A conversation with Chris and Kelly

This is a typical conversation in our household.

Where It Starts

We all start out somewhere and at one time each one of us was that hairy-legged, baggy-jersey-wearing goober who had no idea what they were about to get themselves into. No idea how fun it is to ride with a group. No idea what it’s like to be in a break. No idea how hard others can push you. No idea what it’s like to blow up at the front and shoot straight out the back. No idea how it feels to descend at 55 MPH in a pack of 100 guys. No idea…

A friend who is getting more involved in cycling asked me how I got into “serious riding.” Funny, I never really considered myself a serious rider. I mean, really. I’m not a pro, I don’t log 20,000+ miles per year, I don’t get paid to ride, I have a job and I don’t weigh 140 lbs. Then again, I will ride over 8,000 miles this year, I take home occasional winnings and have a great sponsor http://www.bikemart.com/, my arms are as skinny as the ones on my 120 lb. girlfriend, and I have a bike blog.

This got me thinking of how I got here and I really had to look back. It all started sometime after college when one of my friends had an extra mountain bike and asked me if I wanted to go ride at some place called Cedar Hill. I said sure and met him the next Saturday for the ride. Little did I know how crappy I would feel when I mixed a hangover with the Texas sun and the dusty single track of the state park. I couldn’t even finish the nine mile loop and ended up taking a shortcut back to the car. For the next several years, my riding was sporadic at best. Then in 2001, I entered an adventure race with some friends from work. We had a blast. I ran a marathon that same year. I wanted to ride when the trails were wet, so I bought a road bike. I did my first triathlon the next year. It was a great experience. After a couple years of triathlons, I decided to take some time off from running and concentrate on cycling. I signed up for my first bike race at our weekly crit. I had no clue what was going on and was bitched out for cutting someone off. It was amazing and I was hooked.

I was slowly sucked into the sport. More miles, faster groups, bigger races. Before I knew it, I was catting up, riding with a light at night and spinning on rollers. You leave parties early; ride before and after group rides; and sneak in rides whenever you can. It becomes ingrained in your life and you in a subculture.

Enough reminiscing, I need to get out and ride.

Tandem

When was the last time you had grapefruit?

This last month has been a blur. No posts here usually means life has been plenty busy. Two weeks ago, I had my monthly visit with doctors at Baylor. As usual, they took an X-Ray and for the first time since surgery, I was able to see some change in the composition of my jawbone. My gap is beginning to fill in with a milky, spider web looking substance. Bone! I was very excited and so were the doctors. They gathered around the image like schoolboys around a centerfold.

Another big accomplishment for the month was my first group ride since surgery. It was wonderful to ride with a group again. Luckily, it was a race weekend so the pace was fairly tame. Even with a slower than normal ride, I still had a hard time recovering after some hard efforts. I took it easy and used a shortcut or two to keep things manageable. I still have a long way to go but it is a great feeling to ride like this again.

In between work travel, I had the chance to spend a weekend in Chicago with my brother and Stephen. Among the many activities, a highlight of the weekend was renting bikes. We ended up with a tandem and a hybrid of some sort. It was great fun and we got some crazy looks. Yes, two dudes on a tandem is quite the sight. After riding along the lake, we headed up to Wrigleyville, hit an Oktoberfest celebration, visited Chinatown, saw the Buckingham Fountain and stood in awe at the base of the Sears Tower. I’ve been to Chicago countless times, but I’ve never seen it like this before. Prior to this trip, I was a complete bike snob and wouldn’t have thought about renting a cruiser and riding around town. I always had to have a road bike so I could get in a good ride. After seven hours on the bike touring the Windy City, I now have a new definition of good ride.

Kolaches

Riding around White Rock one morning.

I had a strange dream last night. I dreamt I was doing some kind of organized bike ride, not a race. It was getting very close to the end of the ride, but it felt like a race because everyone was gearing up for the sprint. As we approach the "finish" there is a guy who locks handlebars with someone and begins to lean into me . Instincts take over and I lean back and push him into the barriers. The guy goes down hard. I feel bad but all I could think about was not going down.

Everyone asks how I'm doing. My typical answer is, "great". And this is true, but it's kind of hard to measure when much of my life is so easy on the body. I work in an office. I live in a house. I commute by car. None of this is physically stressful. For me, a more accurate measure is what I can do on the bike. I hate to say this, but that's about the only time I have the ability to really push my body. And I haven't done that yet. I'm doing some longer rides of 65ish miles, but these are slow and easy. I'm going to continue to take it easy and slowly build up my strength and speed. October is the goal for my first group ride. Kind of funny that's a goal.

On our way down to Austin for Kelly's triathlon last weekend, we rode in Temple as we continued to ease my way into shape. If you ever get a chance, stop at Green's Sausage House for their Kolaches. I never thought I would be a fan of these sweet treats but the cottage cheese Kolache is amazing. Seriously.

Even after a flat, Kelly was able to take 4th in her age group.

On Tuesday, Kelly wasn't able to start her car in the morning because her battery was dead. I told her to take my car and I would ride the motorcycle to work. Apparently, this wasn't to be our morning. The motorcycle wouldn't start. Option number three. I changed into shorts, loaded my work clothes in the backpack, and jumped on my bike. I took back roads and ended up on the Katy Trail which takes me right to my office. Wow, the ride to work was fantastic. Riding home wasn't as pleasant as the high hit 95 degrees, but it was a good experience.

Deep Ellum

Last week David (one of the artists I work with) and I decided to spend our lunch hour in Deep Ellum. The once thriving community of bars, restaurants, tattoo parlors and art galleries has hit some hard times. David and some other artists were commissioned to revitalize the sculpture park at the entrance to the area. Walking around reminded me of the many nights we would spend at Trees, Art Bar and The Bone. That was a long time ago.

Remember Copper Tank?

Friday was another trip to the doctor and he said my mouth is looking great. Things are so good that I don't have to make a return visit for another month. He took some measurements and I can now open my mouth 22mm!

Another week of riding and I'm feeling stronger and better each day. Kelly and I planned to sleep in and take it easy Saturday morning. However, the beautiful weather got the best of us and instead of sticking to plan, we took a short spin at the lake. Isn't it sad when you give up a chance to be lazy? On Sunday, we got together with Dave and did a longer ride out to Cedar Hill. I'm still lacking strength and stamina, but the pace was casual and I felt great the entire ride. This was the first longer ride I've done in a while where I wasn't glad to be finished.

My best.

Ten Weeks

Pitstop on the Sunday ride

Ten weeks post surgery and this was the first weekend I've really started to feel like myself. It's kind of hard to explain what this means and there isn't one telling sign. I think it's all the little things that are starting to come back. On Saturday, I was able to open my water bottle with my mouth. I'm using my Sonicare again. I'm riding more and Kelly said my legs are starting to get some definition. These things don't sound like much, but they are all taking me closer to a full recovery. That being said, I don't know that I will ever be 100%. Maybe, maybe not.

I was getting my hair cut the other day. Layne, who has been cutting my hair for the past couple years, and I were talking about the surgery. As you can guess, this is the topic of many conversations. Anyway, she told me something that surprised me. She said she was proud of me. I asked her why and she said she was proud because I continued to go out and about with my grizzly beard and swollen jaw. She said many people wouldn't have done that and they would have stayed hidden away at home. I don't consider going out in public looking like a mountain man who was on the loosing end of a UFC bout anything to be proud of, but she brought up a great point. I got some crazy looks when I was out in public. It honestly didn't bother me, I tried to have fun with it. I knew it was temporary, just like the beard. I know almost all of this is temporary and that makes it a little easier. The pain, the swelling, the wired jaw. All temporary.

The last couple of weeks have been good. Actually, they have been great. It's the little things. It's the big things. It's all the things we normally don't think about. Now they have me thinking.

My best.

One Dr. Isn't Enough

Friday was another visit to the doctor and more good news. Dr. Schow was excited to see things recovering so well since the removal of my arch bars. My gums were healthy and the ridge that has formed where my teeth were removed is strong. This is all very nice to hear. I have another checkup in two weeks. Assuming all goes well and my bone continues to rejuvenate, the next big thing will be teeth implants in four months.

Here is the x-ray they took on Friday. Compare that to the x-ray at four weeks.

With all the good news, Kelly and I decided to go see a Dr. Seuss exhibit at one of the local galleries. Very cool stuff and I was surprised to find an obscure reference to six-day racing. For those that don't know, six-day racing was a type of track racing that was very popular around the turn of the twentieth century. Believe it or not, but one of the most popular locations for racing was Madison Square Garden.

Riding is going well and I have really been enjoying my new outlook on training. Instead of following a plan that had me on the bike six days a week, I now ride when I want, for long as I want and as hard as I want. On Sunday, Kelly and I had a great ride with Will and Greg out west. It was nice to get away from our normal routine of White Rock and the south loop.

My best