It has been kind of hard to keep up with bloggnig my day to day activities, I've been taking pictures, going on bike rides, going to work, and planning out some possible new life adventures. But, for now until there is any news to report, I'll leave you with a compilation of stuff.
There are turkeys in them there hills of western North Carolina....and a lot of them. Some days you'll be coming around a corner on your bike the the roadways will be filled with them....they stroll across the road into the wooded brush hunting and pecking at the ground. They don't act to afraid in close proximity to humans. Gobble Bobble!
I'm telling ya, Johnny on the Spot is a regular stopping point on my rides.
The night comes sooner each evening. I got caught out in the dark. I had the bar-end flashers going. These are cool nifty items for when the sunsets earlier than your ride finishes.
WHAT THE HECK IS IN MY NECK!?!!?! Well, if you can make out the picture you can see some points of reference. This X-ray was taken from my left side with my head tilted back. At the bottom of the pict is the top of my shoulders. The top of the pict truncates most of my skull. As you recall in March I had cervical disc surgery. They took a bone graft from my left hip and pulled out the slipped disc, then formed the bone so that it could fit where the disc was. Then, they bolted on a titanium plate to keep it all together. Notice other discs in the X-ray, they are black, you can't really see them. Where you see the side view of the Titanium plate with the screws, well there used to be a black disc in there. But, now the bone that replaced the slipped disc is just about totally fused with my two vertebrae above and below. Once fused, it will be solid white bone. The cringing thing for me is that the titanium and the screws will remain in there in my neck. Up until now, they are there to mainly stabilize my neck and head until the bone fuses. Amazingly, I have healed well and my doctor says that things look great. I'm not feeling too much restriction or limited range of motion. But, to think that I have a titanium plate in my neck is just bizarre. How did I let this happed. I've been working with my physical therapist to build my flexibility and strength in my mid-lower back so that THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. It could, and I know some people who has had this happen twice.
Well, this picture does not do this view justice. Finally got a clear day without haze and the picture did not turn out as well as the vista was at the time I took the picture. But, you can maybe sense that I am about 500 feet above the city of Asheville riding my bike up near Town Mountain Road. I have a route that I do repeatedly. Doing it over and over and over and over allows me to track my progress. I'm climbing faster and managing my intensity better, breathing deeper. Hopefully I will have been working for something once I think I'm at a point where I can use my fitness to race. About the only thing that is left is the Greenville Cycling Classic in October and a ton of cyclocross events in October through February.
There are turkeys in them there hills of western North Carolina....and a lot of them. Some days you'll be coming around a corner on your bike the the roadways will be filled with them....they stroll across the road into the wooded brush hunting and pecking at the ground. They don't act to afraid in close proximity to humans. Gobble Bobble!
I'm telling ya, Johnny on the Spot is a regular stopping point on my rides.
The night comes sooner each evening. I got caught out in the dark. I had the bar-end flashers going. These are cool nifty items for when the sunsets earlier than your ride finishes.
WHAT THE HECK IS IN MY NECK!?!!?! Well, if you can make out the picture you can see some points of reference. This X-ray was taken from my left side with my head tilted back. At the bottom of the pict is the top of my shoulders. The top of the pict truncates most of my skull. As you recall in March I had cervical disc surgery. They took a bone graft from my left hip and pulled out the slipped disc, then formed the bone so that it could fit where the disc was. Then, they bolted on a titanium plate to keep it all together. Notice other discs in the X-ray, they are black, you can't really see them. Where you see the side view of the Titanium plate with the screws, well there used to be a black disc in there. But, now the bone that replaced the slipped disc is just about totally fused with my two vertebrae above and below. Once fused, it will be solid white bone. The cringing thing for me is that the titanium and the screws will remain in there in my neck. Up until now, they are there to mainly stabilize my neck and head until the bone fuses. Amazingly, I have healed well and my doctor says that things look great. I'm not feeling too much restriction or limited range of motion. But, to think that I have a titanium plate in my neck is just bizarre. How did I let this happed. I've been working with my physical therapist to build my flexibility and strength in my mid-lower back so that THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. It could, and I know some people who has had this happen twice. 
Well, this picture does not do this view justice. Finally got a clear day without haze and the picture did not turn out as well as the vista was at the time I took the picture. But, you can maybe sense that I am about 500 feet above the city of Asheville riding my bike up near Town Mountain Road. I have a route that I do repeatedly. Doing it over and over and over and over allows me to track my progress. I'm climbing faster and managing my intensity better, breathing deeper. Hopefully I will have been working for something once I think I'm at a point where I can use my fitness to race. About the only thing that is left is the Greenville Cycling Classic in October and a ton of cyclocross events in October through February.
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