So long overdue, although two weeks later, it still sounds exciting and just plain crazy. What I did was:
1. Woke up at 3:45AM
2. Got on my bike and met three fellow MS riders at 4:30AM at the local gas station.
3. Rode 75 miles on I-90E to Cle Elum in pitch darkness, on grooved pavements, and with near-frozen fingers.
Didn’t do a whole lot this long weekend, but I did manage to get my first post-accident long ride in. I rode down to Port Townsend yesterday afternoon, spent the night at the youth hostel in Fort Warden, and got back this morning. I’ll post a complete ride report later.
Onward we go…
Onboard the ferry
Downtown Port Townsend, parked next to a Triumph Thruxton.
Downtown is full of lovely old brick buildings.
The waters of the Juan De Fuca Strait
Heading back…
The view from above.
The pictures aren’t really much to speak of, and don’t do justice to the place, but at least some of you might have seen my earlier photos from there taken the first time I was there: http://www.adventuresinfinite.com/Motorcycling/OlympicPeninsula.html
I saw the hand surgeon this morning for the last time. I say last time because he gave me a clean bill of health, told me stop therapy completely, and not to ever come back. :) I still have to wear the splint on my right hand for about three more weeks, while riding and working out with weights, but outside of that, I am completely plastic-free.
My knee and the contusions on the lower leg are still inflamed and hurting though, even after 2.5 months. The inflammation in the leg is now hard and knotty, and no amount of heat and massaging seems to be helping. I’m going to give it a couple of weeks more, and go see a doctor if it’s still not budged.
I cancelled my spot for California Superbike School for this year, and will probably do it next spring. I simply do not feel well enough to get back out on the track yet, especially with still wearing my hacky glove over the splint, which would offer no protection in case of a crash. I also feel like it’d be a bit of a waste to do the school almost at the end of the season, with barely any trackdays left that I could do. Spring seems by far the best time to take this on.
I’m watching Long Way Round for the second time around and it’s still as amusing and enchanting as it was the first time. :)
I just finished watching The Road Racers for the second time this week. Apparently it seems to be a little known movie as there are no reviews for it on that Amazon link, and a web search didn’t reveal anything from the title alone.
Nevertheless it is a brilliant watch – it is a short documentary about an unofficial racing team in Ireland called the Armoy Armada, consisting of Joey Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson and Frank Kennedy (that first name at least should be familiar). I can’t decide what I found most charming about it – the then superbikes roaring through the Irish backroads, the quiet, rural backdrop and the intimate look at these racers’ lives, or the thrilling clips of them in action on the road circuits. Now I don’t watch MotoGP that much, but those old races have something about them that makes modern racing seem so clinical and calculated. I was especially amused by the scenes in which both of Frank Kennedy’s hands are broken and in splints, and how he struggles to eat and drive and be normal. *ahem*
Sadly enough, both Frank and Mervyn died in high speed crashes in the space of a year. As did Joey Dunlop a few years ago, although he at least, got to live a little bit longer and enjoy his fame and glory.
I stayed home sick today because I felt like crap when I woke up. Amd going to stay home and rest up in the hopes that it goes away. Am welcoming the downtime in the wake of all the stress of the past few weeks. I also find myself able to relax in a way I never do during a vacation or weekend, seeing as I feel just sick enough that I don’t feel guilty about lying and doing nothing productive.
I got my bike back yesterday evening. The radiator leak is still a problem, but I reckon I should be okay to ride it five miles to work and back before I fix it. I bought a cheap pair of FirstGear gloves in men’s medium size, to wear the right one over my splint. I had to tape down the ends of the fingers with electrical tape to get them to fit somewhat okay.
I’m a little curious to see what it will feel like to ride after a two month hiatus and a high speed crash.
1. Met the second orthopaedic surgeon and he confirmed what the first one said. That it is a grade 2 LCl tear and treating it with a knee brace is adequate. He thinks it should be fully healed by the first week of August. He said I was very lucky and had just barely escaped surgery. I’m also walking and almost completely functional in the knee area now. Physiotherapy is ongoing as well.
2. Hands are healing although still a bit restrictive. I slammed a car door on the left hand yesterday and saw stars. My wrist has been hurting ever since, even after a good night’s sleep, so I’m going to go see the hand surgeon a bit earlier than scheduled. One of the pins has also partially come out, probably from the stress of driving and such.
On my way home today, I was stopped at a green light, waiting for all the oncoming traffic to go past before I turned left, and the last two vehicles were two motorycles. As the first of them started to go past, he turned his head to look at me, and in his narrowed eyes I saw the same wariness and vulnerability I’ve had everytime I’ve passed an unpredictable left-turning vehicle. Just for a moment I saw myself in him, and realized how much I’m missing.
The good news is that I’m on the mend and able to drive, restoring a huge portion of normalcy back to my life. But life seems so much hollower. I had my whole summer planned out, and now I’ve got nothing but week upon week of therapy and doctor’s appointments to look forward to as my hands and leg slowly heal and I am deemed fit again to get back onto my two wheels.
It could have been worse, I know, but it’s bad enough at times.
The word is in. I tore the LCL in my right knee and need to get surgery. My right hand will likely need surgery too.
I seem to have a boxers thumb, oh a boxer’s fracture on one hand and a skiers thumb on the other hand, neither of which are very painful but a little…seem to get in the way when I’m typing. Other than that, hobbling into work with a really badly injured knee and two bandaged hands, I looked like the poster child of why your mum told you never to ride a motorcycle ever.
I’m coping – The weekend wasn’t that good. I did get my hair done on Saturday which was nice – life never feels too bad when you’re having a good hair day. Went out to a barbecue at my manager’s manager’s house which was really nice. Made me wish I was a Microsoft millionaire too, although I’m glad I have simple needs so it wasn’t too bad.
Sunday was just pretty much sit around, try to watch all the TV shows I could. Didn’t do a whole lot, didn’t change out of my jammies. Glad that day was over! Today I’m back to work, looking forward to another gruelling week of pretending to be OK when I’m not. But just gettting through, it beats staying at home and getting bored to death.
I got the MRI done on Saturday so the doctor should probably get back to me about it this week. I’m really hoping it’s good news. as the knee’s still swollen, the swelling doesn’t seem to have gone down at all and it seems to be hurting more than it did last week. So, good to see what comes of it. I’d like to say this crash was an educational experience but I don’t know, I just want it to be over and want to get back on my bike. Bike’s going to cost less than 60 dollars to fix which is, I guess, a little bit of good news. So the bikes going to be fixed a lot earlier than I am. I wish it were the other way round. The weather’s good which sucks because I don’t want it to be good, I want it to be rainy and gloomy and really crappy to match my mood but that’s never how it works out, is it? Hope I don’t sound like too much of an idiot on this voice post. Most of you, I hope, can understand what I’m saying and hopefully someone will transcribe it. That’s all I got. I better go now.
After the previous two gloomy posts, here’s a more cheery one. Photos from my 4 day Memorial Day weekend to the Pacific Ocean and along Columbia River. I cannot do the long writeup I intended on account of fractured finger, but photos under the cut!
My route was roughly:
Day 1: Bellevue -> Centralia -> Elma -> Aberdeen -> Pacific Beach -> Copalis Beach
Day 2: Copalis Beach -> Cosmopolis -> Astoria
Day 3: Astoria -> Longview (via Hwy 4) -> Castle Rock -> Mt. St. Helen’s -> Toledo -> Morton
Day 4: Morton -> Elbe -> Parkland -> Bellevue
Overall only a little over 600 miles and change (including seven Destination Highways). I was sick most of Saturday and Sunday so I couldn’t ride as much as I had hoped to.
Just a week ago… those were happy times…
All loaded up and just starting out.
The SV in Astoria. For some reason i really like this photo.
Astoria coffeehouse
Astoria Bridge in the background
On the Destination Highway from Seaview to Longvew along the Columbia river
View from the top of the Mt. St. Helen’s ride
The green room of the St. Helen’s manorhouse where I slept. (reputed to be haunted. Full story here.)
Okay so it’s a little immature. :P
The weekend was replete with twisties. :)
The rest of the pictures can be found here.