Throw Me a Bone!!!!

Saw Dr. Watson last week for a couple of month visit. You know the drill, x-rays, patient room where Mia (Dr. Watson's assistant) & I guess what my blood pressure will be etc. etc. etc.

Better news this time, still some "remodeling" going on down there. Dr. Watson may want to do a nail replacement in the future though, we'll chat about that on my next visit in 4 months. I am not quite sure if that is a good or bad thing, time between appts. bu I have to believe that he knows what he is doing when it comes to this stuff.

This was pre surgery November of 06.

Here's last week. Still fractured, but getting better every...............month?

Went to St. Louis this weekend to chill out & celebrate G's birthday! Brought the bike with, to get some miles in. It was HOT & HUMID! Rode a couple of hours on Saturday am, while G ran 6+ miles over at Forest Park, one of the largest parks in the United States, approximately 500 acres larger than Central Park, NY.

Of course, Turtle Park is in Forest Park as well, so I stopped by & said hello to all of the turtles there, and wanted to see how they are doing.


From there, we went over to Grant's Farm. This is a must see if in St. Louis. They have over 1100 animals, tram-rides through the park, an authentic German style beer garden (where thy give away free beer) and a HUGE petting type zoo, with all kinds of animals like tortoises, camels, elephants and of course pygmy goats. I went into the pygmy goat area, and was brushing them with the brushes provided. Just then a couple of them noticed and came over to get brushed. When I stopped brushing one little guy, he head-butted me in the leg, and then started to eat my Crocs! I could not believe it. I was being attacked by a miniature goat!
We did breakfast in the room this am, so we could head off early & exercise. As we were leaving the hotel, the Head Concierge came over to me to chat about where I was riding etc. He mapped out a route for me, down to the Arch, and on the riverfront trail. He said he was a mountain biker, focusing on single speed bikes. He has a team that him & his buddies put together, based on Steven Segal, the action star! He has a pretty hilarious website http://teamseagal.blogspot.com/ about their adventures & love of Steven Segal.

Right when he mentioned Steven Segal, G looked at me & laughed! She has grown tired of having all of the Segal movies in our house through Netflix. Can you ever get enough Steven Segal though? I told The Badger about what happened, and he agreed that I have finally met someone as corny as me!


Great ride route that he gave me. About 39 miles through the heat & humidity, average about 180 watts, which was OK figuring in all of the stop lights & such!

Wonderful weekend for G's birthday & cycling. Got about 160 miles in last week, which is not bad considering I only rode 4 days. Five this week I hope!

We're in Business!

Being the neighborhood "bike guy", I have been fixing the neighbor kids bikes here & there. Minor stuff, but it keeps them rolling. G had this sign made for me, so we can make it official! The neighbor boys were over last night, on their bikes, and mentioned that they can now pay for my services....I won't hold my breath.


We went to "Balloons on the Prairie" yesterday afternoon in Peoria. Not because of the hot air balloon's & such, but for the petting zoo that was going to be there. This little dude fell in love w/ G, and wanted to come home with us.





The animals are your best friend in the world, as long as you have food to feed them!

The owner said Roo the kangaroo was NOT in a good mood. Supposedly, he wanted to go for a ride, and not to Peoria!



The goats were digging me, as I had handful after handful of food for them! Funny, when I ran out, they weren't that interested in me anymore. They moved on to some 6 year old!

And, I got to meet a distant relative of mine,Ted the Tortoise! He is some relation to the turtle somewhere, so we hammed it up for a while, and then he decided he needed to eat some lettuce. We said our goodbyes till next time.

Things have been pretty low-key. Got about 160 miles in each week for the past 2 weeks, and have been feeling better, I guess.

The Badger is out of town (probably healing from the whooping I threw on him a while back) and the remainder of my training buddies have been tied up with personal or business stuff, so nothing monumental happening. Till next time!

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Played hooky this afternoon, and went for a training ride with my VQ (Vision Quest) Coaching teammates, ie: Stan-O-Leeni, The Badger, Lotte & The Young One.

They had some structured workout to do, especially The Young One, and I tagged along. Sprint after sprint etc. I asked The Badger what his plans were, and he said, oh, just a recovery ride, about 60% of maximum effort is OK with him, as he said his legs were really tired. Then I saw IT, the infamous "Badger Grin" coming from under his sunglasses.

Great! I knew I was in trouble. Stan-O is recovering from 6 broken ribs, a punctured lung, separated shoulder and a broken collarbone, so how fast could this ride actually be?

FAST & FURIOUS. Stan-O is an android, The Young One, well he's young, and can recover from an effort in about 2 seconds, The Badger got caught in his own lie, but is as tough, well, as a Badger. Effort after effort. They knew I was hurting, and turned it up, again. Crap!

We went an hour out, turned around, and did a rotating paceline back, about 25 mph.

I informed The Badger that I had paid my phone bill, and could now make outgoing calls. He got it after a minute, as I would be "calling" him on the way back in, for the final sprint into town. If he had the strength, he could answer the phone, if not, it would keep ringing. I may not be the bus driver right now, taking them to school, but at least I am the janitor, cleaning up the halls.

With 2 miles to the sprint, I informed all those involved that there will be a sprint at the end to the "stop ahead" sign. Letting you know right now, so there is no excuses, no whining, no nothing at the end. I proceed to suck wheel, in the draft, as The Turtle is wide, and not very sleek in the wind. Stan-O & The Badger try to stick it to me, as they need to have 2 on 1 to match my broken leg & lack of power. They then force my sprint with 300 meters to go.

Turtle = Victory

Badger = Sadness & Defeat