Non-Tour post

Lots more than the Tour has been happening lately, but the Tour posts have been eating up the little blogging time I can find.

So, as a little recap...

I am now off the crutches, out of the knee brace and out of the neck brace. The pin is coming out of my thumb on Monday. I am having an MRI on the knee on Wednesday, as well as starting hand physical therapy. My blood levels have been good with the Coumadin too. Basically... I'm making progress. I didn't get the chance today, but tomorrow I hope to finally go back to the gym and test my knee on a stationary trainer and see how much it can handle before I begin riding my trainer here at home. I can not begin to tell you how good it feels to get a little of my life back. I also have to thank all of you for your support and well wishes- it is no exaggeration to say that it has been a part of my recovery.

This afternoon, Masidaughter and I walked together to get lunch for the first time since the crash. I walked... without crutches or a knee brace. It was heavenly! It is amazing how great something so small can feel.


On this past Tuesday, she and I also went down to the velodrome and said thanks to MANY people who had been so fantastic when I crashed, and since then as well. It was hard, I admit, to keep from losing it. More than once I was told how frightened people were for me and how scared people had been by my crash. Even people in the stands watching the racing seemed to know who I was- "that's the guy who crashed really hard". I left a mark on the track too- bending a steel post and cracking a sheet of plywood. BUT... aside from a dent in the top tube from the handlebars and slight hop in the rear wheel, the bike looks straight and still rideable. WOO-HOO! I love that frameset, so I'm happy to be able to keep it around. One friend suggested I get a band-aid painted over the dent with the date of the crash (4/29) and I have to admit that I love that idea. Oh yeah... the Deda steel sprint bars are pretty bent on the right side too- they're a little wider and have a little "flare" to them now. Masidaughter was happy to be at the track and did not want to leave- she was getting lots of attention and praise for her bravery the night of the crash. She also found a few other children to play with, so she was on a cloud! All in all, it was a really great night. A few people I really wanted to see were not there, so I will be trying to get to the track this coming Tuesday so I can complete my thank you tour.

On Friday, minus some last little tweaks still to be done, we wrapped up the new fall catalog. I can honestly say that it is the best one we've done yet. I am very proud of the work that has gone into the catalog (outside of the copy I wrote- worst writer's block of my life). Pete Demos, Rick Ortiz and Wayne Doran did some incredible work to make the catalog happen. It's a great one... and I'm already fired up for the next one.

Earlier in the week, the VeloNews with my "At the Back" contribution came out. I can not tell you how proud I am to have something printed in VeloNews. I always dreamed as a rider that I would one day be on the cover of VeloNews, but life was cruel and I found out that being a pro was not going to happen. Later, as a writer and cycling enthusiast, I wanted to write for VeloNews. To get the chance to be a contributor is something else. If you haven't seen the mag, here's the David Brinton illustration;
That might just be my next tattoo!

Needless to say, though the Tour has been dominating the space here... there's been a lot more going on lately. It's good to be alive- that much I can tell you for sure.

Tim