The tamed cyclist, now with less cast and back on the bikes.

[ITA97]

I last left Oppo hanging with an upgrade to a short-arm cast a few weeks ago after trading in the long-arm cast. It was a substantial life upgrade, and I could do most things with it. Riding was back on the agenda, at least in a limited way. Drop bars didn't really work with even the short cast, but the flat bar and shifter on my mountain bike were back in the game and my return was set for the Halloween zombie club ride. Some testing that morning confirmed that I actually could ride in my old racing suit and helmet without tearing anything, so my return ride was in costume as the tamed cyclist. In deference to my arm, I loaded up the bike in the Pajero and drove over to the starting brewery. I learned that driving an RHD Pajero in bright red race suit and helmet attracts even more attention than the normal percentage of people who notice it. It was, by far, the slowest I've ever driven in that suit.

Riding around Las Cruces on pavement on a hardtail mtb with 29x3.0 XC rubber was utterly absurd, and I loved every second of being back on a bike. Folks could probably hear my tire hum from a block away. I was apparently ready to ride and release some pent up energy, too, because somehow I rode point and led the entire ride on a bike on which that should not have happened. I kept spinning out in top gear, because it is such an absurd bike anywhere not a trail.

The ride was tremendous fun, and well needed. There was much riding, and beer drinking, and we stumbled upon a random food trailer giving out free brains (we all tipped appropriately).

The following week featured a few more shorter road rides on the mtb, and another zombie ride on it Saturday night. That ride turned the tables and I got to be the rescuer instead of the rescued. This is a much better arrangement. Always be the rescuer if given the choice. The ride featured a couple of mashing climbs across town to a county park for beers after a store stop to procure the former. The group was all fast kids this week, so we properly mashed. One of us ended up bonking, and in bad way. Since the spot was only a few miles from my house, I jumped back on the mtb and mashed home to return with the Pajero and snacks for a rescue and ride home. After some snacks, electrolytes and rest he ended up being able to finish the ride. It turns out a blood glucose level is important. I even put on the flashers and played road guard for them for a few miles on the way home giving them the highway to play on.

Fast forward to this week, and I got the cast removed on Monday morning and promptly stopped at the house for a ride around the neighborhood before going in to work. I'm supposed to start physical therapy next week, but four days post-cast and the wrist is about 90% back to normal.

In the interim my Salsa got a visit to the lbs for a tune up, going over and a new carbon bar. The tally for the bike from the fall down the steps was a few scratches and damaged grip tape. Going down the upgrade rabbit hole, that turned into "hey, since I've got to redo the tape anyway, what a perfect time to upgrade to a carbon bar..." Six weeks off the bike was too long, and the chain positively glimmered. Almost daily during the stretch of not riding I would wander into my garage to longingly look the bikes I couldn't ride. Sometimes that turned into cleaning the chain and detailing the bike, even if it hadn't seen the light of day since it was last done the week before... It needed some additional color, so I went for blue tape.

I'm so glad to be riding again.

[RallyDarkstrike]

I remember when I fractured my left arm as a kid....I'm right-handed and I was annoyed by just how much more unpleasant everything was...I can't imagine it being your dominant hand or being longer than mine was on for (a few weeks)....

Glad you're back to 90%!

[ITA97]

@rallydarkstrike Luckily I'm left handed, so this was mostly just inconvenient aside from not being able to ride at all for a month. I didn't have to learn any new life skills to do the basic people things.

[NomDePlume]

@ita97 Doesn't sound as if your enthusiasm was dimmed one bit. Luckily you don't have to resort to a trainer this time of year to avoid icy and uncertain roads.

[Shop-Teacher]

I somehow completely missed that you'd broken your arm. Glad you're all better!

[ITA97]

@shop-teacher Thanks! Leaving the last beer stop of a zombie ride I made a terrible decision to try to ride my gravel bike down a flight of steps. I almost made it. My thinking had been along the lines of "hey, I can ride my mountain bike down steps no problem, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do it on a gravel bike..." "How hard could it be" in Clarkson's voice went through my head. It turns out I under estimated how much more difficult riding steps would be on a rigid, drop-bar bike with skinny tires.

[spacekraken]

Glad you're back in the saddle!

[Chariotoflove]

Man, I hear ya. I get withdrawal when I can’t ride.

[Shop-Teacher]

@ita97 whoops!

Honestly, anytime Clarkson's voice comes in your head ... You really should know it's a turrible idea

[jminer]

@ita97 Glad you're on the mend. I like the blue tape, it is a good look.

[RallyWrench]

@ita97 So glad you're back on the bike and feeling good! Don't skimp on the PT and keep up the kick-ass recovery.