Monday morning, I was well into my first major neck flare-up of the year. It had nothing to do with the previous day's ride, but with all the whipsawing of the weather I'd suspected it was coming. By that afternoon, I could no longer hold my head completely upright and could barely turn my head. The treatment options: a Turtle-imposed freeze on all evening laptop sessions, and a trip to the neurologist for some new prescriptions. The former (and my load at work) accounts for the lack of postings to this blog and the ones I visit; the latter explains why I'm once again able to turn my head without seeing stars.
Looks like I'm back in business.
* Polar opposite of the Hotter Than Hell Hundred, you might say. Get it? Polar opposite?
Bunny update
Some of you may be wondering about our nest ofA teenager already? Ah... they grow up so fast, I thought.
"Well, Señor Conejito," I said aloud. "Are you and your buddies ready? There's about to be a lot of rain, so you'll maybe want to climb off the other kids so they don't drown."
It eyed me for a couple seconds and suddenly scrabbled over the lip of the nest, scampered along the fence line, and wriggled under. I could see Turtle watching me out the kitchen window, waving her hands and mouthing something that looked like Go get him! Go get him! I shrugged at her and headed back inside as fat droplets of rain began plopping on the concrete patio.
Turtle continued to peer through my binoculars out the kitchen window as the rain pounded down. Two more... three more emerged from the nest and milled around in the downpour. We haven't seen a sign of them since, but I'm sure they're fine.
Probably digging an elaborate warren under the foundation of my house as I type this.
8 comments:
Sorry to hear your neck is not cooperating with your daily grind..or pedal, as it goes.
On a side note, I am in need of some advice. I leave you my question:
Dear Mr. 'Bent',
I've taking up cycling to get into shape. Forget Atkins or Jenny Craig, I've lost 9lbs on the Schwinn diet. With all your expertise, do you recommend cycling shoes on basic pedals or would say, a running or cross training shoe be sufficient? The bottom of my right foot cramps/hurts about 10 minutes into my ride and wonder if it's a shoe thing.
Signed,
Getting the Schwinn Back in My Sails
Emmers: You've got mail.
By the way, congrats on the 9 lbs. I've logged over 6200 miles since 2003. One of my goals has been to drop 10 lbs.--a compromise between the 150-pound target weight that my doctor would like me to hit and Turtle's "you're just fine the way you are"--but the best I've been able to manage was about 5. And most of that was water, after a brutally hot ride last summer. Turtle says I'm just exchanging a lot of fat for heavier muscle, but shouldn't I be losing my man boobs if that's the case?
hehehe.
Man boobs
~snort~
Of course, Turtle is right, you do know that, don't you? Mr. Coffee complains too, but he still looks super fine to me. :o)
6200 miles? Wow. That's crossing the US and back again.
I found my strongest muscles are those I use to hold, or pick up toddlers. 40 lbs of wiggling fun is a great toner. I completely kick butt, but when it comes to something like, crunches...oh, they are the devil.
Have you ever tried a long exercise band? I use one for adductor/hip muscles but it works great doubling for upper body and arms.
Emma: I don't know what you mean by a long exercise band, but I do have a chunk of latex strip that I was given--or, more likely, paid out the nose for, via insurance--when I did physical therapy for a while last year. I could probably wrap it around my back and pull the ends toward one another, and it might be similar to the pecs machine at the gym. I'd forgotten all about that stretchy thing.
Ooh, the neck pain sounds excruciating! I thought the bent was to help with that, but like you said, the weather probably played a big part.
As for the rodents, you have heard that human hair and moth balls around the foundation will keep them at bay, right? ;-) Okay, seriously, glad to hear the bunnies escaped drowning!
I too am sorry you've been having neck trouble. Have you ever tried a chiropractor? We are quite fond of ours.
Gwynne: Excruciating might be pushing it. There were a couple days that might have pushed agonizing, though. Much, much better as of today. Bygones.
I'd heard about the scattering of human hair. I guess I could just hit up my barber shop for a big bag of their leavings, enh?
Anne: Thanks for the good thoughts. Chiropractor would be a Bad Thing for me. Like quadriplegia bad. So... I'll just stick with the drugs for the annual flare up.
Sounds like the same thing you have there. The bands with handles you can find at Target from the Gaiam people for under 15 bucks. Different strengths for different uses. I just stand on mine and do curls or tricep pulls over my head. They are great for when you....uhmmm, when I watch Oprah or Antiques Roadshow.
Thanks for all your help with pedals and shoes. You and Turtle would LOVE Portland. VERY bicycle friendly and plenty of community rides every year. The (Mt.) Hood to Coast race is one I want to do someday.
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