Thursday, November 1, 2007

And we're back/NYC Century 2007

I meant to get back to this a long time ago. Its been a busy few months. I'll recap some of the major events.

July 2007 I was in the best shape to date. I biked to work in Brooklyn almost every day it didn't rain. I did laps in Central Park two mornings a week before work, around 6:30 aM, with Susan K., whom I met on the 5BBC Hudson ride. She rides a road bike, its tough to keep up on my Gary Fisher Tiburon hybrid but I still managed to turn in 15 mph laps. t the end of July I rode the 55 mile route of the Bike New York Harlem Valley Rail Ride on my hybrid. It was challenging and fun, a pretty ride on country roads. To one accustomed to NYC drivers and the antics I'd seen from some of them as a marshal on the Tour de Brooklyn, the way that the Dutchess County drivers patiently waited as I came down the road and went through a turn was amazingly nice.

On the evening of July 31st on my way home from work on my bike, after getting up early to do 2 laps in Central Park at 6 am and then putting in a 12 hour shift at work, I blacked out and crashed. Fortunately, the fractures were all non-displaced and healed with just splints. I awoke in the emergency room as they cut my Team One Family jersey off despite my protest that it has a zippered front. Fortunately they didn't feel the need to cut my bike shorts off.


Right on schedule per the orthopedist's forecast I was able to ride the 55 mile route of the Transportation Alternatives New York Century on September 9th. At the Canarsie Pier rest stop, I met up with Sammy Zack of Team One Family. He was riding captain on a tandem with a blind friend of his riding stoker. After chatting, they headed off on the 75 mile route and I continued on the 55. A great day with really good weather. The route was pretty good, though its hard to make a decent pace up Eastern Parkway in the midde of the day -- even if you're in a car you end up stopping at almost every traffic light. Still, I was really happy to have full independent mobility again and to have enough strength and stamina to do the 50 miles despite the concerns of my wife and my Mom to take it easy. Easy's not very interesting/fun, got to challenge yourself or you don't move forward in life.

Urgent gall bladder removal the Thursday afterward put a stop to my riding for a while. Even laproscopic abdominal surgery takes a lot out of you.

No comments:

Post a Comment