Meeting Pharmie; Nick's OK; Party at Greg's

We got to meet and ride with Pharmie! She and Steve only live about 20 miles away, and we read each other's blogs, so we finally arranged to bike together. Steve had to prepare for school which is starting in a couple days, but Pharmie trekked out to Medina to ride. We love Pharmie!



... who is on the right, followed by Robert, Eric, me, Nick, and Rachel (the friend who took the picture that is now my profile pic).


It was a great ride until......


While we were pedaling along at probably 22 mph, a woman in a white car raced ahead of the cyclists in an attempt to get ahead of them before making her right turn. Though Nick braked and skidded for 38 feet, he still hit the back corner of her car. It was one of the scariest things to see one of your truly nearest and dearest laying on the pavement and being whisked away in an ambulance. Luckily, he is recovering and did not break any bones.

Eric rode over Nick's bike and has a bent frame, but he is okay, too.

My husband came to pick up those who couldn't continue. We started as seven, and then there were three. Very scary.


Laura's birthday is in August, so we had one final party for the August birthdays at IronGreg's house. Here we are on the pontoon with our host, Greg. Thank you Greg! It was a beautiful night!

Greg, Laura and Tim.


Tim, Sue, Andy, Karen, Robert and Dave enjoying birthday snacks while cruising around Lake Minnetonka and the channels in between.


Sue and Andy. Mother and son. I love these people. Andy and his father Dave did Ironman Zurich together this summer and last week Andy got a tattoo matching his dad's. How cool.


Nick, Rachel, Andy, Helen, me, Sue, Laura



... and the evening ended with a full moon overlooking the deck at Greg's.

OK, fine - here's a pic.

Six days have passed and I am feeling better - thank you all for your all your well-wishes! Here you can see a couple of bruises: knee, inside my knee and my ankle. Actually the ankle one hurt a lot, but never did look like much.
I think these are from the final rollover when I "sat" on my bike after the initial hip-landing-somersault.



This one on my hip took my entire weight after I bounced off my head. I feel so lucky I didn't break this hip. I think the one behind my hamstring happened when I got the ones in the first pic.


Today I can still feel the hip bruise, and the entire region on my right hip is still swollen. No, really.
More "swollen" than its counterpart.
More than "usual" ;-) and rounded.
I know they're both kind of rounded, but the right one is much more. I'm not explaining it further!


But the weather was really nice today (drizzly and 58 degrees) so on our long run (my first workout since the crash) we added onto our milage and ran 20. It sounded like a much better idea than trying to eek it out next weekend when it's back in the 90's and humid. I think the week off was good for me because I felt good for the whole run. No joint pain, just aware there was a bruise on my hip.

CRASH!

Well, I finally had my first real bike crash. Coming into the parking lot after our 52 miler on Sunday, I flipped over a speed bump. Hard to imagine but I was TALKING to Laura instead of watching where I was going. What looked to me like painted white and yellow stripes in the road, were really a row of speed bumps.
I went over the handlebars, tried to brace myself with my palms, but landed on my head, cracking my helmet in two. Then I somersaulted, feet flying over my head, and landed on my right hip.
I got up feeling mostly just shaken, but as time has gone by, I've gotten pretty stiff. What at first looked like just a little road rash, is actually a little road rash plus a million bruises - like, everywhere!
I did take a few pictures, but I can't post them without revealing my DEEPEST DARKEST SECRET that I have a bit of celullite. ;-)
So the bruise stat is this: ankle, calf, inside of knee, back of hamstring, glute and hipbone, pubic bone, chest bone, front of quad, right elblow, left wrist, both palms.
Road rash stat is: left elbow, back, right hip, right palm.
Broken bones: zero.
Bike condition: fine.
Helmet: dead. This chunk out of my helmet coulda been a chunk out of my skull!

I am a little old for all this (45!) so I am taking all the time I want to get back in the saddle. I tried to walk/run on the dreadmill yesterday, but ended up only walk/hiking for an hour because every time my right foot hit the mill, my right hip screamed.

Tonight is our weekly club ride, but I don't want to lean on my elbow on my aerobar, nor do I want to hold myself upright with my bruised palms. Arghhhh!

So for the rest of the week, Ironmomjenny will be your go-to blog for dieting and closet-organization tips. ;-)

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Last weekend we went up to Laura's dad's cabin for some R&R.

We celebrated the birthdays of Greg (10th), Jeff (4th), Laura, (today! the 11th) and Ally (26th).

Ally made a cake - very cute.

We tooled around onthe pontoon, dug up clams and let the sunnies eat them out of our hands.

Jeff's dog Pischka let Nick know he was her favorite.

Laura's dad is just the best.

Ally never did get in the water (?).

We went for a short but hilly run, and swam partway across the lake.

Nick gave Ally some fishing tips...

... and they worked!


Bob and Bobby were up in Canada for some fishing for the week. I really missed them! But they are home now. Summer is really winding down. Time to get online and get those new school uniforms ordered.

Tagged by TriDummy!

Jobs I've Held:
Tobacco farm hand, nurses aid, summer nanny, English tutor, Buyer for retail chain (Dominick's Finer Foods), Regional Sales manager (Better Homes and Gardens), Mom (current and favorite)
Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
Princess Bride, anything with Will Ferrell
My Guilty Pleasures:
dark chocolate, vodka lemonades
Places I Have Lived:
Texas, Connecticut, Chicago, Minnesota
Shows I Enjoy:
Project Runway, Survivor
Vacation Spots:
All over the world. Still on my list: Machu Picchu, Kilimanjaro, Egypt, Israel, Thailand
Favorite Foods:
turkey sandwiches; anything with cheese melted on it
Websites I Visit Daily:
MSN.com, your blogs ;-)
Body Parts I Have Injured:
none very seriously
Awards I've Won:
lots, but none that earned me a fish-net-stockinged leg-lamp like in A Christmas Story
Nicknames I've Been Called:
Jenny, Mama [spoken in a southern accent]

Now I'm tagging IronGirl Nyhus...

Happy Birthday, Commodore!!!

... from just a few of the many people who are delighted and proud to call you "friend".
(ocean swim with Trimama, Kahuna, Comm, RoboStu, IronJenny)


(sharing a Mai Tai with Roman in Florida)

Have a great day!