First Real Test

This morning I did the first real test of my distance ability and managed 22.75 miles at an average speed of 11 mph with an average heart rate of 107.  I realize that this isn't exactly a world class distance or speed, but for me it feels good since it is the longest ride I've done since my heart attack and I am sure that I could have gone farther.




Cycling in the UK looks fun

The route was pretty straight forward;  I took local streets to the Monon- went south to the Fall Creek Trail then took it to Stiles Park.  I reversed course for the return trip.  This was the first time I have tried connecting the Monon and Fall Creek trails, and with the exception of the little jog you have to take on 38th street on the Fall Creek Trail it is a nice route--not as loaded with the snotty folks who think they own the trail as the northern portion of the Monon,  a little more scenic, and far fewer road crossings (2 total that I remember on Fall Creek Trail).

I want to try to ride from here to Brown County State Park next month for the Breakdown at which I plan to volunteer (no way I could do the ride just yet).  I plan to use a route I found online which puts the distance at around 40 miles.  I would have around 15-20 miles before the start of the route if I start at home.  This Idea is dependant on whether my new bike comes in before then, whether I can get a trailer before then, and whether I can train enough before then, so this idea is still quite a ways up in the air.  But hey,  it's a goal and a person must have goals or else he just sits around on his ass and laments about what could have been.

My Road ID

I want to take some time here to rave about a piece of equipment I have that I believe evry cyclist, runner, jogger, or person who leaves their house on a regular basis should have- a Road ID

The week before my heart attack I got my first Road ID in the mail.  I had ordered one out of fear of the local drivers.  Indianapolis has gone to great extent over the last few years to make cycling around the city easier by way of bike lanes and trails which has been great, but the area they haven't improved is the drivers.  A lot of the drivers in this city are just plain dangerous; they don't know the laws regarding bicycles on the road (or just don't care), they text, eat, listen to head-phones, read, and just about everything else except pay attention to the road while they are driving, so collisions or near misses with cyclists and pedestrians are very common.

Within one week in the area around me there was a hit and run with a cyclist, another with a pedestrian, and I personally saw two stupid near misses between a car and a bicycle.  One of these near misses involved an idiot in a pick-up passing a cyclist then turning right in front of him in order to get to a McDonalds.  The guy on the bike was in a bike lane and had to lock up his brakes to avoid slamming into the side of the idiot's truck.  That night I ordered a Road ID.

My first ID was a basic one that gave my name and had my children's contact numbers on it.  While this ID didn't save my life or anything that dramatic, it did allow the hospital to be able to contact my daughter and let her know what had happened when I was in a condition where I could barely remember my own name much less phone numbers due to the pain, which kept her from going insane wondering about me.

After I got out of the hospital I ordered an interactive version of my ID that still has my daughter's contact number on it, but also has contact information that gives out medical info that emergency personnel will want to know; like the fact that I have a metal stent in my heart and what type of medications I am on.

While the ID won't necessarily help me if I am at home and have fallen and can't get up, if I have the same problem downtown it feels good to know that a paramedic or doctor can get information they need, and considering the amount of time I spend in traffic on a bike surrounded by idiots, this will probably come in handy.  Even off the bike, if I were to keel over due to my heart the information is still there, since I haven't taken this ID off since I put it on my wrist.

If you ride a bike, jog, run, or just walk anywhere near modern, fast-food and/or technology addicted drivers I would suggest getting one of these little beauties--today.

From Hospital Bed to the Open Road

At 2 am May 15th 2012 I suffered a major heart attack due to a 100% blockage of the LAD in my heart. The doctors at St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana cleared the blockage and put a stent in there to keep it open.

What all this means in real terms is that at the age of 46 I now have a heart that works at roughly half what it should.

During my time in the hospital (after coming to terms with the idea of having had a heart attack) most of my questions revolved around whether or not I could still ride my bike.  I know this might sound silly to some, but I viewed my bike as a form of freedom- freedom from my auto, freedom from gasoline, and just plain freedom from all of the responsibilities of my daily grind.

For a while there it seemed as if I would have to give up my bike in favor of mall-walking type exercise, which was a trade I am unwilling to make. So, within two weeks of my release I began pedaling again.  At first it was on a trainer in my living room then it spread out to short spins outside, and now 4 months later I am riding as much as I was before what the doctors like to call my "event."

Now I am by no means riding the same way I was before.  Slow and steady has replaced my attempts to achieve higher and higher average speeds over given routes, and casual rides have replaced attempts to set (personal) speed records. These changes in attitude have by no means changed the enjoyment I experience on my bike, but they have changed what type of bikes and other equipment that I want, and they have (in some ways) changed what I want to do with my bike. I still use the bike to commute and run errands, but now instead of looking toward events that involve speed and time limits, I have begun to look toward long distance slow paced things like touring. Which leads me to the what and why of this blog.

My intention here is to use this blog as a journal of sorts to record my journey from here out as it applies to my recovery and my bike.  I'm sure that I will wander all over the place within this framework, but wandering around is part of who I am.  Hopefully these wanderings can provide some things worth reading--we'll see.