We have the in-laws coming over for my beloved pot roast today, so I didn't have time to go far. Just about 15 miles into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and back. On my ride, I only saw one other cyclist (and not many more cars, now that I think about it). But I was bundled up well, and if anything, maybe a bit too warm by the time I was riding back home.
There hasn't been much on the blog lately. Partly because I just haven't had a lot of time for writing. Partly because I haven't had a lot of inspiration. Maybe things will change a bit in the coming months. I do have a couple of bike projects in the works - not for me, but for the Retro Kids, who are nearly ready for their first "adult" bikes. Believe me, they'll have some nice ones when I'm done. And I'll be sure to get something here on the blog about them.
I continued to bike to work right up to the winter break again this year, but my numbers are way down compared to last year. Some of that's due to weather (we had a lot of rain, sleet, and ice in the last couple of months), and some of that's due to after-school commitments with the kids. In any case, my average for the last 4-5 months was just below 50% - for the first time in about four years. Nothing to brag about. I don't know if it will get better this spring, either. Some months back I took a spill and suspect I may have torn the rotator cuff in my shoulder. It doesn't hurt when I ride, but I can't raise my right arm above my shoulder, and can't do anything that requires rotating the shoulder. I say, I suspect it's torn, but I won't know until I get an MRI which won't be until after the holidays. If I have to get surgery, that will probably stop my riding for a few months. If that turns out to be the case, I am NOT looking forward to that.
But enough of that for now. However you spend these next few days and coming weeks, I hope it is full of happiness.
I had a rotator cuff injury last year. The insurance would not pay for surgery until I had tried six weeks of physical therapy. I was skeptical, but it fixed me right up. Maybe it would work for you.
ReplyDeleteIf you are lucky you may only have some shoulder impingement rather than a tear. I have had both rotator cuffs repaired over the past few years. Both were done arthroscopically. The hard part is the rehab. You are in a sling for the better part of eight to ten weeks to allow the tendon to repair. You keep it on all of the time except for three times a day of shoulder pendulum motion. Then you start a very slow active rehab process. By six months you should be OK. Everyone told me that it takes a year to get back to some sort of normal and they were correct. If you do require surgery, make sure that you get a nerve block (specifically an interscalene brachial plexus block) and have the anesthesiologist inject some exparel when the block is performed. It will give you upwards of four days of solid pain relief. Shoulder surgery is incredibly painful. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteHow do you provide a bike to a retro kid? My nephew loves bike. I am a decent mechanic, and I would like to get him a cool retro bike without making him feel bad that I am getting used junk or era inappropriate machines.
ReplyDeleteA Raleigh Fireball speaks to me. Raleigh was his grandpas brand passed down to me. I could put in a 3 speed hub and maybe some cable brakes. But am I doing this for me and leaving him with an old bike not from his era.
He does live in Austin TX and is six. And did I mention loves bikes, getting a nice woom for Christmas this year. Am I pursuing my dreams instead of his?
I think even a kid can appreciate that a bike was restored/renovated specially for them. My kids don't and won't care that their bikes don't have suspension, or carbon forks, disc brakes, and all that. I'll be building a couple of early '80s Japanese frames that I got cheap and am having powder-coated in their favorite colors. The parts will be a mix of old and new, but all appropriate to the style and vintage of the bikes.
DeleteYou kids will have better bikes than Santa could ever give them!
ReplyDeleteI hope your rotator cuff isn't torn. But you should have it checked, and worked on, if need be: If something isn't right, it doesn't get better if you leave it alone.
Hi Justine - I have an MRI scheduled for after the new year. We'll know more after that. About the bikes, when I get the kids' frames back from the powder coater (he's a local guy who does good work, and inexpensive, but he has kind of an "I'll get to them when I have some spare time" way of working) I'll get some pictures and info here on the blog. Happy holidays!
Deletenice
ReplyDeleteI had a similar shoulder problem about ten years ago. I thought it might have to do with too much manual wood splitting, as in five cords, but it got much worse after I got T-boned by a car that ran a red light: an injury that included three broken ribs on that side. The doc diagnosed it as "Stuck Shoulder," and prescribed PT, which I gave up on after it didn't seemed to be doing anything.
ReplyDeleteThe shoulder very gradually started getting better, then worse, then better again. As of a few years ago, I realized that I had regained complete movement. I was swinging the splitting maul yesterday for a couple hours and today it's the back, not the shoulder that is stiff.
We never had new bikes as kids and it was "helping" my dad make working bikes oug of piles of junk that gave me my start as a mechanic. He had developed his skills after growing up in the Depression, and had once assembled enough bikes that his entire church youth group used them on a 25-mile outing. The bikes we had may have been cast-offs and mongrels, but he always insisted that we sand the frames and brush paint them with enamel, so they looked fresh. Even before I could do anything productive with a wrench, I learned to take pride in the machine as I worked around all its details with sandpaper and brush. I also learned that it took fewer coats if I stuck to something close to the original color!
Been meaning to ask, Brooks - what's that building behind you? An inn, maybe? Lee
ReplyDeleteThat building would make a nice inn/bed-breakfast - but it's actually part of Hale Farm & Village - a "living history" village in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
DeleteHow's your shoulder Brooks???????
ReplyDeleteDoing some rehab - they said it wasn't torn, so that's good. Sure didn't want to have to get surgery. Still have what I'd call limited range of motion, but it does seem to be improving- if slowly.
Delete