Putting my Pants on, (Opposite) One Leg at a Time

Have you ever noticed that when you put on pants/shorts or even socks/shoes, that every single time you start with one specific side?  I've always been a left foot/leg starter.  It must be just like intertwining your fingers.  Quickly, clasp your hands together and intertwine your fingers.  Let go.  Do it again.  Notice how one hand always is the top pointer finger (usually your dominant hand)?  Now clasp your hands together, but focus on switching so the opposite hand is the top finger.  It feels really weird.

That's what changing the leg/foot order feels like when putting on pants.  I've had to do this since, well,  I got hit by a car.  All my bikes are fine, don't worry.

It was Friday before last and I was tired from my WNW solo slog, so I drove to work at UNMC.  I park (for free) in the neighborhood and walk a few blocks in.  I was crossing Leavenworth on 42nd as I had the walk light.  I almost made it all the way across, but heard something and turned around just in time to see a car making a left turn into me.  I did a little cartwheel over the hood and landed on my hands and knees, mostly on my right side.  I lost some skin on my right hand and banged up my right knee pretty well.

The lady admitted fault to the police, so the subsequent ER visit along with CT scan for a possible kinked neck and X-ray for possible wrist damage should be taken care of just fine.  I got the all clear from the doc so I'm just healing now with my neck being a tad sore and my knee not having full range of motion.

 But like I said, I now need to put my pants on starting with my right leg as starting with my left requires lifting my right leg more than it can go at the moment.  I'm going to start a regiment of bending my leg fully slowly and work my way back to regular complete motion.  I don't think I'll be on any WNWs rides for a while till I get back to full motion and strength.  Today was actually the first day I've ridden since the injury and it was ok, but I know I have some work to do.  My right leg has always been my weaker side in cycling, but now it's too weak to really contribute and that needs to change.

To top off the great luck, I got a bad cold right afterward and have this lingering cough that can keep me up most of the night.  So that's just peachy for healing purposes.

WNW Solo Slog

Being that the forecast probably scared most people, not to mention the 20-30mph South Wind, the group was pretty slim at WNW.  This, of course, meant that I was soloing it after the first hill, which I'm ok with.  The plan was, as the only B group rider, to turn on Northern Hills Road for a very shortened route.  I could break out the MapMyRide web page to figure out exactly how much shorter the route was, but I was just fine with not heading all the way up to Ft. Calhoun and then suffering against the wind around Boyer's Chute.  I made it back to the shop before it closed and picked up the stuff I left after I built one bike after I left my regular job.  So I count that as a full day.  I was thinking really hard about taking it easy tomorrow and driving to work, but I signed that pesky 30 days of biking thing.  I will ride to both jobs tomorrow and probably be veeerrrry tired tomorrow night.

Hopefully this will finally kick start my training.  So far, all I've done are the 3 WNW rides.  No weekend rides, no easy rides after my 2 jobs during the week.  So I need to change that if I want to ever get past solo slogging it.  It would've happened this past weekend, but Friday morning I had an involuntary "cleanse."  As in, I lost everything in me from both ends.  It was not a good Friday or weekend.  I'm still a tad weak and dehydrated, but I'm trying to drink tons of water and eat healthier.  That's one thing I noticed after the "cleanse."  Unhealthy food does not make my body feel good.  Beef and starch (burger and fries) makes my body feel heavy and slow.  If I eat a salad for lunch, I'm light and agile.  Well, I had to eat an energy bar before the ride tonight, but I hopped on the scale for the hey of it and found I'm down to 185 lbs from my all time high a week ago of 195 lbs.  I'm sure some of that is still dehydration from the "cleanse" and the difficult solo slog.  But it's the correct direction of the scale meter.  I raced at 155-160 lbs.  I don't think I'll ever get that slim, and I don't even need to as I won't be racing.  But it would be nice to get down to mid 160s.  That is probably my ideal weight.

So this weekend, even though I have 2 Easter things planned with families,  I will eat light and ride some.  Not sure where/when, but most likely morning for a couple hours each.  Let me know if anyone would like a super mellow ride either of the 2 days.  I'm up for it.