Lolo Pass on the last 80-degree day of the year

Today was probably the last day of the year that we will reach 80 degrees. It also was very sunny, so I decided to do a ride with great scenery. Larch Mtn was my other option, but I haven't done Lolo pass as often and there would be less traffic.

I initially planned on going out and back on the exact same route, but I haven't been on the bike for a few weeks so the legs weren't up to it. I did the easier route back which is partially on US26 so of course there's lots of traffic.

The scenery was beautiful of course. The weather was warm but it certainly cooled off by the time I got to the top of the pass. On the way down I ran into a few light sprinkles too; for a while there I was shivering.

Due to a fire, the road down to the east was closed, but this didn't affect me. Other than the general haze, I couldn't see any signs of the forest fire.

I wasn't going to set any records on this ride, so I took a few more pictures than I usually do:

Mt. Hood as seen from 'Little Switzerland'

"the Hood"

One thing I did differently on this ride from the last Lolo Pass ride is that I didn't use the handlebar bag. Everything went in the jersey pockets, and this worked out well for me. On the last Lolo Pass ride I noticed that the steering was a little sluggish; I presume that this was due to the weight of the full-loaded handlebar bag.

I started going pretty slow on the way back. I've only done two short rides in the last two weeks so I was really hurting by the end.

 

Lolo Pass

Sunny day, lots of company, challenging ride. I had done this ride only once before. At the time, my bike had a standard crank. This time I was using a compact, and it was much easier. The weather was better this time too. It was on the warm & humid side, my sweat glands sure got a workout: I wound up consuming almost six full water bottles.

The scenery was breathtaking:

The climbs were pretty tough but there was just about no traffic on most of the roads (ecept 26 of course) and the severe climbs were done mostly through the forest canopy.

Here's the route and some of my metrics. I discovered that the speed sensor on my GSC10 is dead so the metrics aren't 100% accurate.

This was a fantastic ride, I am planning on doing it again at least a few more times this year. I would rate it as a more enjoyable ride than Larch Mtn.

Back in the Saddle up Larch Mtn.

After six weeks off of the bike, today I turned myself inside out on Larch Mtn. I bonked so hard that I could barely pedal downhill, but it felt good.

This ride was a NW BOB Meetup, there was a picnic afterwards. Mark Hashizume and Paul Johnston manned restpoint at the Women's Forum Viewpoint and Larch Mtn. parking lot. Due to the heat of the day, these watering holes really made a difference and were greatly appreciated.

I checked my ride history for this exact same route and I was only off about 11 minutes from my best time. Interesting enough, most of that difference was in the downhill portion which goes to show just hard I bonked. Did I mention that I bonked?

During the ride I consumed a little over three full waterbottles, but that was not enough. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was until I finished the ride. After the ride I consumed a quart of Darigold's chocolate milk, a full waterbottle w/GU Brew, 2 beers and a bottle of plain water. After all that, I hardly urinated. I had a mild headache all afternoon and evening too.

This year I've been including chocolate milk in my post-ride routine and I feel it's really made a difference. We usually buy a flat of the Darigold mini-bottles at Costco. They're also great as a light snack, especially with a few fig newtons.

The post-ride picnic was great. I didn't socialize too much since I didn't really know many of the riders there, but the food was excellent.

 

Diary of a broken collar bone (clavicle)

Day 1: Broke collar bone. Pain was very intense, Percoset made me dizzy but barely blunted the pain. Miserable train ride back home, both physically & emotionally. It really hurt to see some STP riders getting in to Centralia as I rode by on the train...

Day 4: Very little pain (if any, really). Impressive bruise where I presume the bone actually broke. Still taking 1 Aleve every 12 hours, mostly for the pain in my left hip.

Day 7: Finally got the courage to look at my left hip. Huge plate-sized bruise. I am still experiencing stiffness in my left hip.

Day 9: Got on the stationary trainer (rollers will not be on the menu for a while). Legs felt great, it felt nice to sweat.

Day 14: Only taking Aleve at night. Switched to figure-eight support purchased from Brace Yourself. I regained use of my left arm, but experience much more pain & discomfort while driving due to jostling and movement, twisting my torso to check blind-spot and just generally trying to stay aware of my surroundings.

Day 16: Replaced my helmet. Got the same brand & model, Bell Achera, as my previous helmet.

Day 17: Unrelated but I dropped the bike off at the repair shop. The left shifter needs repair and I'll have them rebuild the right shifter, as well as a new headset and a few other things that I'll have them take care of while it's there.

Day 20: Off all pain meds completely. Able to sleep on my right side a little bit, obviously I won't be sleeping on my left side for quite some time. I can still only use my left arm for very light manipulation and need to go very slowly when performing major movements. My left shoulder was very itchy the other day, the type of itch you get when there is internal healing going on so I consider that a good sign. My left hip is still occasionally complaining. A few days ago I twisted my leg as I was going down some stairs. The movement shouldn't have been an issue but the left hip socket filed a greivance and it has been sensitive since. The discomfort is in the ball socket area and the surrounding tendons.

Day 22: Slept on my stomach last night. Wow, finally.

Day 25: I signed up for a few rides, one on the 20th of August (17 days away) and one on the 27th. Hoping to be up & at 'em by then. I'm still wearing the figure-8 sling but I notice that the bruising in my shoulder area is the same or maybe even worse. I might be wearing the sling too tight so I'll leave it entirely off today to help the circulation. The bruise on my hip is completely gone. My new helmet is on the shelf behind me as I type this, it is taunting me.

Day 29: No longer wearing any sling or support. I've been using my left arm much more than recent. I'm experiencing some mild pain, but it's the pain of not using it for several weeks and let's wake it up. Now that I think about it, the tendons probably also suffered some damage. The break doesn't hurt unless I do something I shouldn't, I'm also getting some discomfort in the gneral arm & shoulder area.

Day 31: First time I was able to get a T-shirt on since before the accident.

Day 35: Five weeks. The bone is not completely mended, but I don't have to utterly baby it either. Right now it seems that I just need to be aware of it and not do any hard labor with my left arm and everything will be fine. I'm still getting the kinks worked out of the various muscles, ligaments, and tendons that were tweaked. I also suspect that the shoulder healed with a slightly different alignment so it will take a while to grow into it.

The bike will be repaired early next week so I'll hop back on it after I pick it up. I'm also planning on doing a group ride up Larch Mtn. next Saturday.

Day 42, 6:30am. It's exactly six weeks, literally to the minute, since I fell. I picked the bike up from the shop yesterday. I only had a chance to do a quick ride around the block and all of the repairs really made a difference. In an hour I'm leaving for a group ride and I can't wait.

2011 STP

I'm typing this post one-handed due to a broken collar bone. About an hour into the ride, in Renton, I was second in a paceline. As we approached an intersection, a car approached from the right and our light changed to yellow. I think the guy in front of me was trying to decide whether or not to proceed, then he suddenly decided to stop. I was looking at the same car for just an instant and when my attention returned to the paceline leader, he had come to a rapid stop and I didn't have time to react.

I slammed into his left side pretty violently. I don't recall my exact trajectory but I apparently landed straight on my left side, I think I rolled a bit too. When I stopped, I was laying on my right side and I knew immediately that my collar bone was broken. It took me a while to get up.

One of the other riders helped me up and then called 911. First the police, then the firefighters, then the ambulance arrived. I wound up at Valley Medical Center where they did the usual tests & cleanup. I called my dad and he came down to pick me up and get me on Amtrak back home.

The leader was in pretty poor shape too. When I hit him I either broke or at least separated one of his ribs. He told me that he was having difficulty taking a deep breath and he was quitting the ride to head back home.

Holy cow did my helmet take a hit. The next day I noticed bruising & tenderness in the area of my left temple and if that was the impact point then the helmet spared me some serious dain bramage. Looking at the helmet it is obviously broken, but it fulfilled its prime directive by sacrificing itself for me.

Damage to the bike was several broken spokes in the front wheel and two of my brand-new brake pads were knocked out and missing. My favorite jersey got scuffed a bit in the back where I was carrying my spare tire, my saddle was torn up too. I haven't had a chance to go over the rest of the bike yet. Unfortunately I was too wrapped up in my own problems to ask what damage the other rider had but I think he was changing a flat tire as I rolled out in the ambulance.

So I'm off the bike for 4 to 6 weeks. I'll be getting on the trainer shortly, hopefully I can keep some of my fitness.

Lessons learned:

1. Trust no one unless you've ridden with them before. I got caught up in the excitement of my first STP when I should have instead contacted my regular riding buddies and left with them.

2. Don't get caught up in the excitement. I don't know if I'll even bother trying to do the STP in the future, I feel that I spent a lot of money for a pretty bad experience