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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Boredom

It's been 5 days since I last rode my bike. This is driving me crazy.

My shoulder and arm have had good and bad days. I'm not sure what it is I do — if anythiing — that causes the bad days, but they are unbelievably uncomfortable.

Sleeping can be difficult as well. If I can find just the right position, I'm out like a light, but I've had a few nights where I constantly wake up because of the "vice".

My appointment at the Carleton University Sports Medicine Clinic is on August 16th. I also have an appointment with my own doctor this Tuesday.

Man do I miss biking.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Pain-free... almost.

Today is the first day that I've been relatively pain-free. So far.

The pain came and went yesterday, but stuck around for most of the day, despite taking anti-inflammatory meds.

It's actually more discomfort than pain. It hurts, yeh, but the feeling is like my bicep is stuck in a vice and there's a blunt object jammed in my shoulder. And they're on fire.

I tried an ice pack for a few hours last night. Not very comfortble, but I think it made a difference later on when I went to bed. I had a little trouble finding a comfortable sleeping position, but I managed to get to sleep eventually. I'll use the ice pack again tonight.

I woke up this morning with a bit of pain, particularly when I got out of bed causing my dangling arm pulled down on my shoulder, but I popped a few Advils and made it through to now. I have had a few instance of "bicep in a vice"  but they went away fairly quickly after flexing my arm a few times.

I'm going to call the Carleton University Sports Medicine Clinic later this afternoon to see if I get an appointment.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Pain

Cycling home yesterday was unbearable. I seriously considered stopping and calling my wife to come and pick me up.

The pain and tightness in my left shoulder and arm was crazy. Not as bad as when I tore my rotator cuff years ago, but pretty damn close to it.

I rode most of the way home using one arm, and almost sitting upright.

To say that I'm a little upset is an understatement. Faced with the possibility that I won't be able to cycle for a while (at best) really bothers me.

I did a little searching when I got home and it appears this could be the bursitis that I was diagnosed with at the time they did the MRI on my shouder years ago. I was thinking it had to be more than that, but from reading other people's symptoms this seems bang on.

Of course, I'm no Doctor, so I do plan on making an appointments soon and having a talk with him.

A friend recommended contacting the Carleton University clinic. He said they specialize in getting people back up and running "ASAFP". I had never even heard of then, so I Googled it. Sure enough, that's what they do. According to their web site, they "provide care for not just the competitive athlete but the general public with musculoskeletal injury or pain who are seeking to be more active than their medical condition allows."

I'll see what my doctor has to say first. If all he says is "rest it" then I'm going to get in touch with the CU clinic to see what they have to offer.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Dear dumbass...

Instead of yelling "you ran a red light!" at me as I rode my bicycle through the intersection this morning, perhaps you should be watching for the "walk" signal.

The light changed to amber as I entered the intersection. It changed to red when I had to come to a near stop because your ass had stepped into the dedicated bicycle lane — while the "don't walk" signal was still on — as I got to the other side.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Otterbox Rox

On Monday I noticed that the Otterbox case for my iPhone was cracked. I knew these things had a warranty, so I paid a visit to their web site and found where to submit a warranty claim.

This was at around 11:30pm. I filled out the online form with the required info. After submitting it, I received an email asking for a photo of the case, showing the damage, along with a piece of paper in the photo with my name and date written on it. I replied with the photo.

The next day, I received a confirmation that they were sending me a new case. The day after that, I recieved an email invoice (for $0.00) for the new case.

Today, I recieved the new case.

4 days to send me a new case is amazing customer service. It's probably more like 3 days, when you consider that I submitted the claim after business hours on Monday.

Thank you Otterbox!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Bike issues and weight update

My rear wheel developed a slight warp last week. I'm not sure how it happened, but I took it to the bike shop next to where I work on Friday morning and they fixed it by noon. $17 for the repair. Cheaper than a couple of months earlier when they had also replaced a spoke.

I rode it home on Friday and it was fine. On Saturday, I went out for a long ride and about ½ way on my ride, about as far from home as the route would take me, I noticed the wheel had a warp again. I continued riding, but took it easy and tried not to put too much torque on the wheel. What choice did I have?

After 10-15 minutes, I pulled off the path and decided to check it out. I had a very loose spoke. Or so I thought. I cut the ride a little shorter than I had planned and when I got home I looked at the spoke again. It was actually broken. Detached near the wheel's axel hub.

I guess the question now is was this the original reason for the Friday warp? Or was this just a coincidence? I'm not too happy about having to pay for a repair again if it's related to the Friday repair, but if it's a coincidence I'll bite the bullet.

This is the third time my wheel has needed a repair. I don't ride my bike hard. There is an occasional nasty bump on Ottawa roads, but it's no rougher than it's been for any other bike I've ridden. Ugh.

Despite the unfortunate wheel incident, I did have a good ride yesterday, totally just under 55kms. I skipped today because I'm riding my bike to work tomorrow, and will hopefully get the rim fixed for the last time.

On the plus side, when I stepped on my scale this morning it showed me at 213.8 lbs. That's just over 4 lbs away from my lowest weight last year. I've almost lost the ~30 lbs I gained over the winter, and it didn't seem to be as much trouble as last year. Of course, still have ~15 lbs to go to reach my 199 goal. :)