BLOG OF THE WEEK   THIS WEEK HAS BEEN DIFFICULT WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING A BLOG ABOUT TEAM LAUGHING DOG AND OUR RACE ACROSS AMERICA TO RAISE AWARENESS AND MONEY FOR AUTISM.  I LEARNED ON JUNE 5TH THAT I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO RIDE DURING THE RACE BECAUSE OF A NECK INJURY AND THEN AS THE WEEK WENT BY THINGS JUST SEEMED TO GET WORSE.  NOT ONLY COULDN’T I RIDE,...

TODAY IS THE DAY.  THE DAY WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, PLANNING AND TRAINING FOR OVER A YEAR.  IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF WEEKLY MEETINGS, COUNTLESS DEBATES, ENDLESS DISCUSSIONS OF THE BEST WAY TO RIDE BICYCLES 3000+ MILES ACRROSS THE COUNTRY IN ONE WEEK OR LESS. DURING THE RACE ACROSS AMERICA, THE TOUGHEST ENDURANCE CYCLING EVENT IN THE WORLD, HANDWRINGING OVER HOW...

Today, I had an appointment with my doctor.  Good news and bad news. The bad news first: 1.  I will have to be on pain medication every 4 hours for the next 10 and 1/12 weeks.  Sprinkle in 1-2 Valium every 6 hours to act as a muscle relaxant and I will should be in la la land for the remainder of the summer.  The down side of pain medications is the...

It is official, the lake is now at flood stage and my dock is underwater.  It continues to rain with no end in site.  So what else is new? I have to share a short story with you.  Last night, I had the opportunity to meet a nurse from Bonner General under not so pleasant circumstances.  She was very polite, made me feel good about our meeting and...

Teammates, I apologize for not keeping you informed of my current medical status.  I was released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon and have spent the last days taking pain medications every 4 hours along with Valium every six hours and one other pain medication to relieve the muscle spasms in my neck and back.  To say the pain has been somewhat ...

Eight weeks ago today I broke my hip when I crashed crossing railroad tracks.  It was during a crew supported practice ride near Sandpoint on a wet and dreary day like today.  At the end of April we had another practice ride in Washington for 27 hours.  The morning of the ride we moved the ride to East Central Washington due to it being another cold and wet...

I want to thank everyone for the great job this weekend on the practice ride. It was great to be part of the crew and see how dedicated and excited everyone was to support the riders. It was also good to get an understanding of what it means to be a crew member. It is clear to me that being a crew member is a tough job, requires intense focus and...

Exactly one month ago, on March 27th I had just left the recovery room in the hospital from hip surgery.  Today, April 27th, I had my second doctor’s appointment since the surgery. In between, I have gone from not being able to walk across my hospital room with a walker, to walking with crutches, to riding a stationary bike, to being able to walk with out...

One of the biggest issues I have when I spin now is that I am not supposed to stand up while spinning.  As you can imagine, spinning without standing up, can be a real pain. There is not enough cushion in my bicycling rump and my old padded bike shorts just don’t make the cut. Since I can’t push as hard as I would like in terms of resistance, I have set...

It has been two and one half weeks since I had my accident and surgery and almost two weeks since I was in the hospital.  Many thanks for all the well wishes, cards, emails, etc.  I began using crutches instead of a walker last week and I started driving last week.  I began physical therapy last week and am working with a great organization, pneumex and...