Reality Check

Mount Baker on a clear day

 A few days after my Squalicum Harbor ride I woke one morning with severe back pain. I'm not sure if it was from straining too hard on that steep uphill bit, or just a vertebra slipped out of place while I slept.

I couldn't even sit up in bed, I had to turn to my side and push myself up with my arms. Sitting down was the worst, it was all right standing up, walking around or lying flat on the floor, until I started to get stiff from immobility. Driving my car hurt when I lifted my foot between the gas and brake, and I didn't even try to get on my bike, though I did get out for a five-mile walk. I tried a cold pack at first, then found that a heating pad and ibuprofen worked better.

After three or four days of hobbling around, I Googled "low back pain" and read the ever-respectable and trustworthy Mayo Clinic website. They pretty much said "Yeah, that happens. You should probably see your doctor if pain persists for three weeks."

Ghost bike & me

Three weeks! I'd been taking 3-4 hour naps in the day time in addition to at least eight hours sleep at night, just because doing anything else hurt, and seemed to risk causing a sudden, worse injury. Normally I'm pretty stoical and patient about pain, but I couldn't have taken it for three weeks.

Fortunately the heat, rest and ibuprofen seemed to help. I started doing some very gentle, easy core exercises, similar to Kegel exercises, that involve sitting or lying down and tensing internal abdominal muscles, low back, hip and butt muscles. Plus just paying attention to my posture, straightening up my spine.

Luckily we had a spell of stormy weather so I had an additional excuse not to ride in the rain. After ten days or so the weather cleared up and yesterday I was able to get out for a ride. My hip sockets clunked when I threw my leg over the saddle, but after that I was fine. I rode an easy twelve miles on the flat lands out around the Lummi casino.

A few years ago an older woman - actually probably about my age - was killed crossing Slater Road on a bike. There is a memorial to her at the intersection with Ferndale Road.

And I'm back on wheels. But I guess October is the season to slow down and take it a bit easy.

My Favorite Season

That perfect time of year again. On Saturday I took a ride to the post office, then a side-trip to Squalicum Harbor for a snack break. I don't actually know anything about boats except that they are pretty to look at and I enjoy idling around the harbor and waterfront.

Saturday fish market

Americano & croissant

The streets around the Bellingham waterfront have been torn up and detoured all summer, while intersections and railroad crossings are improved. The pavement has been in terrible condition for many years, and there have been some pedestrian deaths at rail crossings, so the work is much needed.

When I headed home on Saturday I decided to try a detour on a little connector street called Seaview Way,  a small, steep, curving road that goes under the train tracks from the waterfront up to Eldridge Ave. When I turned off I could see it went up sharply and I down-shifted, but as I rode under the tracks and around the curve it suddenly got much steeper, going from a 45-degree slope to pretty near 60-degrees. It was too late to down-shift any further, if I'd let up pressure on the pedals, gravity would have taken over and I would have fallen over in the roadway, right in front of the large 4x4 truck that was following me up the slope. All I could do was stand on the pedals and try to keep my feet circling, pulling back against the handlebars, bearing down as hard as I could.

I made it all the way up and stopped by the stop sign at the top, gasping for breath, and turned to apologize to the guys in the truck. They pulled up beside me, cheering and yelling "wooohooo".

I think I strained something in my back. On Sunday I took an easy ride that loosened things up, but as of Monday I'm still a bit sore and achy from the base of my skull all the way down to my knees.

This is why I don't ride clipped in anymore.