iRide

I haven’t posted an update in the last couple weeks, because, well, it’s just been one of those days–all month long!!

It all started with Monday September 1st–Labor Day. It would appear that the Poison Oak from the Santa Rosa Plateau ride (see last post) decided to rear its ugly head to exact its vengeance on me. The rash appeared on Labor Day.

This was what greeted me that morning. It only got worse from there. I mean, almost unbearably worse. I ended up buying a myriad of Tecnu products. It helped alleviate the worst of the pain and itching. It is all but gone now, but it took just about the entire last 2 weeks.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to be going on a road trip up to Kernville with James and Sean. We set out on the evening of Wednesday the third in Sean’s motorhome.

That there’s an RV

Right away the trip took a bad turn. About 1:30 in the morning on the way up, we blew a tire.

We ended up limping into Ridgecrest and spending the night in the parking lot of a tire store.

No worries. The tire got fixed and we were on our way. I wasn’t feeling very good, but figured it was the higher altitude and restless night’s sleep in the motorhome. We made it into Kernville and parked at the top of a mountain over-looking Lake Isabella. Our plan was to hit the “Just Outstanding” trail and a few other finger trails. We parked Sean’s motorcycle at the bottom of the mountain. We would park the RV at the top and ride. We would eventually ride to the bottom, where Sean could hop on the motorcycle and drive back up to the top, grab the RV and drive back down to pick us up. I was really starting to feel sick, but ignored it.

Once at the top

…we had some lunch and geared up to hit the Unal trail.

James had a little issue with his left crank arm

Luckily the bolt hadn’t fallen out. We re-installed and were on our way, with a short hike up.

Over the river and through the woods…

A bit of unridable chunk

Sometimes, walking a climb is just fine…especially when said climb sits on a trail, that sits at 7,000′

Nice views too

After that 6.5 mile loop, we headed back to the RV to take a quick breather before we hit Just Outstanding. I was REALLY starting to feel bad at this point. I knew I was running a fever. I had a massive headache. My whole body ached and I had a bad case of the chills. I knew then and there that my trip would be cut short. There was no cell phone service at the top of the mountain, and I needed to get ahold of Tonya, tell her my situation and beg her (LOL) to come pick me up. So, I decided to go ahead and ride, with the sole purpose of getting enough of a signal on my cell to call her.

We started out for round 2 and picked up Just Outstanding

The trail was very dry and dusty

I was able to get a signal on my cell not too far down and was able to call Tonya. I explained the situation and she said she would be on her way–a 6 hour drive each way, or 12 hour round trip!! Yes, I have the greatest wife to ever walk the face of the Earth. She never complained or whined or made me feel guilty even once.

I felt a bit better knowing I would be sleeping in my own bed that night and celebrated with a little log roll

Kernville Tunnel

All too soon the fun was over and we started some rolling singletrack/fireroad mix to get to the main DH to the bottom

After what seemed like an eternity, we got to the main DH to the bottom–2,300′ of DH mind you. I was basically done. I felt so awful and knew I needed to be careful so I wouldn’t get hurt on the DH. It ended up being super dusty and loose–not very much fun at all. Of course, I felt like 5-lbs of crap in a 3-lb bag, so maybe it would’ve been more fun if I wasn’t sick.

So loose and dusty, we had to hike-a-bike (HAB) down a few sections

I suppose most of it was ridable though

We didn’t take too many pics of the DH as we were racing daylight. We got to the bottom just as dusk was giving way to night. I was SO glad to be done!!!

My Angel showed up around 10PM to take me home. I said goodbye to Kernville and my bros. I actually do want to get back sometime soon. Thanks to Sean for setting it all up. And again, muchos gracias to Sean for the pics!!

I spent that weekend and the next week sick as a dog. Going home early was definitely the right choice!! I spent all weekend in bed. I ended up staying home from work Monday-Wednesday and was barely well enough to go back to work Thursday.

I was feeling decent Friday and Jeremy and I decided to hit up Hodges for an easy ride. It kicked my butt like it never should. Being sick sucks!! I was glad we got out though. I haven’t ridden with J much lately. It was good times for sure. I had to work at the bike shop Saturday. Mark and I decided to hit up LPQ after I got off. I knew it would be a good trail to help me get back into shape. I was/am still coughing and slightly congested, but it was a good ride and I felt alright.

Mark, Sean and I decided to ride here in Ramona yesterday. It was a fun ride, but I crashed twice. Hard. To make a long story short, I’ve got some gnarly scrapes on my right arm, hip and knee. I also tweaked my right wrist pretty bad. When I woke up this morning, it had a huge lump on it and my range of motion is about 1/4″–no joke.

I was able to get into the doctor this morning. He looked at it and was sure I fractured it. So, off to the Radiologist for X-Rays. Six X-Rays later, I find out it’s not broken, just a bad sprain. Thank you thank you thank you!! Unfortunately, I still have basically zero range of motion. I am typing most of this one-handed.

So, I get Poison Oak and what amounts to The Plague or the Hanta Virus–I still haven’t decided which one it resembled the closest. Then, when that is all finally clearing up, I tweak the ever-loving-you-know-what out of my wrist. Oh well, at least it’s my right wrist and I’m right-handed. Wait….

Like I said–it’s been one of those days all month long!!

I leave you with a pic I think turned out pretty cool. James took it on a ride a few weeks ago. It’s a steep roller at Lake Hodges. I’ve hit it a few times and it’s really fun. I knew it was steep, but the pic really shows it. Usually pics make hard/techy/steep/rocky trails and features look really tame, but this one does a decent job of showing the bit of sketch. The perspective is awesome. You can really see how high up and steep the roller is from where I’m at and where the road is.

Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…