Back from the couch

So infection came back and by Friday I was off to the clinic for more antibiotics I guess. Which also meant more time off my feet. Frustrated but nothing more but use patience. This new medicine doesn't want me in sunlight, complicates things and after a few arguments I was off to the trails for an hour of dirt by Wednesday. My leg was feeling much better and Usery was alot more comfortable. It was hot as can be in pants and long sleeves but no other option so I enjoyed a good workout finally.

To the trails!

It was off to Usery for some real trails! The ride was a bit uncomfortable on bumpy stuff but fine other than that, road to recovery full steam ahead, the leg still has alot of work to do as far as strength, pain and swelling but that will come with time.

Ride with the DR

I had my lady joing me on a 5 mile ride goal for the morning, it was nice to have company and get the legs moving after all the couch surfing.

Back in the saddle

Like I said on the 14th day I was able to walk, so I hopped on the bike to see what it felt like. Turned out it felt ok, excitement and euphoria settle in and it was exciting but in no way trail ready.

The aftermath

So I spent the first 3 days able to walk with a heavy limp, I spent very little time resting unfortunately. By Saturday something felt wrong, my leg began to go red and warm and off to thie clinic I went. Diagnosed with a bacterial infection named cellulitis I was given a antibiotic prescription and wait it out. That next few days were absolutely terrible, unable to walk, cook, go to the bathroom every movement was painful. I lie restricted to the couch waiting for the 36 hours before the infection could start to go away. By 48 hours I saw minor improvement and then day by day it was extremely slow progress. A solid two weeks into this ordeal and on the 14th day I was able to walk, which wa my goal. It was a painful slow wait.

Deep puncture......

Well Tuesday was looking strong, I was feeling best on the bike in months, my head was a mess but I felt like trophys were coming today and that turned out to be true. I was ripping a bit of Hawes and then made the plan to head up Mine. As I was on the last bit of climb before the hardest was over, this funny feeling happened my foot came off the pedal. Looked down to see what happened with the pedal, then I notice a big ol hole in my leg where the spindle punctured my leg, I could see quite deeply into my leg and then shock and nausea took over. I laid down on the ground since it started to move. Pain set in and I battled very uncomfortable symptoms for the next 30 minutes. Kept looking down at my leg, tried to get up, got woozy, tried to figure out my best way off the mountain, was I going to be able to ride, can I walk all the way, will i need to be airlifted, do I need rescue etc..... all while lying down on the trail high up on the mountain. After those 30 minutes were up I told myself I was going to get myself down by any means and hitch a ride and then hit the hospital. I was able to be upright without that sick feeling and hopped on my bike with one leg on the pedal and wounded one off. It was painful and I had to walk a few hills. I took a risky gamble that paid off, I knew a wash that likely would be a smooth and quick ride to the road, turns out it was both! After 20 minutes I was on the road, pain and swelling setting in I was relieved. I flagged a driver down and gave me a ride to my car. I didn't know if I could drive so I gae it a shot, it was skethcy but I could get it done somehow. I went tot eh clinic since I really didn't want to deal with the hospital. They planed to clean it out and stitch it. The cleaning was atrocious, it was so so painful, the stitches were nothing compared to it. I thought it was more serious than it was but glad by lack of concern. My wife came for support and I drove her car home and she took mine. I got home and rested and iced. So so so glad to be home and ready to recover from this mess. Somewhat glad to say the part failed on my pedal which was not me failing. The bolt that holds the pedal on the spindle failed sending the body of the pedal off. I have not been able to get back up there to search for the bolt but plan to as I curious has me.

Rough Weekend

It was obviously a rough weekend, it was a challenge for us for sure, we got thru it together, and by Monday I was ready to go back to dirt since I could not do anything else. The ride was normal and went just fine.