Day 13: Some thoughts

Thought I'd take the time to share a status update and pass along a few thoughts while I'm mostly sitting around.  First, I finally got to the "Our Group" page and provided some profiles of the riders in the group.  That page also includes links to everyone else's blog sites.

As for my health, I'm definitely on the mend. I can feel my mobility increasing with less aches and pains each day.  The road rash is scabbed over so it doesn't need to be re-dressed everyday.  My shoulder and left arm are sore but a little more mobile.  The biggest problem is still my right hip.  I can walk without the walker, but I've got a big hitch in my step when I do.  That's not a habit I want to reinforce.  I expect I'll do some physical therapy starting next week.

First I'm going to see the orthopedic surgeon to get his assessment.  I'll be seeing a doctor who's been a competitive racer at the local velodrome and who has treated many injured cycle racers.  This certainly won't be the first time he's seen injuries like mine.  From what I've read, collarbones can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to heal.  I'm sure it will depend on the specifics of my fracture and my health and motivation. In the meantime I'm just trying to keep moving as much as possible without overdoing it.

I have discovered that my hip bothers me much less when taking steps up or down vs. straight line walking.  It's also better when moving my foot in a steady circular motion with a ~7" radius.  :-)  That's reason for a bit of optimism.

When I start feeling sorry for myself or frustrated with my situation I stop and think about Ollie who's still out there riding the TransAm.  Ollie first attempted this ride three years ago.  Ollie's not the type who'd like anyone making a big fuss over him, but suffice it to say he went through a far more harrowing accident than me.  You can read the details of that ride on his 2009 blog site. It seems pretty pointless to feel self-pity for my circumstances.  We're all rooting for Ollie and will be thrilled when he dips his wheel in the Pacific in August.  Keep on ridin' Ollie!  You're my new role model.

Ollie enjoying a layover day in Damascus, VA

Day 11: Christiansburg, VA to Allentown, PA

Wednesday  May 30, 2012,  ~0  miles - Total so far: 378 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 389   Total to date -  800 miles ****

**** Miles on my bike - 410.8, miles by car - 389

I'm terribly disappointed and frustrated to be home so early!

Yes, I'm indeed back home in Allentown.  My wife Pat picked me up at the Carilion New River Valley Medical Center about 5pm yesterday.  We spent the night in a Christiansburg motel then drove home today.  The hospital and all of the staff, by the way, were great!  I highly recommend them to cyclists who might need medical assistance while passing through the area.  But please don't make any special efforts to require a visit there.  :-)

I left the hospital with the aid of a rolling walker which I will probably continue to use for the next few days.  The biggest exercise I got today was walking ~150 yards from our motel to a restaurant for breakfast and then back.  Thank you Pat for encouraging me to do it and being patient with how long it took.  I also got out and walked at our lunch stop and several rest stops.  It's good to still be mobile, though I don't have quite the mobility and freedom I had on my bike.

 

What next?  - 

That's what I'm wondering.   Tomorrow I will try to contact a local orthopedic surgeon for follow-up assessment and care.  I'll try to get an idea about what to expect for my recovery.  I know I'm going to go stir crazy sitting around the house if I can't walk or ride before too long.  I no longer have a job to go to, so I'll find something else.

My attending physician sent me home with a CD of images of my x-rays and medical reports.  I thought maybe I'd be able to post some neat photos to my blog, but they're in a format I'm not familiar with.  I can view them but can't find a way to save them as *.jpg.  The medical description of my broken collarbone is:

"Relatively nondisplaced distal left clavicle fracture."

The rest of the report is way beyond my medical understanding.  I'll share it with the local surgeon.

I'll continue to post updates here for the next few days at least.  Also, there's a separate page on my blog titled "Our Group".  Now that I've got some free time, I'll try to put some stuff up there soon.  I'll also include the websites of the blogs of other group members.  Those who still want to follow along with the ride will be able to do so, even though I won't be riding.

Feel free to continue to post comments and/or questions.

Thanks!

 

Status Update

Thank you everyone for your expressions of concern.  I'm basically OK, but really sore and gimpy and not very mobile yet.  The road rash is healing, the broken clavicle is not that big a problem, just very sore.  The biggest problem is extreme bruising or hyper extension in my right hip joint.  It's still pretty hard to take tiny steps.  I'm planning to leave the hospital later this afternoon (Tuesday) with the aid of a rolling walker.  I didn't think I'd be using one of those for another 25-30 years.

My wife, Pat, is driving down now.  If all goes as planned we'll spend tonight in a local motel and drive back to Allentown tomorrow.  I'll try to post another update to let everyone know when I'm back home.

Day 9: Christiansburg, VA to Radford, VA

Monday  May 28, 2012,  ~7  miles - Total so far: 378 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 7.6   Total to date -  410.8 miles

Mike and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good,Very Bad Day

Not the news I wanted to report, but it looks like my ride is over.  Riding alone out of Christiansburg this morning, making good time and enjoying a beautiful morning, I dropped my wheels off a 2-3" edge of the asphalt pavement as I moved right so a car could pass.  I tried to catch my balance and slow to a stop, but apparently I didn't.  I don't remember what happened in the next couple of seconds, but I remember a stranger asking if I was OK.

I had the Good Samaritan pull my cell phone from my bike bag and call our leader Paul, who arrived within about 10 minutes.  He called 911 and the ambulance came to take me to the hospital.

The damage - a broken upper left clavicle (collarbone), lots of road rash down my left side and a very sore right hip.  I'm really doing pretty well - could be the pain meds they've given me - but I can't stand without almost passing out from the pain in my right hip.  The x-rays showed no breaks there, just the collarbone.  I should be OK somewhere down the line, but it's too soon to tell what my recovery time frame will be.

Paul spent most of the day with me, making sure I was OK and helping make arrangements for what comes next - getting back home to Allentown.  Thanks a million, Paul!  To the rest of the riders and our other leader, Nicole - it was great while it lasted.  I've enjoyed meeting and getting to know every one of you.  Wishing everyone all the best for a SAFE completion to the ride.

I'm extremely disappointed and frustrated, but overall doing pretty well.  It could have been much worse.

Sorry to end this travelogue this way.  I'll post a follow-up or two in the next few days to let you know what comes next for me.  Signing off for now.

Mike

Day 8: Bethel Bible Camp to Christiansburg, VA

Sunday May 27, 2012,  56 miles - Total so far: 371 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 55.7   Total to date - 403.2 miles

End of map 12 - On to map 11

As I described previously, there are 12 maps provided by Adventure Cycling Association to get us across the country.  Today we completed map 12 and tomorrow we move on to map 11 - they're going in reverse for us because we're going east to west.

Today was another hot day, but it was only 56 miles and not quite as much climbing as yesterday.  We got started about 7:30 after getting cold breakfast from the camp mess hall.  We could have had bacon and eggs, but it didn’t start until 8:00 and no one wanted to delay their start due to the heat.

Today’s ride took us through Troutville, Daleville, Catawba, Ellett and ended in Christiansburg.  Much of the ride was through the Catawba Valley which featured beautiful scenery and very lightly traveled country roads with a lot of shade.  It was a beautiful ride.  There was a long gradual climb over much of the middle of the route, then we had to climb over 500 feet in the last couple of miles into Christiansburg.

Tree growing from the top of a silo on the road past Daleville, VA

The Catawba Valley

Interesting yard art

Impressive modern railroad bridge over our route near Ellett, VA

We’re spending the night at St. Paul’s Methodist Church near the center of town.  We’ve got several large air-conditioned rooms on the top floor, a place to park our bikes indoors and a very large kitchen.  The kitchen is an especially good thing since this is my first day to share cooking duties.  I’m working with Monica and we’ve got a large ham, broccoli salad, collard greens and some other goodies.  Monica’s a pretty experienced cook, so mostly I’m just the extra pair of hands and the clean up crew.

We finished our ride about 2:00pm, then after Nicole got back from taking the early arrivals for showers she shuttled the rest of us to the local aquatics center.  Most of the group stayed for over an hour for swimming.  I just showered and came back to the church to help with dinner, though I did wash out some of my socks and small items in the shower.

The temperature was 92 when we arrived in Christiansburg

Huey working on his bike with the St. Paul's Methodist Church steeple in the background

St. Paul's Methodist Church - our overnight site in Christiansburg

 Dinner went great!  The church has an incredibly well equipped kitchen.  They've got two ovens, all the utensils you could need and full table service.  Everyone got plenty to eat and didn't have to use their own table service.  Plus we've got lots of leftover ham for lunches on Monday.

Day 7: Royal Oak Cabins - Blue Ridge Parkway to Bethel Bible Camp - near Troutville, VA

Saturday May 26, 2012,  70 miles - Total so far: 315 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 71.7 Total to date - 347.8 miles

Down off the Blue Ridge Parkway

I think yesterday was the toughest day so far.  Even though we came down off the Blue Ridge we still did a fair amount of climbing and we did 70 miles.  Plus the temperature reached 95 in the afternoon.  Everyone was pretty well beat by the time we arrived at our overnight location, a church camp called Camp Bethel about 6 miles east of Troutville.

The ride began with about 11 more miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway which included a bit more climbing.  We peaked at about 3250 feet after spending the night at about 2600 feet at Royal Oaks Cabins.  There was a nice straight downhill stretch on the Parkway where I hit 38.9mph without even pedaling.  Then, at Tye River Gap on the Parkway, we dropped down on highway 56 to the town of Vesuvius.  It’s a 3-mile drop, extremely steep, braking the whole way down.  I kept it under 30mph for safety’s sake, though I could have easily gone much faster.

The view from Bald Mtn. Overlook - the highest point we reached on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Me at Tye River Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway - 1976

Me at Tye River Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway - 2012

The ride then paralleled I-81 to Lexington and Buchanan.  In Lexington we found a bakery and had treats for pre-lunch.  From Natural Bridge to Buchanan our route used a frontage road which was right beside I-81.  In Buchanan we found an old-fashioned soda shop / drugstore where we stopped for ice cream treats and large glasses of ice-water.  They had a working 50’s era juke box and lots of memorabilia from days gone by.  Before we left we loaded up our water bottles with fresh water and ice.  A great afternoon stop.

We didn’t arrive at camp until almost 4pm, but the stops we made along the way were very helpful in the heat.  At the camp we had two bunkhouses, men’s and women’s.  They were extremely hot when we arrived, so a couple of people decided to pitch their tents.  There were lots of other people staying at the camp for Memorial Day weekend.  They fed us a full dinner at 5:30pm so no one had to cook or clean up.  There was a Bluegrass Music concert after dinner, but I spent the time trying to blog and catch up with photos.  The wi-fi was so slow it took a long time just to upload photos and publish my blog entry for the day before.  So now I’m behind again.

Cows finding a way to keep cool on a hot day - alongside our route to Troutville

Me at the pedestrian bridge in Buchanan, VA - 1976

Me at the pedestrian bridge in Buchanan, VA - 2012

Ransone's The Fountain in Buchanan, VA

Interior of The Fountain,  Buchanan, VA

Scenic ride alongside the creek approaching Bethel Bible Camp

The men's bunkhouse at Bethel Bible Camp

Day 6: Charlottesville, VA to Royal Oak Cabins - on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Friday May 25, 2012,  47 miles - Total so far: 245 miles*
    * Miles ridden on the TransAm route
    Odometer miles - Today - 47.7   Total to date - 276.1 miles

Greetings from the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway

(Although I wrote this on Friday evening, there was no internet or cell phone service from our cabin on the Parkway, so I'm publishing this on Saturday evening.)

Today was another fabulous day.   We rode only 47.7 miles today, but it was probably one of the more difficult days of the ride.  Still, the scenery more than made up for the difficulty and the reward of completing it is great.  The guys with GPS units said we climbed about 4800 total feet.

The Rotunda at the University of Virginia, with statue of Thomas Jefferson,its architect, in front.

We left Charlottesville and headed towards the Blue Ridge.  It was a beautiful sunny day, though it was getting warm.  Much of this area appears to be horse country.  Along the way we stopped at a pick-your-own strawberry place and shared a pint of berries which were excellent.  There were two school busses full of young school kids who were visiting the farm.  It was neat to see and a great place for a rest stop.

View of the countryside looking toward the Blue Ridge as we rode from Charlottesville

The kids at the pick-your-own strawberry patch

About halfway into the day’s ride we reached the base of the climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn’t as steep as I had feared.  I had psyched myself into thinking this might be much more difficult than the climbs I can do back home, but there wasn’t anywhere where the grade was that steep.  There were several long climb sections, but I found it all to be very doable – a real confidence builder.

About halfway up Afton Mountain we stopped at the home of June Curry, the original recipient and namesake of the Adventure Cycling Association’s June Curry Trail Angel award.  In 1976 when I rode the other direction across Virginia everyone along the trail heard about this woman who was passing out free water and cookies to bikers passing by.  Even though it was on the downhill side that time, we stopped and visited and I got a picture.  This year I gave her a copy of that picture and we chatted for a bit.  She’s 91 or will be soon, and she has an aide who was sitting with her when we were there, but she still carried on a conversation about where we’re headed.  I gave her a copy of the photo from 1976 with a thank-you note for all the bikers who she’s helped over the past 36 years.

June Curry (in white blouse) - `1976

June Curry's house - 2012

June Curry and me

Beyond June Curry’s house the road continues to climb, eventually coming out on U.S. 250 and then arriving at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We were at 1800 feet at that point.  The ride on the Parkway featured spectacular views, but also almost continuous climbing through most of the 15 miles on the Parkway.  We reached a high point of about 3200 feet, so we climbed more on the Parkway than we did from Charlottesville to the entry point.

At the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway

The flowering shrubs were a bit past their prime, but still pretty.

Ollie, me and Gina on the Blue Ridge Parkway

One more view of the parkway just before arriving at our overnight stop.

The other factor in the day’s difficulty was the temperature – at least 80 most of the day and probably closer to 85 during midday, even on the Parkway.  It was very draining and everyone was pretty well exhausted by the time we arrived at the overnight location, Royal Oaks Cabins.  But it’s really the lap of luxury, even better than last night.  It’s about midway on our Parkway ride.  We’re staying in a large house with two showers, a couple of bedrooms and a large living room, a wraparound deck and hot tub.

Our luxury "cabin" at Royal Oaks Cabins on the Blue Ridge Parkway