Biking Wounded

I’m doing better emotionally – I feel balanced as a lot of lingering ambiguities are finally sorting themselves out. The distress and confusion (only partially revealed on the blog) I felt last weekend has passed, in no small part simply due to time to reflect and time spent with friends. The body though – I’m not sure if I’m asking too much of myself. This week I’ve had cramps in both legs, despite stretching, bananas , etc. particularly in my calves. Last night I shot out of bed as though someone had fastened their mouth on my calf and bit down hard. It went completely away by this morning, but the one I got last weekend is still with me, like a small dense patch of muscle deep inside. I also did something weird to my right shoulder – pulled a muscle or something. I can’t point my arm straight out away from my torso and lift any amount of weight above my shoulder line. Granted, I never do that (who does?) but I think that’s the best way to explain it.

However, all this was put aside for my ride into work and, oddly enough, had/has no discernable effect on my biking. I took Hush and did the 20 miles in 1.5 hours. I got a flat tire (repaired on the road) and it was raining, so I’m pretty pleased with the time. Plus there were a couple of serious hills. When a hill has a name, you know it’s not just an ordinary hill. I passed by some kids waiting for their busses (they all waved, how cool is that?) and a pair of wild turkeys in an old farm field. One of my co-workers passed me and honked when he was clear (NEVER honk when you’re approaching a cyclist from behind!). Of course, your perspective changes when you’re on a bike and you have time to absorb odd details you’d pass by in a car, so I spend the time riding head up and taking in the scenery without peering through a rectangular piece of glass bounded by steel. All in all, it was a very satisfactory ride.

Huge job perk – our offices have showers! So I was able to take a hot shower and change into the clothing I’d left here expressly for that purpose.

The ride back might not be as fun though – we’re supposed to have thunderstorms later today. The only real issue with that is my visibility on the road – I like to be seen by cars. I have an LED flasher though, so I should be OK.

Getting a big chunk of biking done during the week has some potentially important ramifications. I should be able to spend more time this weekend organizing files and poetry. I have a huge box of half dead electronic items, old programs, data, cords and cables, etc. that I’d like to clean out this weekend. The goal is to get everything I need into my new laptop (tons of storage space) and get rid of all the old disks, CDs, etc. I’ll also (hopefully) be able to do some bike repair work, upgrading the brakes on H’s fixed and assembling a Royce Clayton for Irish Studio Guy. ISG is a friend of H’s and has a full recording studio. He’s one of the CT locals that musicians turn to for recording tips and sound services. The deal is I’ll make him a roadbike and he’ll give me virtually unlimited studio time to record poetry. Pretty sweet gesture on his part, given the rates studio time runs for. I have a poetry CD which I made when I was in the South. The quality was very good (professional equipment), but I wasn’t completely happy with the poems, as my work was in marked transition at the time. I have no idea what I’ll record, but it should be interesting. Perhaps this will be motivation for me to finish a longer poem I’ve been working on for a few years. I might want to have a small audience there, or not. Hmm. Another project to kill before LS.

Comments

[pjm]

I had a cramp like that in my calf last weekend, in the middle of the night. I was writhing, fighting it, trying to make it go away, and I was knotted for the rest of the day. I think the root cause of that one was a lack of enough to drink that day, but I'm told that calcium can be an issue - and that chewing a Tums before going to bed might be enough.

Agree about showers at work. I'm not sure I'd like working somewhere I couldn't ride/run in and shower on arrival.

[avi]

a poet goes to law school...expect a long recovery, from one or the other...

i am searching for a jack gilbert poem, the gesture...can some one help me find it?

thanks...

a

[Scoplaw]

Um. I might not be interested in recovering from either.

As for the Gilbert poem, if you can't google it, simply try one of his books. He's only got 3, I think.

Best,

Scoplaw