My First Love

While riding today i was reflecting on how much I love to cycle. One might think with as much running I do, that would be my first love. In reality, as a kid/ teenager I would never just go for a run, but from the time I could ride a two wheeler, my bike was an extension of my body.
It was my transportation, it was a way to fill time, and I had some pretty good BMX moves. Even now, MTN biking isn't really difficult as I have inherently good bicycle skills. I didn't go for distance as I rarely went for more than 10k at a time as a teenager. As a kid it was just endless loops of the feed lot I lived on. Which BTW, thanks to google I see is around 6oometres. I recall developing massive callous on my palms of my hands every spring. And as I sit here I realise why I can't handle hills on the bike, there was no hills in the corner of Elderslie township where I lived.

Fear

I recently had a patient who had been in a rather dramatic bicycle accident. I was his nurse during the final stages of the convalescence period in hospital. At this point he had had time to reflect upon the accident. This accident had left him with a broken hip, so reasonably severe. As I had also had a bike accident as of late we had a good time commiserating about our injuries. I shared how my helmet had a crack from such a pathetic accident so I asked how his had made out.

And... he wasn't wearing one. Apparently, he doesn't prescribe to the 'fear mentality' of wearing helmets. He feels motorists are actually safer around people who are not wearing helmets. He feels they do more harm than good in an accident...personally I didn't agree with his argument against helmets but the conversation evolved into a discussion on fear, and paranoia that causes us to build walls, forgo trust,  and prevent community.  As he was in his 60's he personally lamented the fall of hitchhiking. I shared now some might feel I am naive but I feel most people are basically good, how I have no fear encountering strangers on the trail while running alone.

Thus, i was disheartened to read of something as simple the fear of a bike being stolen in Hanover. A bike lock wasn't good enough. They felt the tire had to removed as well. This is not a $500 bike, nor even a $100 bike. Sure it is important to them but worth the trouble of removing the wheel? I call that fear.


The picture is of the Bruce Trail near Owen Sound.

....and I hit a tree.

So I was just riding along, minding my own business, not really paying attention..and that was the problem, I wasn't paying attention...and hit a tree.

There was a fork in the road, go left or go right, made the decision a split second too late and I'm not sure if it was me or my bike that hit the tree. End result was falling directly backwards off my bike onto my right shoulder.
I recall just lying on the ground. Eventually i took off my helmet to get more comfortable assessing the damage. Trying to decide if it was bad enough to skip my planned run. Cause I couldn't stop crying and whimpering I decided to call it day. Problem was I couldn't move my right arm, oh and was dangling a bit, and it was rather distracting due to somebody who would not stop moaning.
Thankfully I wasn't far from the car and I was able to get my bike on the rack using my left arm and a few curse words.
I was sure something was dislocated or fractured, mostly due to the fact my right shoulder was dangling...but here's the thing.. once I was at the hospital i relaxed enough and 'things' just settled back into their proper location.
Fast forward 12days and I remain very stiff. I do have complete ROM with pain and limited strength. Have had a massage which helped alot. Waiting for a physio appointment- six weeks wait. Ultra sound shows something nonspecific could be something new or something chronic.
I can do my ADLS except dealing with my bra- thankfully my personal attendant deals with that. What I can't do is swim. One arm swimming is so stupid and I mostly look like i am drowning so I don't see the point.

At one point in my crash I must have hit my head cause i found a crack in my helmet.This is a good thing cause I had decided I hated my helmet but I really didn't need a new one. Now I needed a new helmet. Spent a ridiculous amount but it matches both bikes and it whispers to me to go super fast.

The photo is the offending tree- the missing bark is from my crash. The blue paint is my efforts to increase the markings at Allan park for my trail group. Ever helped- thus the lower paint mark.

Sponsored Athlete!!

I am proud to say that I am now honoured to be a sponsored athlete of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. It is quite simple really, while running I make an effort to pick up empty liquor bottles/cans and in turn The Beer Store gives me 10cents a item. For my spring efforts I received $8.80.

Thanks to my exhaustive research I have noted that the residents of Bruce/ Grey  County seem to have a fondness for drinking Busch Lager on back country roads and throwing the bottles out windows into ditches.

The photo above represents a single hour long run on the Mary Rutherford Road. 

Read, Watch, Listen

 

Read

Recently read two great books about persons who live with an Autism spectrum disorder. Carly's Voice. A teen in Toronto who after years of intensive therapy makes a break through and starts communicating with those around her.  Also, The Journal of Best Practices. About how a relationship can change and grow once somebody starts to try- regardless of how that simply isn't them and never will be.

Watch

Thanks to Netfix, night shift and my non functioning brain, and our lack of TV , I can get slightly obsessed with television series. I go through all available ones and then stop. I simply can't  just watch a show on a weekly basis. I would rather wait until there is a whole series or at least a season to watch at a time. Might be something about my generation and the need for instant gratification... or is that Maya's?? Anyways, I am currently on series one of Glee. I kinda want be Sue Sylvester. I am serious. This is my excuse for why I refuse to be involved with other people's children, and why I maybe would not make a nice coach, and maybe why people think I push hard.

Listen

As a child I spent endless hours hold up in the back of my parents car getting lung cancer while my father smoked and listening to country music while  they embarked on a Sunday drive somewhere so we could have a picnic-  my mothers obsession. My father also had a minor obsession with movies involving the transportation industry, as in transport trucking. Thus, quite often while flipping the radio I pause at country and western stations and listen to old 'favorites'. Yep, I spent .99cents on Convoy.  I am not really a good person who doesn't steal music, couldn't find it for free anywhere.




My Issues with the Hanover Pool/ First World Problems

The inequality in the lane swim times.

The pool is available for lane swim six days a week in the morning. (Or as I like to call it the time when only crazy people are awake.) (On another note I also say that a key to a happy marriage is both parties are either morning or night people. The two should not mix) Oh yah my point- Noon lane swim is five days a week, and night lane swim is three nights a week. To review:

6am- 6xweekly

12pm- 5x weekly

8pm- 3x weekly

I would like to point out that there is also a senior swim four times weekly. For parents of children who work there is only one option. Night swims, but it is only offered  three times weekly. In the winter if I have a choice I will chose a swim over a run cause it is cold and this is Canada.

The lack of leadership exhibited by the lifeguards during lane swim.
During lane swim there are three options slow/ leisure, medium continuous, and fast continuous. At night all swimmers are very courteous and aware of where one belongs and if you are in the wrong lane people realise it and  move as not to disrupt others. People make a careful assessment prior to entering lane as not upset the flow of the lane. The focus is everybody having the best possible lane swim workout.
Lane swims at noon are a whole other kettle of fish. Old ladies who do a eight minute 100metre are suddenly considered medium continues. (They are moving continuous to be fair.) They are offended if offered the suggestion that they can't keep up with a lane. The former minister who flaps her arm and hits people cause she can't stay in her lane. People who don't get the hint you are on their toes and will not let you pass. And my personal favorite; people who enter the fast lane only to do two laps and leave. I make no assessment on the morning swim as I have never been there- possibly never will.

When people come to the ER it is not decided amongst themselves who gets to been cared for first, a professional looks at each individual situation and decides the severity of illness and who needs to be seen in order of priority. Likewise, lane swim is like the ER. The lifeguards are professionals who can assess quickly who needs to be assigned to which lane. They can make quick decisions and move people based on who is there.   My question is why don't they??