I've been just a little busy as of late, so I apologize for the lack of updates. So let’s pick up where we left off.
My Back
Since I threw out my back, I've been seeing a chiropractor at least once a week. It started off as twice a week and because of my progress my visits have been cut back to once a week. I feel fine now. From a mobility stand point, I feel better than I have in years. I've done a lot of work on my posture, and my neck/shoulders are not nearly as stressed as they used to be. That means they're not pulling on my back muscles which cuts down on my throwing my back out significantly. From a muscular stand point, I've been doing a bunch of resistance work to help strengthen the pathetically weak muscles in my back. I basically have to build up my upper back and shoulders, chest, and strengthen my "core" (I hate that term) further to prevent this lame injury from happening again. It will take a long time, so I just have to keep working at it and constantly improve.
My Fitness
When I hurt my back, I was the strongest I had been all summer. The first ride after I hurt it I barely made it sixteen miles. The muscle relaxers made the act of holding my head up while riding a chore and I felt worse than I had when I first started in May. Needless to say, I was not happy. I'm now back to the point where I feel comfortable on my bike again and I'm riding at the same pace I was before, but I'm weaker on hills and I can't ride as long as I could before. It has made me question how this ride is going to go for me.
Wheels and Tires
My custom wheels were made a week or two ago. Daddy likes. The wheels spin up a little easier than the Shimano set and they're stiffer which really allows me to accelerate when I stand on it. The hubs are gorgeous, have instant response when I pedal and the free hub sound like a swarm of angry bees. The black rim and black spokes work well with the bike, and the blue hubs are just about a perfect match for the blue in the frame. I ended up getting a heavier/stronger tire with a little bit of tread because there are a ton of sticks and leaves on the ground now and I wanted something I could roll around on without worrying too much about getting a flat. I also wanted something that I could ride in slightly wet conditions without fear of death. Or a really badly skinned knees. That's arguably worse than death.
The Ride
This Saturday is the MS ride. What's even awesomer is that the weather at the moment says rain with a bunch of wind and cold and a little more rain thrown in for good measure. That's awesome. I've never ridden in the rain before. This will be fun. Niko already said if it's raining, he wont be doing the ride. Jen is not happy about the prospect at all. She's thought about not doing it, and I think the only reason she would do the ride in the rain is because she would feel like she was abandoning me. I'm going to do it rain or shine. While I would love a beautiful day, something tells me that in some kind of sick, twisted way, I would appreciate the ride more if I had to really work through
