A year ago today, part 2

The last few weeks have been difficult ones for me. On this day last year, our trip around the country ended prematurely when we were rear-ended in Kingman, Arizona. I cannot tell you how many times I have uttered that sentence. Even just the other day, meeting a couple people at a Conservancy outing, one of the women said, "oh, you're the one that went around the country on your bike, right?" She noted that she and her husband had followed our journey. She was telling her friend how we didn't finish the tour because of the accident. Yes, that's right. "Are you going to go back and finish it?"  Yes, that's right.  And once again I shared the story of how we were hit in Kingman. How we later had an accident after returning home. How I decided to take the opportunity while recovering from the pelvis fracture to have my trigger finger surgery done.  How we were pretty much all healed up from that and back to riding again when I fell and broke my wrist.  And now, how my wrist injury is healing up well but my carpal tunnel nerves are causing quite a lot of trouble and so I am probably looking at another surgery before the end of the year.

Or maybe I didn't tell the whole story. I am getting pretty tired of it. I imagine that other folks must be, as well. 

Clearly there is something wrong here!

I didn't expect it to take this long. Roger and I had talked about going back out to Kingman to complete the trip home as soon as we arrived home last year.  We even had the borrowed tandem that we could have ridden to complete the trip - but it was getting on winter and we weren't really fully back to snuff until mid-December, and by then it was pretty cold in the desert, plus the holidays were coming  . . .  so we figured we'd go in the spring. Until we crashed right before New Years.  Then, it seemed as though we would probably not make it until late spring, due to my injury and subsequent surgery.

And then we decided that we would not want to go until we had the Silver Queen back, and that was early May. By then, there were road repairs on old Route 66.  We didn't ever get as far as checking alternate routes, because it was really starting to get hot.  Maybe we'd wait until fall, when the weather let up a bit. Doing a run through the desert without support requires a lot of water and you don't want to tempt fate by attempting it in the dead of summer.

Well, July 22 I fell, breaking my wrist, and so all our plans for the fall went on hold.  Even the Mammoth Fall Century, which we've done many times, was in question.  My cast was removed the day before the ride.  So - no century for me!  We went anyway, since we were registered for it, and our friend Vickie rode the tandem with Roger. And I began to think that maybe we'd go out to the desert on the anniversary of our accident, and finish the trip up "on time" but a year late.

Whoopsy!

Except that's not working out, either.  I spent some time on the trainer while in my cast, and I have been out on the tandem with Roger several times in the past few weeks.  But the numbness in my right hand has got me feeling pretty tentative, and it's not really all that comfortable riding with the wrist brace on. I can ride without it, but I'm still anxious about bumps and jolts so I feel more secure with it on. So far we've only been about 35 miles. We're not ready (I'm not ready!) to go 300 miles yet.

First cast - fashion pink

Second cast, a more manageable size and color

And so, though I put "Kingman" on my calendar for today many months ago, we are not in Kingman.  We are not getting ready to head for home, at long last. We're just in Redlands, reflecting on the year past.  We've started to think lately that maybe we will try to complete the trip Thanksgiving week.  That's the latest ending to my ever-evolving story about our Excellent Adventure!

Your reporter, with wrist brace

We took a short ride today.  We just went up the hill to Sunset and then around over to Live Oak Canyon and home.  Less than 20 miles, but it was important to get on the bike and do something today, of all days. I feel pretty good on the bike, although of course I am not very strong right now. Still, it's something - and you have to start with something!