Nothing Much to Report

I don't really have much to report, but I guess since I've been put on top of the official Turbo blogroll, I should blog something.

Thankfully, I have no new accidents to report.

Last Sunday, I got back on my bike again for the first time in six weeks. Strangely, it was like learning to ride all over again. As I started off down the driveway and into the street I was literally screaming, "I don't think this is a good idea!" and "This is going to hurt." and "I've forgotten how to clip in." But mostly just a lot of "AAAAaaaaa!!! I'm gonna die!" My thumb didn't even fall off like I was expecting it to.

That lasted about all of about two blocks, then I was okay. Except that I couldn't brake with my right hand. I have lost grip strength. I am going to hand therapy every week now, and I have noticed a huge improvement already.

Off topic paragraph: It didn't take me very long to train myself to not use my thumb. It still takes me some serious concentration to do things like hold a comb or a pencil or zip a zipper normally, or use the space bar on the keyboard with my thumb. But, my thumb is beginning to be a part of my body again.

Back to the ride: at one point I decided to see if I could max out one of those speed clocks the police put out to control driver's speed. I ramped it up to 29 mph before it occurred to me that I couldn't easily stop with just my front brake (remember... my previous accident was an endo - I didn't really want a repeat of that one). Panic! But I got it slowed down just fine. I really need to give myself more credit. I'm pretty sure I have better skillz than I dare to admit. I've just been living high anxiety for the last six week - I'm in protective mode from all my accidents.

I'm excited to go out for a lunch ride with a group of friends tomorrow. I hope this rain clears out by then.

In other news, there is NO relation between me and the sandbagger who raced 'cross last week. Okay there is, but (hopefully) I've convinced her not to pull any more of that crap in the future. I'm hoping to make a showing at the later races this weekend after I kick some indoor cycling butt in the morning. I love being at the races, even though it's hard for me to watch and not participate.

That's all for now. Ride hard!

Cyclocross Weber Fairgrounds - Oct. 3, 2009

I went an cheered at the 'cross race last Saturday. It was a little hard to watch and not participate, but it also confirmed to me that I'm not ready to be back on the bike yet. Just being out in the chilly air made my thumb ache like crazy. At five weeks post-accident, the broken bone should be healed, but the nerves are still regenerating.

Here are some pics I took on my camera phone:

Todd going over the log barrier in the men's C race

One of the UVU Cycling guys, Dan

Teammate Kara jumping a log barrier in the men's C race

Teammate Shanna ripping it up in the Women's B race (sorry my finger's in the pic - I still can't hold my camera right)

Junior racer, Tanner, bunny hopping the log barrier in his first ever 'cross race.

Happy Fall...

Bam! You just got hit by the pumpkin master!

For Your Entertainment

I've been pretty down lately, and feel like it's showing. This is likely due to the fact that several people have told me to cheer up. So, anyway, here's something lighthearted:

Stuff

It has been four weeks now since my little chain ring incident. I am feeling much better this week. I've even managed to drop the pain meds. I continue to be amazed at how a thumb wound has devastated my whole life.

I went to an occupational therapist yesterday. He could see how uptight I was about letting him touch my hand, so all he did was give me some new splints, tell me to relax, and told me to start using my thumb to touch things.

How strange it is to touch things with my thumb again! Wow! It only took me a month to totally retrain myself to live without using a thumb. It seriously takes me great amounts of effort and concentration to get myself to pick up a sock or a piece of paper with a pinching action. My assignment for this week is to touch various surfaces and textures. It's bizarre because everything feels exactly the same: like needles stabbing the end of my thumb. Smooth, rough, soft, hard, it's all the same. But I can't feel really gentle action, like blowing on it, at all. This is all very strange to me.

It's amazing what you take for granted and don't even realize. I was so proud of myself yesterday when I used a spoon, wrote with a pencil, grabbed a water bottle, and maneuvered the computer mouse like a regular person. I was laughing like an idiot because I kept saying things like, "Oh, good girl!" to myself over the smallest accomplishments. I've come a long way, but I still have a long way to go.

In other news, I just read on the UVU Cycling blog that they are going to hold a 'cross clinic this Thursday, Oct 1, at 6 p.m. in the J lot on the east side of campus. You can check their blog for yourself at http://uvucyclingteam.blogspot.com.

I really miss riding my bike. September has really flown by with me hiding out indoors because it hurt too much, and took too much effort, to go anywhere. I likely won't be riding again until I have learned to used my hand again. So, even though I'm not ready to ride outside yet, I still like to keep updated on any rides happening in the area. The following ride is for a good cause. If you're not racing 'cross, you may want to check this out:

Hopefully, I will have a ride report of my own to blog about soon.

Blood & Gore

It's been over a week since it happened. I am now at a point where I can discuss it. I am warning you, however...I am posting pictures & you might find them disturbing. Do NOT scroll down if you have a sensitive stomach.

Here's the story:

I was at the fitness center working on the Spinning bikes. The center where I work does an annual two-week shut down for maintenance. The parking lot gets painted, the wood floors are sanded down and refinished, the pool is drained and refilled, the racquetball courts are painted, and we take apart and deep clean the workout equipment.

As part of the Spinning bike maintenance, I take the chain guard cover off the Spinning bikes and clean and lube the chains. The way I was taught to do this was to use a rag to wipe the old grease off the chain while I pedal the bike. This is what I was doing when the accident happened. (This is not however the way I will be cleaning chains at work in the future - I plan to get a chain cleaning tool like I use on my bike at home.)

As I was turning the pedals, the rag I was using got caught in the chain ring, and before I knew what was happening, it had pulled my right thumb (the one holding the rag) into the chainring. My thumb was pinched in between the chain (which was on the bottom of my thumb) and the chainring (on my thumbnail side). On a normal bike this might not have been a big deal. But a Spinner's chain is weighted with a 45-pound flywheel. The pressure was enough that the chainring pierced through my thumbnail and broke my bone. As soon as I knew what was happening, I struggled to reverse the flywheel. My thumb managed to only go into the chainring a couple of inches before I got it out...which was lucky because had it gone much further, I might have lost the end of my thumb! As soon as it started going in, I started yelling, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" And my good co-worker, Dan came running. At the time I thought how overdramatic I was being...then I looked at my mangled thumb. I begged Dan to take me to the ER, holding my hand above my head with blood running down my arm. My boss's boss ended up taking me.

Anyway, here I was in the ER...again (third time in three months). This little thumb wound took ten stitches to fix. Five stitches under my nail (yes, they had to remove the nail), two stitches outside the nailbed, and three stitches to put the nail back in place. Yes, they put the nail back, not for beauty reasons, but because if they didn't then the skin would grow in where the nail should be and the new nail wouldn't come back in right.

Now, eight days later, I'm finally starting to be able to function again without reeling in terror everytime someone gets too close. I've stopped wearing the splint, because it bugs me and causes more trouble than it's worth. And, I'm back at work. Yes, I missed a whole week of work at two jobs because of a thumb injury. You don't realize how much you use your thumb or how much thumb/finger injuries hurt until you've had one. This hurts way worse than any of the bike wrecks I've had!

Okay, if you're ready for some blurry camera-phone pictures, go ahead and scroll down.

This is it after soaking in some solution at the ER.

I begged my boss to take a picture during stitch-up, but she refused because it was too gory. This is it after being stitched up. That's my nail in the tweezers, ready to go back on.

I thought it looked really good after they put the nail back on. Little did I know that they weren't done creating Frankenthumb yet.

This is what it looked like after I removed the bandages two days later.

And this is it after 6 days.

I have to go get the stitches taken out on Thursday morning. If you hear screaming sometime around 9 a.m., you'll know it's me.

Tour of Utah Stages 3-5

I probably should have broken this blog post down into different days, but too late. There are a lot of pictures, so bear with me, this is really long...

Stage 3 Time Trial
I didn't have volunteer duty on Friday's TT at the Larry H. Miller Sportspark, but I couldn't resist driving clear out to Tooele to see the race anyway. The racers were averaging about 30 mph at this race, so it was hard to get a good picture, but I got a few.

Chase Pinkham cooling down after the TT

Floyd Landis after his TT race

Dave Zabriskie finishing the TT

Stage 4 Road Race
Saturday's road race started in Park City and ended at Snowbird Ski Resort. Early in the day, I rode the Alpine Loop to chalk some encouragement on the roads. I had forgotten that the amateurs were racing the course in the morning, and I got caught up in it all. For a while I had people cheering for me and some of the guys I passed were telling me that I was the first woman they had seen.

After I stopped to chalk the road the first time, I really got passed by a lot of riders. If I had just kept moving I probably could have beat the rush. Just after passing Sundance, I got caught by the lead Cat 1/2/3 women. I rode with them for a little way before they dropped me.

I stopped to chalk the road and barriers several more times.

Had I not stopped so many times, I think I could have made it past most of the carnage on the way back down. I saw more wrecks, wounded bodies, and blood Saturday then I care to ever see. My hands were cramped and refusing to grip from braking most of the way down. Nearly every corner I came around had a vehicle stopped in the road helping a wounded biker. It was insane! Nearly to the bottom of the canyon I came across a three-mile long back up of stopped vehicles. Little did I know, until I came across the 18-inch wide stream of blood in the road, that someone had just been air ambulanced out of the canyon. Apparently a group of cyclists hit the back of a SUV when it hit its brakes to avoid a car that drifted into its lane. One of the guys went through the back window and cut himself open to his jugular vein. I hope he's healing quickly.

Anyway, on to the race. I course marshaled at the turn to the Alpine Loop. I had been told that no course marshal was needed at that corner, but had insisted that one was needed. I'm glad I got my way. The police did not shut the intersection down the way they had last year...it was all up to me. I felt like I seriously put my life in danger standing in the middle of the road with traffic heading at me at 70 mph while I held up a stop sign hoping they would see me in time. I really wanted to get some pictures here, so I handed my camera over to some spectators and they got some for me.

Lead group of riders coming to the turn to Alpine Loop

Chase group of three riders in the Alpine Loop turn

Peleton coming to the Alpine Loop turn

The OUCH team leading the peleton through the corner to Alpine Loop

The peleton heading up to Sundance Resort on the Alpine Loop

After course marshaling in Provo Canyon, I decided to drive to Draper and watch the race from the other side of Traverse/Suncrest. I had been told that there would be "professional" flaggers on this corner, so I wanted to see how it was done. I had course marshaled this corner last year and it was a nightmare. My suggestion was to have double or more course marshals placed here. When I got there, I learned that there were just two regular, untrained people handling the corner. So, I went and got my course marshal gear and helped out. I also delegated duties (such as helping to shut down the gas station and take pictures for me) to spectators because I knew what craziness we were in for. With the extra help, we had five people helping shut down the intersection, and it still wasn't enough. What a mess this intersection is for a race. I'm glad nobody got killed! One racer still somehow managed to blast through the intersection, missing the turn, even after three of us directed him otherwise.

Some riders coming down Suncrest

More riders coming down Suncrest

Sleevie and some of the other Canyon riders coming off Suncrest into Draper. The course marshal guy was one of the ZTeam riders who hadn't made the time cut on Stage 1.

Some of the Canyon guys

Dave Harward

Stage 5 Criterium

My only duty for Stage 5 was to count spectators, and it only took me about 15 minutes. Then I was free to spectate and take pictures.

Will Dugan of TT1 and John Eisinger of Ciclismo signing in to Stage 5

Here I am playing the part of TT1 groupie

I got my photo with the second place overall winner and Best Utah Rider, Darren Lill of TT1

Dave Zabriskie lead out the first couple of laps

David Veilleux of Kelly Benefit, Brent Bookwalter of BMC, Dave Zabriskie of Garmin, and Justin England of California Giant in the early break

Floyd Landis

Riders in one of the corners. One guy must have thought he was going down with his foot of of his pedal.

Rock Racing riding on the front

Will Dugan of TT1 in the pits after a flat

Will Dugan of TT1 waiting to get back into the race after a stop in the pits

Will Dugan of TT1 getting pushed back into the race after a pit stop

Fancisco Mancebo in the yellow jersey with Floyd Landis a of couple wheels back

Darren Lill getting interviewed for the Deseret News behind the scenes of the podium

Darren Lill chatting with fans

Rock Racing posing for pictures

Me with Jeff Louder, last year's Tour of Utah winner and this year's third place winner

I had a lot of fun this week at the Tour of Utah and I was sad when it was over. Can't wait until next year!