Traveling and riding again

This afternoon, I mustered the courage to try to lift my right leg over the top tube and saddle of my good old Klein commuter. I had to lean the bike at almost a 45-degree angle, and—standing on the good leg—I ever so slowly brought the bad leg up and over. Uff! Stepping onto the pedal and clipping in (I used SPD shoes) was no problem at all, and then I rolled off. Well, I do have to admit that there was a lot of tightness and pulling in that right hip, but it progressively got better. I had to stop at a few stop signs to let cars pass by, and stepping off I could feel that all this was something that the body hadn't expected. But nevertheless, the experiment came off successfully, and 3.3 miles later the second-most-difficult maneuver followed in front of my garage, getting the right leg lifted back over the saddle. Mission accomplished!

The ride had come after I had been riding something like 180 miles on the spin bike over those past few weeks, in 20- and 25-minute individual sessions, watching reruns of 3rd Rock From The Sun. (These past few weeks have made it even more difficult for me to understand how all this indoor cycling has become such a powerful movement. Oh well, to each his own—and hers, too.) Once I'll be able to go out for longer rides the stationary machine will be sent back home to my friend Les. I so very much appreciate having been able to use it as an additional rehab tool, but feeling the sun and wind is why I ride bikes in the first place, plus my unabashed lust for adventuring.

Racing in the age of COVID

About ten days ago I left Lubbock on my first trip since the accident. Just for the record, I had spent 47 consecutive days at home after my discharge from the hospital, more than in at least 20 years. It was time to board a plane and fly out to Salt Lake City to be part of the 2-day UCI SOHO Bike Festival in the beautiful Heber valley just south of Park City. Lucky for me, not only had I not forgotten how to fly, but upgrades made the experience much more pleasant.

At the SLC airport the UCI chief commissaire waited for me to give me a ride to the venue. My role for the weekend was to be the Assistant President of the Commissaires' Panel (or APCP), fancy UCI parlance for "second in command." But things changed very quickly when the Chief received an email revealing that he had tested positive for COVID (all UCI-personnel have to undergo such tests before international events while USA Cycling-assigned referees do not have to meet this requirement). After some brainstorming and numerous calls to various higher-ups at USAC it was determined that I would be the acting President of the Commissaires' Panel (or for short PCP) for the event.

Before I decided to continue my cycling career as Doping Control Officer back in 2012 I had been working UCI events as PCP for many years. USAC still recognizes my title as International Commissaire—it's just that because of certain UCI decisions about 10 years ago we underlings had to decide whether to work internationally as referee or pee observer. So, stepping into the role of lead kahuna at SOHO was not something that intimidated me. Rather, it was fun to take on this role, even though I felt sorry for my friend who had to leave and travel back home because of his positive test.

Not only did I have a great crew, but our registration/timing company was top notch. I had worked with all the other referees before, and working with OneToGo Events Management is always reassuring because one just knows that Jon and his crew will come through. In other words, the race came off without a hitch, despite COVID protocols and large numbers of racers (we had altogether 996 individuals race starts during Friday's time trial and short track and Sunday's cross-country).

OK, I'll be honest: Saturday, which saw me clock in at 7:15 a.m. and leave the venue around 9:00 p.m., was a tough one. There was a lot of walking and standing involved, and I couldn't use a chair as often as i would have liked. But, as I said, my crew came through. Holly, Kris, Brandon, and Tobin (who had driven in from Colorado on Friday to cover our being short one person) made things easy for me. Thanks, guys! And thankfully, the race didn't pose any unforeseen challenges that required intervention except a few smallish issues.

Why do I like those races? Obviously, it's supervising and enabling the competition, something that I so much enjoyed in my younger days. And then there's the challenge that comes with being part of the orchestra, or the first violin, or in this case the conductor. But at this point in my career the true allure may just be the camaraderie, the seeing again and working with old, close colleagues, the reunion with some friends one hasn't seen in a year or two or many more. So good to see you, Harry L., Rob K., and Jason S.—thank you for making the trip out to SOHO just to say hi! And thanks, Kris and Holly, for hitting with me Heber Valley Brewing to pick up supplies to take to the fabulous evening that we spent at Jon's place on Friday. And yes, Jon, thank you for your friendship over all those years. I always enjoy the quiet moments with you, and from the deck of your incredible home that you opened for us, the entire experience gets augmented by several magnitudes! 

 

Happy Hour from Jon's deck

So, those four days in Utah were another step back toward my "normal" life, and things worked out. The involuntary downgrade from First to Economy (I had received a complimentary upgrade but then there was a change in equipment) came with an unexpected $300 AA voucher, just icing on the cake. This trip gave me the confidence that I will be able to pull off my planned trip to Europe at the end of the month. Until then. more efforts at PT and general rehab, and many positive thoughts!

Hello from the Zermatt!

Jürgen