrites: “homo sapien goose poopalous.” (my emphasis)

OK. two things here:

1. The idea that people he doesn't like should be rounded up and sent elsewhere smacks a bit of fascist policies of the Nazi era. or perhaps more to his liking stalinist policies.
2. As my 13 year old son pointed out: perhaps there are so many of these "do-gooders" in Columbia because they are a majority.

2 questions arise...who the hell is Larry Schuster and how did he get elected to the city council?

While I am on the topic of CBT...Their cover story is about a "consulting firm" who (get this doublespeak) is,"known nationally for its creative mail, radio and strategic communications." Sounds like advertising to me. There is also a fairytale and another screed about the selfishness of the West Broadway folks against 4 lanes in the middle of town. (yes Providence should be made 2 lanes). Jesus! makes me want to barf.

Thanks for reading.

i thought i had legs

or...why can't I go any faster?

Raced out at Rock Bridge State Park Sunday...the Rock Bridge Revenge 20k run. Actually the revenge part comes the day after the race when you stumble upon getting out of bed because your legs are so racked with stiffness and soreness that they rebel against any notion of movement. Actually "soreness" is not the right word: sore is when you smash your thumb with a hammer, this is more like dropping an anvil on it.

It was a Beautiful run even through the ice-cold creek (twice). It was great to be out in the woods on a sunny morning in October. Trees changing colors, deer out to see why there were so many two-leggers chugging through the woods, and the occasional squirrel yelling in anger at the runners. The actual race for me was kinda weird. My legs were not cooperating with my heart. I never was anyhere near my limit aerobically but my legs wouldn’t go any faster. Everytime I tried to go harder and think I was really starting to push it and my legs would say, "Give us a break, we're going already, ok!" Then I would glance down at my heart rate and it would say, "nope, you are just huffing along on stroll." I guess that is the difference between HR and Perceived Exertion. Nevertheless, great race. Great run. Someday they'll get the results posted and I'll have an idea how I compared to the rest of the back-of-the-pack.

Although running this race was pretty cool, I really missed not racing the latest iteration of the Bubba Memorial Cyclocross series. Probably won't be able to make it to another one until Nov. 5 or 12.

And...what about that local cx scene? The Columbia Fun Times Cyclocross Race and Picnic? Down by the ROTC Tower? Picnic and bonfire to follow at Stephens Lake? Maybe we could talk Bubba into coming?

more nonsense

check this out from Trib Talk:

"...Now you’ve even made it a rule in Columbia that you can’t have dinner and a cigarette. I think it is ridiculous. This is getting to be more like Russia every day."

Ha ha hahahahahaha, that is so funny!

Let's see...I assume that by "Russia" this caller means the former boogey monster we were all scared to death of back when I was a child. Now there were (are) a few things about the way Russia was (is) ruled that leaves lots to be desired. But, BUTT!, smoking was not one of those things that was outlawed back in the USSR. There were the occasional political crackdowns, gulags, executions, mass murders and other governmental misdeeds but smoking was not something one had to be afraid of doing.

Come to think of it, "this is getting to be more like Russia every day." Maybe I'll start smoking.

I'm number #1

Cross practice was way fun! Nolan and Ethan showed up. Nolan practiced bunny-hopping most of the time (something I need to do). I rode a good hard 30 minutes then had to scoot home to get Sam to a school dance. (his first). They were both impressed with the course and excited about the possibilities. We set up some cones to make several turns and break up the long straightaways. Ethan said, "Since Butthead won't be here next Wednesday I am going to move practice here."

In other news: I am the top-ranked Cat. 5 in zip 65201 (oops...you gotta be logged in under my name to see that) but you can see that I am one of only 12 Cat 5s to be ranked 638 nationally. And I don't even have the oldest license!

Your USCF Road Race Cat 5 Standings
1!	Rank in your zip code (65201)
18	Rank in your state (MO)
22	Rank in your riding age (40)
112	Rank in 5 year age range (40-44)
174	Rank in 10 year age range (40-49)
638	Overall Rank

mighty mighty c's

Raced Sunday.









Everything went well;












I didn't fall over the barriers









or skid out in the gravel.









And best of all I won.

Let me tell you, it feels good to win, finally. I have been close many times but I don't believe I have ever won an athletic contest before. So even if it is the Cs race of a local series it is really nice. Back in grade school I couldn't (and still can't) play basketball or any of those damn sports; I always ended up getting hit in the face with the ball and bending my glasses. Really awkward. I tried track in 8th grade and came in dead last. Sucked, I tell you.

This Sunday will be a big test. 20k trail run. I have a feeling I may be slow on the trail. I don't want to roll an ankle or screw up my knees. Gotta Bubba race again the next week.

Buddy, the USCF official, said, "I'll guess we'll have to move you up to the Bs now" So that's where I'll go. Back to the middle of the pack.

A huge amount of thanks goes to Karl at Klunk for all the help he provided getting me set up on my bike. It worked great!

1/3 marathon

Update of recent events:

Ran my legs off Sunday October 1, doing two legs of a 3 leg relay as part of the Columbia Half Marathon. Our team finished 9th overall in the teams division. There were 36 teams so that is really great! I ran for 1 hour and 7 minutes but I don't know how far. Sometime I have to get out and ride it with my bike and see what the old odometer says. Next year I'll do the whole thing on my own.

Next (foot)race is in one week at Rock Bridge State Park. Should be a cool trail run. I think I'll do the 20k option.

Next cyclo-cross race is Bubba #1. Sunday Oct. 15 at Creve Coeuer Park in St. Louis. Photos and results soon. I heard there was to be a Bubba race in Columbia but that was shot down by the parks dept. dimwits. I'll take my cash and go somewhere else. Hey Josh, what about the field down below the Alpine Tower on the MU campus? It's better than Stephens Lake. Speaking of cyclocross I went out last night with Seth to said field. Had a good hard workout there. The Redline is working great. If I don't do well Sunday, I have only myself to blame.

Sept. 10 Sam and I took the road I course here in town. We are both now officially licensed road cyclists.

Nora has biked to school every day so far except one and that wasn't her fault. It was raining or Bridget had to go somewhere. Something like that. Sam too. Now that he is a certified cyclist he can (and did before) ride to school everyday. He even takes the busy route by choice. Go figger. Give him 30 more years of riding to work and school and he'll look for the quiet streets.

Speaking of Nora, she was elected president of her homeroom. She has to chair class meetings every Monday and Friday. I don't know what all she has to do but she does it with great aplomb I am sure. Now she wishes she had gone for bigger fish and ran for 3rd grade student council representative

Tonight? Tonight we are going to go sit in the cold, drink hot chocolate (we may have to have two thermoses: one adult and one kids) and watch the MU soccer team get beat again. They started so well! What happened?

religious truths

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian World.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

and one more truth:
The Pope has not read the Bible!