For now, I’m getting to/from/around campus by bus, walking, and rides from my wife. It’s times like this when I’m glad I have some alternatives to riding.

Next week is finals, and then I have a few weeks off before winter semester begins. I’m looking forward to a break, and I hope I’ll be well enough to do some riding by then. I am thinking that I would really like to do some wandering rides — take my time and just enjoy myself, nothing too intense. It sounds relaxing.

Today was odd because this morning it was only 10°F but it was bright and sunny with a beautiful blue sky. In many places the sunlight sparkled as it shone through the ice on the tree branches.

I have to admit, my morning “commute” has not been pleasant since I started school. Of course, the weather has been harsh. But that’s only part of the problem.

Before I started school, I could arrive at work, spread out my gloves and clothes and such and let them dry throughout the day. And I could sit in my cubicle and cool off while I worked, without anyone bothering me.

Now that I’m a student, I go immediately into a crowded lecture hall and sit with people on either side of me. My gloves and such get shoved in my backpack. Some of my clothes never get a chance to dry, most days. It’s kind of disgusting, frankly. On days when it’s cold enough that I have to wear an extra layer of pants, I have to remove them by the bike rack and throw them in the milk crate on the bike. It’s awkward to say the least.

It doesn’t help that I always seem to be in a hurry in the morning. I really should get up a little earlier, and then I wouldn’t have to stress about it so much. But I’m horrible at waking up any earlier than necessary.

Today was worse than usual, because I still have lingering signs of illness and I had a couple of major coughing fits riding to class at 10°F. No fun.

I don’t really intend to change anything, except maybe trying to get a slightly earlier start. I’ve thought about taking the bus sometimes, but the only one that goes near my house takes longer than riding, and it doesn’t really go very close to where I need to go. I really wish I lived closer to campus so I could come and go easier. As it is, once I’m there I have to stay there until I’m done for the day, and I have some awkward gaps in my schedule.

So, I’m still adjusting. I’m still enjoying school, but I’m not thrilled with how riding to and from campus is working. Actually, it’s the TO part that’s the problem. Riding home at the end of the day is almost always enjoyable.

I’m still sick, but less so. I moved my blog over to my “new” host. Let me know if you notice any issues. I already have some other projects hosted on this server, and it’s been very reliable, so this should be a vast improvement. For the curious, it’s a managed Linux VPS. The hosting company keeps things up-to-date, does backups, and does some basic maintenance. I still have a VPS with root access. I find it to be the sweet spot of not having to worry about it constantly, but still having complete control over the system.

Then I got sick. I could feel it coming on last night, so I took a bunch of meds before bed. I woke up still feeling crummy, but not as bad. I still have a sore throat. Not sure what’s going on, but I don’t like it.

So, I guess I’m taking it easy for the time being.  I found time to work on some music over the weekend, which was enjoyable at times, but overall it was frustrating. I ran into a bunch of boring technical problems. I managed to get a few things accomplished, but until I have all my equipment set up, it’ll be difficult.

I have missed riding, but I’m also enjoying a bit of a break. Hopefully I can get out soon.

So, that was pretty rough, but, I’m glad that part is over. The doctor said everything is healing well and that now I can do any activities I feel comfortable with … including biking. That’s great in theory, but my foot is still far too tender to do anything of the sort. It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, in the 6os and sunny, and being cooped up was driving me crazy. It was absolutely perfect weather for a ride.

As it was, I managed to go for a walk around the block with my wife and dog, and it was glorious. I feel lucky I was able to do that; I just need to take it one step at a time.

They took more X-rays today and showed me before/after x-rays of my toe. In the before shot, you can see where the bones in my joint had a bulge that was digging into the flesh. In the “after” shot,  you can see how my doctor shaved off part of the bones to smooth things out.  Pretty amazing, really. I complain about the pain, but given what was done, it could be a lot worse.

I’ve been working from home since the surgery. Tomorrow is my first day back in the office … and I’m not exactly sure yet how I’m going to get there, since we only have one car. Logistics could be interesting. I hope I don’t have too much trouble getting around the office. I’m hoping this will be another step in getting things back to normal.

Thursday was a rough day. I had more foot pain than on any other day … my foot just really hurt badly all day. I had to run a few errands in the evening and that made things worse. Friday morning I called the doctor to see about a refill on pain meds, which he was able to arrange, even though he was out of town. However, oddly enough, my foot was feeling quite a bit better on Friday. Better enough that I didn’t take any pain meds all day. I probably could’ve used them, but I was being stubborn.

Saturday I took more pain meds, after a particularly difficult time cleaning/bandaging the wound. But later in the day I realized my foot was feeling pretty good. I couldn’t tell if it was genuinely better of if the meds were just masking the pain. So Sunday it was no meds once again, and even so, my foot felt a lot better than it had in a while.

Today, things are pretty good, too. Don’t get me wrong … there’s still pain, and I’m still hobbling around. But, I can hobble a little faster and more comfortably than before. And while the doctor said I could wear any shoes that felt comfortable after my appointment last Tuesday, I haven’t been able to wear anything other than my surgical boot. I suppose if I had shoes two sizes too big, they’d work, but for now my shoes are too tight and the pressure hurts. I don’t mind the boot, so it’s not a big deal.

Great Weekend

Sarah’s sister Rachel and her boyfriend Bill came down from Fort Wayne to visit us this weekend. It was great to see them, we didn’t really do much, other than a lot of hanging out and talking. I sort of figured we’d watch a movie at some point or something, but we didn’t … we really spent the time catching up. Good times.

Last night, my family went out for dinner to celebrate my nephew Avery’s 12th birthday.  We had a steak dinner followed by presents and swordfighting competitions on the Wii, followed by cake. What’s not to like about that?

Stitches Out?

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to get my stitches out. Initially, the doctor said the stitches would come out after two weeks, and once they did, I could do anything I feel comfortable with, in terms of walking, biking, etc. It hasn’t quite been two weeks, so I’ll be curious to see if the stitches are really ready to come out.

Bicycle Thoughts

Given the amount of pain I’m still feeling, I don’t think I’ll be jumping back on the bike right away, even though not riding has been driving me nuts. I hate that I’m missing the very first warm, springlike riding days of the year. Some of my fellow bike bloggers are already doing epic rides and camping trips, and I’m insanely jealous.

However, I don’t expect to be off the bike for too long. If everything is healing properly I may even get the green light tomorrow from my doctor. Then I just have to see just how painful it is. I’m sort of thinking that I can do some short jaunts around the neighborhood this week, and some longer rides next week might be realistic. Time will tell.

I picked up my bike from the bike shop over the weekend. It got a tune-up, and some new brake pads on the front. I still had the Kool Stop black pads on the front, which I had put on the bike when I bought it. They lasted for over 3100 miles, some of that in the mountains in Pennsylvania, and that includes a lot of mixed-terrain rides, rain, and show, which are harsh on brake pads. I’m pretty impressed they lasted that long. This time, salmon Kool Stops are  on there. They probably won’t last as long, but since the Trucker is now my main commuter, I really need better wet weather performance. I also had the shop order a couple more pairs of Panaracer Paselas, so I have a nice stock of tires for the Trucker for a while. I examined the drivetrain and it looks great, I am hoping things will be running quite smoothly.

I have some ideas for some phenomenal rides. Hmm, maybe I should use some of this downtime to map some rides so I can just pick one and go, once I am able to ride again. I have been using my time productively so far, working on some side projects, and some improvements to this blog that I hope I can make happen sooner, rather than later.

And, it’s frustrating in other ways. Obviously, missing out on the first spring weather of the year is not fun. Plus, while we’ve moved most of our stuff to our new house now, we still have a lot of moving-related tasks that need to be done. My wife has been wonderful, taking care of business while I’m sitting around with my foot up in the air (I have to keep it elevated above heart level as much as possible). And I’m very grateful to her for that, but I hate that I can’t be more helpful.

On a positive note, work has been going well. I’ve done some extra side work as well, so at least I’m using my downtime productively. I’m also working on some changes for this blog, which I am excited about. And, Sarah’s sister and her boyfriend are coming to visit us this weekend, I’m very much looking forward to seeing them.

I’m trying to keep a positive attitude, and generally succeeding. Today has been the hardest day so far, and I’ve definitely been feeling down. I’m almost out of pain meds, so I think I’ll see if I can get a refill tomorrow. I think I may have a couple of harder days before things start looking up.

I get my stitches out next Tuesday, which is sort of hard to believe. It doesn’t seem like my foot will be ready by then. But I assume the doctor knows better than I do.

Sorry for the negative post. I’m trying to keep my chin up. I know it won’t be long before I can help get the house set up, and before I’m out riding again. I can’t wait!

For the procedure, I had an IV, plus electrodes on my chest and I’m told they put in a breathing tube after they knocked me out. I must’ve looked like some kind of freakish cyborg. They cut out a bad section of skin and shaved off part of a bone in my little toe, and sent in the skin for testing to make sure it’s not something serious. The doctor said there’s no reason to think it’s more than an abscess, but they always send it in for testing, just to be sure.

After the procedure, I woke up feeling quite well. I didn’t even realize it was over until I looked down at my foot and saw it was bandaged. They used a local AND a general anesthetic, and my foot is STILL somewhat numb, and I’ve got meds on top of that, so there’s really been little pain so far, for the most part. I expect things to get worse before they get better, as my foot numbness wears off, but time will tell. From what I understand, some people wake up from the general anesthetic feeling horrible, and this has not happened to me this time, nor when I had my wisdom teeth out. I guess I handle the general anesthetic well.

I’ve been prescribed hydrocodone for the pain. Some people love the way this stuff makes them feel, but I don’t. I don’t hate it either, but I can’t see why people do this stuff recreationally. I’ve found that some caffeine makes it more tolerable by keeping my from feeling so lethargic.

So … so far, so good. It was a beautiful day today and I would’ve loved to go for a bike ride, but I am just glad not to be in excruciating pain. I did get out for a while, we managed to get out for lunch and we went for a drive, with Sarah driving. It was great to get some fresh air. We also dropped my bike off at the bike shop for a tune-up. When I’m ready to ride again, my bike will be in top form. I also had them order a couple more Pasela tires for me, they had a good price, and I really like the one I’ve been testing.

Minutes later, I found myself brooding. Just as winter’s grasp begins to weaken, I have to have surgery. I won’t be able to take advantage of the nicer weather for at least a couple of weeks. Hell, I won’t even be able to walk to lunch for a while.

The further I walked, the more my foot hurt. Soon I was limping along, still enjoying the sun, but having a little trouble getting around. I’ve had a few doubts about my surgery, as my foot really doesn’t hurt too badly most of the time. But at that moment, I realized, quite clearly, that the surgery is definitely the right thing to do. And that in the long run, I will recover and be better off.

All of this feels a little melodramatic. My foot doesn’t hurt too badly now, and the surgery is supposed to be relatively minor. But, now I feel much more relaxed, focused, and confident. Sometimes a good walk does wonders for clearing your mind.

When I posted the test video, I was surprised at how much attention people were paying to various details, and some of the comments talked about my riding style and traffic controls in the brief ride. So, I’m curious what people will see here.

Before I post the video, I have a few unrelated comments.

1. For quite a while now, I have been having some problems with my little toe on my left foot. Nothing has worked to get it to heal on its own, so I will be having surgery next Friday. It’s fairly minor and routine, or so I’m told, but I’m very much not looking forward to it. I will be off the bike for at least two weeks. After two weeks, the stitches come out and I can do whatever I’m comfortable with.
2. Moving, and doing some work in the new house, is proving to be very time-consuming. So I have not done much riding. We also don’t have Internet access in the new place yet, so it’s proving difficult to blog much.
3. My new commute will be close to twice as long as the old one, so things are going to get more interesting on the commuting front. I already started riding the Trucker when the weather isn’t too bad, and I have to say, it makes my commute much more enjoyable.
4. I tried to make a video of a fantastic night ride I did with my friend Dave. It was cold, dark, snowing, windy, and we were riding on hilly gravel roads. It was phenomenal! Unfortunately, the helmet cam does not handle darkness very well. I’m not sure yet if any of the footage will be salvageable.

Anyway, back to the commute video: I hope you enjoy it!