Easy… I’m recovering.
For over 3 weeks now I’ve been riding the trainer at home for 1-1.5 hours a day. Last Friday I had to test riding without that 3-point harness I have on and tried to do a 45-minute climb on the trainer going full blast up Alpe d’Huez with the Tour de France boyz from 2006 (Yeah it’s the one that Schleck won and Floyd got his Yellow).
But after “only” 30 minutes I was exhausted and my back started hurting. Actually since I hardly ever used the muscles since the crash they are quite easily exhausted, so no wonder. But a good “test” nevertheless. I did some more easy spinning afterwards.
On Saturday though I had to give in to my curiosity though… I took the new bike downstairs, suited up and shoved off to test the €2700-ride. Nice… REAL nice !
The first impressions were: Stiff but not too stiff. Nice response to accelerations and quite nice power transfer from my legs to the road.
The frame is not as “comfortable” (for lack of a better word) as SHO but nice to ride nevertheless. The DT Swiss wheels translate every little bump in the road to the frame and the shocks get not softened as much as with the TREK frame. So you feel the road much better in your arms and upper body.
The 10-speed Shimano group is very stiff as well and help the efficiency of the bike. I liked the climbing (in saddle) to the next hill but also loved the hammering on the pedals once I got out of the saddle. I am a little worried about the cornering factor though. The bike is not as smooth as the Trek used to be around regular corners. But a quick left/right corner the Olympia comes out better. I think I achieved the purpose with this bike: a replacement of SHO.
Now I was out riding and the skies above me did not agree… a thunderstorm was brewing and it started splashing as I was about halfway around a loop that would take me home anyway (since I needed to get my water bottle which I sheepishly forgot). I decided to head home then and be reasonably dry… Not a chance. As I started heading back the skies opened up with a storm of thick, huge raindrops and soon I was soaked, the bike was soaked, the road was awash with ½ an inch of cool wetness. The Continental tires were doing fine but I got concerned about the brakes which seemed far less responsive that SHO’s in the rain. So I took it easy descending to Differdange and probably held up traffic behind me. Due to the neck injury and the stiffness resulting from it, I dared not turn around though.
Thunder and lightning was not far behind and I suddenly found a name for my Italian steed: STORM ! Inspiration from the weather combined with X-men knowledge… The name stuck. I tried it out… “I was riding Storm and hit a bad patch of weather…” Hey pretty cool… “Riders on the storm… into this life we’re born” … Wow … The Doors said it best I think :-)
I got home after only 8.5 clicks but about 2 kilos heavier than when I left. I was dripping on the garage floor and took a few snapshots of “Storm” before heading upstairs and getting some more workout in on the trainer.
Finally this Thursday I went to the Doctor for my “final” checkup. I had to go through another MRI the day before and got a CD with the pictures. I watched them on my laptop but could hardly make sense of them. So the doctor explained to me what and where was wrong and how the healing process progressed. I still have some damage to 3 of the vertebrae but it’s (obviously) better than 5 weeks ago. There is still some fluid in my spinal cord that is not supposed to be there… Both those open points will be better in another 2 months. I was not in pain during the doctor’s visit but there are recurring pains in my spine that (I believe) are normal since the healing is not yet done. Also I need to strengthen my muscles again and am able to do so without the harness from which the Doctor has officially liberated me.
The big thing I had in my sight though was the official Go/No-Go on riding my bike outside. Dr Fries gave me the green light to go riding outside. I punched the air with my fist and let out a guttural “Yeah” before he could caution me that I should not over-do it. We agreed upon a 2-hour ride in the beginning and I knew that I was going to do just that come Thursday afternoon.
I mentioned that since the crash I had the sniffles quite bad and he was a little bit concerned about that so he ordered me to have another MRI on August 15th. Oh well... Better safe than sorry in establishing that it's nothing serious.
CAR !
3 weeks ago I also got my car…
A Chevy HHR which is the first one (and will be the only one for a while) in Luxembourg due to license registration problems.
Cool! Well I waited 3 months for the thing, parked at the Chevrolet dealership in Arlon, Belgium. I was quite happy to take it for a ride and finally bring it home.
So, I'm back at work and look forward to ride my bikes over the next weeks and months.
Cheerio Y'All !