Road kill #9

Day 2 of The Big Training started off brilliantly. Got up at 4:30 to get everything together and get to the ride start for wheels up at 7. I was delighted to see my com padre Heidi with whom I intended to stick all day. She waited outside my car door until I got out for a big hug. We rolled out and soon formed a pelaton of about a dozen riders who stuck together through the next fifty miles then reformed at the 75 mile point which was back at the cars.

The first three hours went smoothly. The roads were beautifully paved with virtually no hills, so we were blatting along at 15 mph in zone 2, laughing and singing and chatting. My legs were feeling fine despite the beating they'd taken yesterday and I was feeling like I'd be able to cope well with the 116 mile distance.

We decided early on to wile away the time by counting roadkill, extra points if you could identify it. We were up to about eight creatures and mile 45 (3 hrs into the 8 hr ride) when we came across some railroad tracks at about a 30 degree angle across the road. Now, I'm an experienced cyclist - I know that you're supposed to cross tracks perpendicular. And Paul ahead (aka our Bitch since he'd lost his cue sheet and was now obliged to the rest of us to know the way) set a textbook example for me. But perhaps it was the angle. Perhaps I got cocky, but for whatever reason I just didn't commit to the angle and one of my wheels caught in the tracks and down I went.

My head hit first with a crack. WEAR YOUR HELMET!!!!! I'd have had a certain head injury if I wasn't wearing mine and a trip in an ambulance. Then my left arm hit the pavement. I lay there for a while assessing my injuries while my buddies picked up Indy, checked her out, tried to keep me down, collected pieces of my helmet and checking it over for damage. Amazingly, everything, including me checked out, although I had road rash on my shoulder and knee and a sore elbow and wrist. Head was fine, thank goodness.

Kat gave me a stern lecture about not riding alone and watching out for signs on concussion and off we went to the next stop about 10 miles away where I iced and took some motrin from _____ (aka the rolling pharmacy - name withheld to protect her/his identity in case it's illegal.) My arm was getting worse and I spent a lot of time shaking it out and holding it down. About mile 65 or so I started to flag and Tika (spelling? I always knew when she was behind me because she ticked and tocked and beeped more than the crocodile in Peter Pan) went in front and pulled me back to the end of the 75 mile loop. I was now officially roadkill #9. Identifiable, thank goodness.

By that point, I couldn't shift between my chain rings or brake without pain, so I decided it would be dangerous to go out on the 40 mile loop. However, since I'd been too lazy to clean out the trunk of my car from winter training, I still had my trainer with me. So I set it up in the parking lot and wished everyone luck as they headed out. Timra brought me ice and I swapped my helmet for a straw hat and settled down for a 2 hr spin. I had all my food that I'd brought for the second loop and plenty of company as people came along and asked me what the heck I was doing.

So, long story short, I got in another 30 miles for a total of 106. About an hour less than the others, but all I could stand. By that point I'd been on my elbow for four hours, and though mostly it was comfortable (no weight - just balance on my aerobars) everything was swelling up.

Ed and co rolled by in his aircraft carrier to go cheer on the last dozen riders so I grabbed my gear, cold cider and hopped in. This was the culmination of the build training for all the Lake Placid folks, so it was an amazing accomplishment, especially given how tired everyone was. Amongst the diehards were three amazingly determined women who were back to tackle IMLP again (one for the third time) after DNFing. We stopped at about 8 miles to go and fed folks with hamburgers and deep fried turkey. Gave out lots of hugs too - there was a lot of emotion around.

My arm was still hurting and I had to get Timra to pull off my jersey and bra so I could change into something less whiffy. We saw the last of the riders and headed back to the park where I had something to eat and drink and then hit the road home.

My second adventure of the day started at the ER at about 7:30. All in all it took about four hours to be triaged, seen by a nurse, seen by a physicians assistant, x-rayed and treated. A lot of waiting. Thank god for my blackberry is all I can say. Friends from the area, California and even NZ kept me company. I was all alone because Mark is on bike tour and not easily contacted. He did get my e-mail and called me while I was in the ER, but he has no way of getting home and besides, I don't want him to stop the tour. Thank goodness for modern technology.

As the night wore on, my day started to tell on me and I started to think that maybe the elbow was broken and what if they have to cast it? With five weeks to go, it would be tight. Well, turns out the elbow is fractured and the wrist probably sprained. The physician's assistant thought that I'd need a cast, possibly surgery and might not be able to do the race. I had a couple of meltdowns which I reported to my friend who was staying up "electronically" with me. Then about 10:30, he turns up in person (what a doll - exactly what I needed). And welcome it was too since they fed me a percoset and I wasn't allowed to drive home. I was definitely ready for bed once I was dropped off.

The percoset wore off around 4:30am and my second Long Day starts. Turns out the earliest a pharmacy opens is 8 am so I got up, taxied to get the car and sat outside the pharmacy until it opened. Had my first meltdown of the day when I discovered that they gave me child proof containers and I couldn't get to my drugs. Pathetic. But eventually I managed. Then a trip to the orthopoedic surgeon. You could have knocked me down with a feather when the doc turns out to be the Dad of one of the new Team Zers. And he didn't bat an eyelid when I looked him in the eye and said "I have an Ironman in five weeks and I will be racing it." Bless him.

Turns out that the fractured isn't horrendous so I'm splinted for two weeks and can run and ride on the trainer as soon as things stop hurting. Swimming's going to be tough because of the twisting motion to the arm. We'll see. Yeah - about as good news as I could have hoped for.

Rested for the remainder of the day and my friend Chris brought me dinner and helped me out while I finally showered. So now I feel much more human.

Despite the meltdowns, I feel strangely calm. I've been feeling like something really really bad was going to happen and in the way of things, it could have been much worse. I'm not enjoying the pain, but that too shall pass.