Night before the ride

We're settled into our hotel in Rehoboth - signed in for the ride, shared a meal with all the other riders as well as the volunteers who will support us over the next two days.  I forget what a great bunch of people this brings together... always amazing the threads that link us all together - one of the riders who was behind me when I fell in Easton is married to a scientist that Joanne knows from Hopkins and he is here volunteering as well this weekend... a small world.  

I'd like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me this year... including the donations you made to Team Centerstage - we've raised more than both of my previous rides.  From what we heard downstairs it appears that this year is on track to be their biggest ever - with both more riders and more money raised.  It means a great deal to me to have all of your support - especially when I'm facing 20 mph headwinds tomorrow.

I did manage to squeeze in one more commute this week...

15 miles on Thursday

769 miles to date

Back in the Saddle Again

Today was my first day back on the bike - out on the road - since the accident. Just the regular commute with a slight detour down Maryland/Cathedral and across Monument - which added a bit of brick and cobbles for fun.

I'm feeling pretty good - no real pain or stiffness to complain of... did discover a couple things that weren't revealed by my rides in the trainer or for that matter by working on my bike in the workstand.

1- I seem to have torn the palm open on my left hand glove in the crash - which is fascinating as I only had cuts on the fingertips of that hand and my right hand is much worse off, but that glove looks fine.

2- I have some clicking noise to sort out in the rear dérailleur when on the big ring... can't seem to recreate it when I'm not riding, but need to sort it our before the ride on Saturday.

I was worried of course that I'd be a little tentative, but that doesn't seem to be the case - we'll see how I do back in a pack of other riders this weekend.

Today's soundtrack - Gene Autry's 'Back in the Saddle Again' of course and The Four Seasons 1962 hit 'Big Girls Don't Cry'
17.5 miles on the day
754 miles to date

Not really about the bike - Gala for CENTERSTAGE

This week as I've been recuperating from my little crash I've also been helping to put together our gala fund raiser at work. The picture above is a shot of my major contribution to this years decor - a mobile of paper lanterns in our hoistway. More pics are posted on my flickr site - Gala 2008.

Went to the doctor on Wednesday - she seemed to feel that my minor bits of road rash were clean and heeling nicely. She also felt that since I've had no more headaches or other symptoms there is little to worry about in terms any lingering head injury issues... with that she cleared me to start riding again - at first on the trainer - which I've been doing.

Went to Steve's today to try and wring out my bike's injuries. We bent back the derailluer hanger pretty easily and trued up the wheels. Otherwise it seems to be running well - THANKS STEVE!. We had hoped to fit in a little shakedown ride - but the rain intervened.

Still hoping to get back on the road some this week in advance of the ride on Saturday.