Flashback

Seems familiar for some reason.

A few rides later, feeling alright.

Most of the road rash is healing nicely, but a huge football-sized bruise manifested itself on my left thigh on Thursday. I'd call it a Mystery Bruise, but its origin is no mystery. Again, I'll spare you the photos of that mess. I'm still a bit sore, especially on my deeper scrapes, but they will go away soon... I hope.

A good friend of mine donated a helmet to the cause. It's a typical recreation helmet, but every bit as comfy as the Bell Solar I had before. Anything with a CPSC sticker is fine in my book! It has a detachable visor. I'm usually not a fan of those, but it holds my Take-A-Look mirror better than the helmet tab I was using before, so it may stick around.

I actually got back on the bike on Friday with a round-trip commute. I got about 20 miles in over the weekend, and had a nice ride to work this morning as well.

As far as the bike goes, everything looks to be in good shape. I found a few deer hairs in the steerer crown and fender when I removed the fork to examine it closely. The carbon fork appears to be un-damaged. I'm not sure I trust it, though. When carbon fails, it fails spectacularly!

So, I'm on the prowl for a caliper-compatible steel or aluminum road touring fork with front-rack eyelets. It would pretty much complete my bike as a do-all tourer/commuter. It looks like Surly's Long Haul Trucker fork would work. I wonder if those Cantilever bosses are removable...

Details

I was on my way to work, into a mild headwind. I was taking it very, very easy. Then, I got to the funner, hilly section. I tucked and coasted, picking up some good downhill speed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a deer ahead of me, leaving some taller grass and running for the road. I eased into my brakes at first, but I was on a collision course. I tried to swerve away as best I could while braking hard with the front, sitting up and back to get some more traction to the rear tire, which I kept locking up. I got slowed down before impact, but I don't know by how much. The rest happened in slow motion.

The deer's hooves were on the asphalt, and I could hear it clopping. It was leaning away from me, and slipping. It looked me in the eye. Its tongue was out, too. Not sure what's up with that. My front tire hit the deer right in the ribs. According to the motorist behind me, I knocked it over, then it righted itself and took off.

My left shoe came off, and I landed first on my right shoulder and on the right-rear part of my helmet-covered head. My bike flipped over the deer and landed on me. I rolled over and skidded a while on my left lumbar, foot, knee and left elbow. I kept rolling, coming to rest on my knees, elbows and wrists, all of which took substantial damage.

A motorist called 911 and the paramedics arrived promptly. I was assessed and taken to OP Regional for X-rays and a trauma work-up.



Deer: unharmed.
Helmet: Shattered
Bike: Stem rotated 20* on steerer, easily fixed.
Me: Shallow but wide-covered road rash on right shoulder blade and left lumbar, deep abrasions on both knees, both wrists and on my left pinkie toe, Shattered left thumbnail, and two almost-bone-depth abrasions on my left elbow. I also have a really long shallow gash that runs the entire back of my right hand. No clue where that came from.

Cyclist vs. Deer. Helmet Loses.

Ambulance ride. I feel okay. Mostly road rash, I think...

Tattoo. Kind of.

This is what happens when you have full panniers and take both hands off the bike at a stop. It falls over and rolls forward. When you lean into it to catch it, you get gouged.

It looks a lot less intense (and not nearly as cool) now that it's all cleaned off.

Random Tunage:
Junkie XL - Mushroom
Jerry Ropero - The Storm (Inpetto Remix)

Stuff from the weekend

Didn't do much this weekend. Storms came and went and came again for its duration.

The road rash on my leg (which covered just a bit under 5 square inches) is almost completely gone. I used a total of three Tegaderm sheets on it:

1) Tuesday morning at the office, after gently cleansing the wound with water.
2) Tuesday night, after showering and deep-cleaning the wound with a wash cloth
3) Friday night.

You're only supposed to leave them on for 3 days before changing them out. Friday night, I did the alcohol test. If I rub alcohol on it and it still burns, it will still probably scab over. By Sunday morning, there was definitely a fresh layer of real skin over everything. Tegaderm came off. 5 days isn't too bad at all. I can't recommend this stuff enough for road rash and other abrasions! It just sucks that it can be hard to find in reasonable quantities. Places sell the box of FIFTY 4 x 4.75" Tegaderm sheets but if you need that many, you might consider driving your car or picking up a different hobby. I've had the best luck finding boxes of 4 or 5 at CVS, but not always.

While my wife and I were out running errands, we happened upon a gathering of classic car nerds. I stopped for the photo-ops. Despite a bicycle being a very practical machine for getting around, I have a soft spot in my heart for things with a lot of horsepower and/or that classic look.

Juxtaposition: '73 or '74 vs. '09


I love this Barracuda, even if it is 'only' a 383...








Classic lines.








This guy looks kind of like a circus bear


Lots of chrome...




It's all about timing.


And then, some not-so-classics, like this supercharged C6 Vette.




And then the bizarre...

Kludge

The Lortab does nothing. But I'm feeling a bit better this morning.

Last night, I decided I'd see what it took to get The Goat back into action. Last time I rode it, the rear wheel was so wobbly that it felt like it was going to buck me right off. Doing the age-old "brake calipers as a truing stand" trick, I found out that the wheel itself wasn't too bad. But on one side of the tire, the bead was fraying, allowing the tire to bulge out enough to cause significant wobblation. Wobblage. Wabblitude. Whatever.

I kludged the bike by unceremoniously clawing the tattered tread from the wheel and throwing one of those crappy Kenda ATB tires on in its stead. It worked well enough, and the upright mountain bike posture was a refreshing reprieve for my dolorous deltoid.


Sorry for the camera-phone photo. I accidentally left my Canon on the tripod after trying in vain to capture images from the Perseid shower last night.

I'll spare you the photos

Let's just say that fresh sand and cornering don't go too well together. And road rash sucks. And once you dislocate a joint (skiing accident, 1994? 1995?) it will dislocate easier for the rest of your life. The bike's got some new scrapes, too. It was about time for new bar tape anyway.

But hey, I still had some of that wonderful Tegaderm stuff in the office, and a co-worker had some Aleve. I think I got my shoulder re-set fine. If it gives me too much grief today I'll probably go see a doc after work.

Ah, Tuesday. How's yours going?

Injured. Again.

Not bad, just a nasty, bloody scrape on my leg from hitting the brake cable boss after my chain slipped off the big end whilst hammering. Why bother with tattoos when you keep getting new scars? I'll spare you the photos.

I was running a few minutes behind -- the reason for my hammerfest, actually and I was hoping to catch up with Karen. After passing Boulevard Brewery and making the curve approaching Rainbow, I could see a cyclist up the hill and on the horizon, probably more than a mile away by this time. I wouldn't catch up with her until after 18th St. Expressway. Not nearly the chase cDude gave (nor nearly the speed, I'm slow) but few things make you push harder than trying to catch a stronger rider. The only thing interesting I noticed about my commute was that yet another house along Merriam Drive was burnt to a crisp. It seems at least once a year, a house along this stretch of road catches fire. Last year, there were two of them -- one in Rosedale and the other near Roe Lane. This one was near Lamar.

As for the new scrape? I debrided and sterilized it when I got home, then covered it up with Tegaderm. It's in a strange spot that's hard to cover up, so I hope it heals quickly. Note to self: might be time to adjust the front derailleur high limit screw.

Random Tunage:
Binary Finary - 1998
Crystal Method - Bad Stone

Tricks of the Trade: Rainy Commuting

Yesterday was my first truly rainy commute of 2009. I've ridden in some damp conditions and in sprinkles, but yesterday took all that to a new level with a day-long deluge that had waned into sprinkles by the time I got off work, leaving the roads with water rushing to the storm drains.

I've had a few people asking for advice on rainy commuting.

1st: Stay Safe
Visibility is reduced for both you and motorists. Make sure your lights work and use them even during the day. Reflective clothing is a bonus. Look ahead and ride slower if you need to. Stay diligent looking for road hazards. Water can obscure broken glass and road-debris, pot-holes, storm drains and other things you would normally avoid.

Painted or non-porous surfaces get very slippery when it's been raining. Use extreme caution when riding over expansion joints, manhole covers, road stripes (especially the wide "stop" lines), metal plates on the road and railroad tracks. This one gets me on occasion, as I'll explain in a bit.

2nd: Keep your gear dry
Most commuters haul stuff to and from work: work clothes, gadgets, papers, lunch and whatnot. That stuff doesn't do much good if it's wet. I use panniers with rain covers, but even those don't keep things 100% dry. You can buy waterproof panniers and messenger bags. I just wrap my sensitive stuff in plastic or use large zip-lock bags and re-use them until they're no longer waterproof. You have many options.

I also keep a complete spare change of clothes and a towel at the office for emergencies or in case I forget something at home. On seriously rainy days, I could just ride my bike and bring nothing along with me, then change into my dry clothes.

3rd: Comfort
Fenders keep rain from splashing up on your back and into your face and legs. Long after it rains, wet roads can make your commute miserable. Fenders fix that, and when it's raining, you'll get hit mostly by clean rain from the sky instead of experiencing the constant barrage of road grime -- that is until some car passes you and splashes it all over the place or you get stuck riding behind a cyclist without decent fenders.

You can buy specialty rainsuits, but less-expensive waterproof pants often get torn up quickly on a bicycle due to snagging in the chain and wear from the saddle. High-end gore-tex pants are expensive. I usually opt to let my legs get wet unless it's below 50 degrees outside.

Keeping a cheap $3 rain poncho around can help a lot when it's pouring like it was in Kansas City yesterday morning. It covers enough of your legs to keep your shorts from getting totally soaked. Combined with fenders, a cheap poncho is a good thing to have around. They're small and fit easily in panniers or backpacks.



I got my own taste of slippery metal yesterday:


I wasn't looking far enough ahead when I rode into that region. It's an expansion joint with two metal rails and a rubber pad between them. I have no clue why it's there. Once I'd crossed the perpendicular joint just past the paint stripe, it was too late to brake. The joint comes back across the road, which forced me to hit it almost parallel. My tire slipped, then fell into the groove. Fortunately, a little bit of road rash to the knee is the only bad thing that happened.

Of course, I've already written some stuff on how to handle road rash. After cleaning the wound, I covered it with Tegaderm and got on with my life. Tegaderm stands up to showering and covers scrapes with a breathable membrane that lets the healing process happen quickly and without scabbing.

An endo with an audience

I almost chickened out this morning. The pavement was really wet, and I couldn't tell if it was condensation or rain. The air was foggy, bordering on mist but I couldn't actually feel water droplets when I was stopped. It's the kind of morning where your bike and your eyebrows accumulate moisture straight out of the air. I'm glad I opted to ride in, but the humidity was overbearing. I still think I may have been better off with flippers and a scuba tank than a bicycle and backpack.

John in Calgary, Jason, and Dave: You guys seriously rock! I've got most of my commuting essentials back, and The Twelve seems to be holding up well despite my attempt this morning to test it's resilience. That brings me to the headline:

I did go to the same-old coffee shop this morning, and I locked my bike (and Lorin's as well) to a place that's agreeable to security AND still in eyeshot. I suppose that's the best I can do for now. On my way to work, I took the shortcut through one of the two-level parking garages in town. This one has a 3-inch "lip" going into it, where the asphalt has sunken down but the concrete going into the garage has remained at its designed height. Usually, I take it really slow, pop the front wheel up, then pop the rear wheel up and I never even touch the lip. Today, I was going too slow or hopped too early. Whichever it was, the result was the same.

Ready to lift the rear wheel by tucking my legs and pulling up on the clipless pedals, my handlebars were loaded. The front tire hit the lip (at less than 2 miles per hour) and then the inevitable happened. My front wheel acted as a perfect fulcrum. My bike was the lever, and I was the load. It was such a slow endo that I got unclipped and caught myself on my hands. Chuckling, I got up and realized a few people saw me take the spill as they were smoking in their cars before trudging into work. I'm sure they'll have something to talk about in the office today. None of them were direct cow-orkers of mine, fortunately. No harm done to me nor The Twelve except for what I assume will be a bruise above my left knee where I hit the handlebar.

These mild days are the kind of thing I'd expect from Late September. I'm really hoping this isn't a harbinger of a really harsh winter.

Random Tunage:
Ecano - Run
Lisa Loeb - How

A tale of rain and road rash

I thought I saw Karen pull out behind me as I rode through 79th. A pale blue single LED or HID light was visible for a moment, but the light vanished. Up Quivira to 75th, then over to Nieman, I saw the light behind me once again as I rode north. Karen shouted at me. I waited for her to get through the light. Next to her, four police cruisers were stopped with officers on weapons and using cars for cover. Karen spoke with the officers for a moment while waiting for the light. I guess someone broke in to steal cigarettes and the officers were clearing the building, concerned there was a second perp. Eeeh. I figure the felons would have tried activating the gas pumps to steal gas the way the price jumped overnight.

Sorry it's blurry. 3.639 for Regular 87 Octane. This is a 19 cent increase over yesterday. I don't know whether to grin or shudder. That's a lie. I'm still shuddering, but between the fuel crunch and cramped space on commuter buses, I realize I might start seeing more bike commuters.


I didn't get any other workbound photos. It started raining on us soon after we got on Merriam Lane.

On final approach to the coffee shop, I rode over a wet manhole cover and the bike went down. It's fine, but I dragged my leg across the blacktop and through the wonderful road grime containing all sorts of delectable contaminants. You can't see it, but there's about 3 square inches of epidermis missing around the scrapes. Fresh meat:


In praise of Tegaderm. I tried various "moist" wound dressings last time I had road rash. The Hydrocolloid dressings did work, but I had better luck with the breathable 3M Tegaderm than anything else.


Tegaderm is the exact same thing that many hospitals use to cover IV insertion points. It's sticky, but doesn't stick to the wound or to fresh skin. It seals in moisture while still allowing air to get to the skin. You can wear it for days and days at a time. If you're careful, it even lasts through a shower or two. The printed label on the bottom of the dressing is made of medical tape. It's for use in hospital situations so that the dressing's application date can be noted.


Peeling the backing off reveals a paper frame around a clear, sticky membrane.


The wound is centered in the frame...


Then the edges are firmly applied, taking care to smooth the wound dressing and avoid sharp creases and wrinkles.


Once the paper frame is removed, only the clear membrane remains. This allows the wound to heal quickly and without scabbing. Fresh, pink skin will probably start showing up under this bandage by tomorrow morning.


At coffee, John showed up along with JR and Lorin. John occasionally commutes by bike but usually by bus. John, Lorin, Karen, Chris, and at least one more rider are on-board for Monday's Bike Commuter Convoy. It sounds like it's almost certain that we'll get TV news coverage. So far, we have a convoy of six.

Random Tunage:
A-Ha - Take On Me
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt

This had to look like something out of a cartoon...

First things first, my wife is (finally, thankfully) out of the hospital. More diagnostics and Dr's visits to come. But she's back home. Thanks for the comments and emails.

After my ride home, I went to the bike shop to check on my Trek 1200. I didn't notice it, but my whole RD actually got destroyed in the carnage last week. Unfortunately, the RD isn't covered under the warranty, so I will have to shell out my hard-earned cash for a new one. My options were to cheap out and get a Sora RD for under $30 (no thanks) or upgrade to Ultegra for $115 (No thanks) if I wanted them to use parts they had in the shop. Or, I could get a brand new 105 RD for a more reasonable price. 105 is the stock level for this bike, but the one they have is silver instead of black. The rub? I have wait for someone to run to the other store to get the parts, which means they probably won't have time to install it until tomorrow.

So I told them to go get it. And then I goofed off in the shop for a while. And this is where it gets good. I got on a unicycle. I know what you're thinking. Noah's a retard! Well, I didn't actually even attempt that. So I tried their Indo Balance Board. Full-on. Just hopped right on it and gave it a whirl. Whoooooop - THUD. The balance board flew across the shop floor, and I landed on my (well padded) butt. No harm. Not even my ego, because I knew it would happen. The techs knew it would happen, too. It was later that they disclosed the fact that pretty much everyone's first time on the Indo board results in a butt plant. There were no surprises. They are thinking of putting a video camera up in the skateboard section just so they can youtube some of the epic failures. I don't know how well that plan would work out for them.

So, tomorrow I get the Twelve back. I hope.

Random Tunage:
T.A.T.U. - All the things she said
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Shakedown run successful

I've done shakedown runs for various reasons. Usually it's after I change some piece of safety or drivetrain equipment. This time, it was to see if my wrist was up to the challenge of riding. It still hurts to rest a lot of weight on my wrist or to apply torque parallel to the plane of my palm. I hung up my Trek 1200. The drop bars are a recipe for disaster right now, requiring both weight on my wrists and the kind of torque that hurts.

The Sorrento has low handlebars and a shallow cockpit. The flat bars would keep the torque off my wrist, but pressing the thumb triggers would require some of that torque. Since the bars are so low, I'd be slouched over and resting on my wrists. Scratch that idea.

The Outlook has a deeper cockpit, a longer top tube, and handlebars that are an inch and a half higher than the seat. This gives me the ability to hunker down if I need to, but allows me to feel very natural in a nearly bolt-upright position. You would figure that the twist-grip shifters on the outlook would further agitate my wrists, but they handle that kind of torque just fine, at least just standing over the bike and playing with the shifters and brakes before trying to ride.

I had some errands to run that would take me all along 87th street, and it was already dark. I threw on the backpack and some lighting and hit the road. I picked up some supper, then rode to a grocery store to pick up something for my wife. They didn't have what she was looking for, so I rode past my apartment the other way to another grocery store. All in all, I rode a bit more than 7 miles. 87th street is relatively flat: About 100 feet of total climb for my entire trip, and a maximum deviation of 28 feet total. After 8pm or so, 87th street isn't that much of a death trap, and it was an enjoyable ride. The Outlook happily rocketed to 30 MPH (my top speed for the night) upon request. My wrist didn't give me any problems.

I'm not going to log any hard miles for a while. If I get hurt, I'd like to be in walking distance to somewhere, and that isn't guaranteed on my full route. I'll be riding to the Express bus tomorrow.

Random Tunage:
Peter Gabriel - In You Eyes
Information Society - What's on your mind

Ow!

On my way home this evening, my front tire washed out, flinging me into a curb along Quivira Rd. Front wheel is a tiny bit out of true and there's a few scrapes on the hoods, levers. My saddle was also twisted about 15 degrees. Other than that, bike seems okay. My wrists, though, are on fire. The left one will be okay, but my right one is sprained really, really badly. It's possibly fractured. I'm going to keep it cold and see if the swelling goes down. It's not displaying the classic signs of a fractured wrist, but I can't even lift my laptop up with my right hand.

I'm fortunate to be ambidextrous. Actually, I was born a lefty but forced into a right-handedness by my kindergarten teacher. I kept most of my left hand motor skill, though.

So, if it's not any better tomorrow, I'll probably go see a physician. I may end up walking to the Dreaded bus tomorrow.

A state of ouch

I didn't truly come to realize exactly how beat up I got last night until I woke up this morning. Sure, my chin and upper lip are swollen. Since they both have scrapes, that was to be expected. I also figured my back would ache a bit. "A bit" is a ginormous understatement. The little tiny scrape under my left eye is getting irritated and puffy as well, and I figured it would just fade away over the next day or so.

It doesn't end there, though. My hands! The gloves kept my hands from getting torn up, but the impact is evident this morning. I also have a goose-egg on my right knee that's making it hard to bend, and a deep, deep bruise to my left quadricep (outer muscle on the front of my leg) which feels like a cramp when I contract it.

To show the bike who's boss, I took the evil MTB to the express bus this morning. I rode through a horrible headwind, and in my weakened/injured condition, I was pretty freaking slow. I made it, though.

So, that's that. I was hoping to hit some singletrack with some local MTB riders maybe this week. I need to see how my leg and knee recover from this before I make any plans like that.

Random Tunage:
Hybrid - Kill City
Inkfish - Acting Out (Part 2)

Another really close shave...

... or, mountain bikes don't handle like road bikes do!

I decided to take my Sorrento the the Monday night ride. On my way, I did something stupid and ended up throwing myself over the bars and once again, straight into the pavement with an absolutely bee-aay-oootiful slow-mo endo. After it was obvious I was going down, I took my hands off the bars to brace myself a bit, but tucked my elbows. I found myself sliding a bit on my chest and hands, then the bike came up around behind me, rolling me onto my face a bit.

I wasn't on a major road, and I was goofing off and riding way too aggressively. Mountain bikes just aren't made to carve and brake the way a road bike does while riding fast. Fortunately, all I have to show for it is some road rash on my chin and a scrape on my upper lip. There are some scrapes on the skid-lid, too, but nothing bad.

Anyhow, I'm okay, but I feel like my chin got shaved a little too close! I turned around and came back home after crashing. I could have gone to the ride, but I wanted to properly cleanse and dress my scrapes.

Before I left work to come home, before this whole mess happened, the wind was 22MPH gusting to 30 out of the southwest when I checked the weather. I ended up taking the A bus to get closer to home, and I'm glad. I really didn't feel like sparring with headwinds of that stature.

Well, the results are in...

Looks like it was a sinus infection after all. I got my tooth looked at today. The swelling in my face and fever were not from the tooth. My dentist did x-rays and a thorough visual/physical examination. He couldn't find anything wrong. I'm off of Ibuprofen and I've fought through whatever was causing me so much grief this weekend. I'll be back on the road tomorrow.

While I was at the dentist's office, he re-built my tooth again and sent me on my way. I look like a human again. Well, my mouth does, at least. The rest of me probably resembles a C.H.U.D.

Last night's ride from the Trek Store was a small crew compared to usual. There were only 15 or so in attendance. Next week, it's going to be crazy, with Leipheimer and Contador at the Trek Store for a fundraiser, more than 1000 people are expected to show up. Now, not that many will be around for the ride afterwards. Mark Thomas is tied up with the Tour of Missouri stuff next week, so I'll be leading the recovery ride in his place. It will be a nice, easy ride, assuming we can get into or out of the Trek Store lot. I'm going to go ahead and say you might as well ride to the Trek Store if you plan on showing up, because there's no way that part of Shawnee (Merriam?) has enough parking spaces for 1000 people. Bring a lock, too. You'll want it.

Random Tunage:
Madonna - Ray of light
Bakke and Ljungqvist - Fanatic

A long weekend shot to hell

Well, I didn't mention it yet, but after the C'Dude ride, the roof of my mouth started getting mighty uncomfortable. Starting shortly after I got to the college to hang out with my wife, pain came and went in ebbs and flows all the way through Friday night. It felt like pressure in the roof of my mouth, so I assumed it was a minor sinus infection, probably brought on and irritated by the cool night air and a weakened immune system from exerting myself so much. I treated it as such.

By Saturday morning, there were no ebbs and flows. Just varying degrees of pain ranging from really painful to intolerable. It was now that I'm realizing what's happening. My broken tooth is probably dying and getting abscessed. For 15 minutes at a time, the pain would spike to the point where my body would start to get symptoms of shock. Tunnel vision, increased heart rate, shallow breathing, flushed and clammy skin, etc. I spent most of Saturday cowering under the covers. I took an old Tylenol 3 that I had laying around. No dice. I took two six hours later to be given only slight reprieve from my suffering. By Sunday morning, I was running a fever of 102*F. My upper lip, nose, eyes, and cheeks were getting puffy. I finally managed to get the pain, fever, some of the tenderness and most of the swelling in my face under control with a double-dose of Ibuprofen. My fever still goes up and the pain (but not swelling or tenderness) gets worse when the stuff wears off, so I have to stay on top of the dosage.

I called 3 different "emergency" dentist lines this weekend and haven't gotten a call back from any of them. I need a root canal, and quick. Stupid holiday weekends.

Anyhow, this really came out of nowhere. No annoying sensitivity or anything that feels like a cavity on my broken tooth. I brush the broken surface at least 3 times a day when I brush the rest of my teeth, and I've never had any shooting pain or sensitivity to it. Just WHAM and instantly it became infected for no apparent reason.

Yesterday, I was able to keep the symptoms at bay long enough to enjoy about 6 miles on Turkey Creek Trail with my wife. I'm feeling better (but a little but like an Advil junkie) today since I've been keeping a constant flow of drugs into my system. This sucks really bad. I'm going to go ahead and hit up my usual Monday night ride.

I called my boss and told him I'm taking tomorrow off. Hopefully, some dentist in town will look at me and fix me up. This is getting ridiculous.

The time trials

This morning's time trial commute was smooth as usual. There was no one else riding this morning to egg me on, but I'm so used to hammering it now that I managed another 19.2 MPH average between my apartment and the brewery. Like always, I slowed down once I started the climb into downtown, but even those averages are on the rise.

I'm going to have to stop this sort of behavior, though. I tweaked my knee on my way home Monday night. In an energetic rush of acceleration, I pulled up hard on the upstroke to take off from a stop. I usually "float" my upstroke; I rarely pull up forcefully. This is what I get. While my knee hasn't gotten any worse this week, it's not getting any better, either. It's just sort of stiff. It feels fine while I'm riding but stiffens up once I get off the bike. I'm sure this week's morning time trials are partially to blame. I think I'm going to ride to the bus stop tomorrow morning.

On my way over towards Mission Road, I caught up with someone who I only know as "the scooter lady". She's an older lady that passes me every morning on this little black scooter that can't have much more than 80cc of displacement. It sounds like something out of the Jetsons. We exchanged greetings at the stop light and she told me that I seem to make pretty good time on my bike. I agreed. The light changed and that was that.

Well, off to work I go!

Random Tunage:
DJ Eyal - Dreamcatcher
Alice DeeJay - Better Off Alone