Back Progress and Such

My back is getting better and better everyday. I went on two 45min rides in the past week. The first was exhausting, I practically passed out when I got home (also due to the fact that I was doing or at least attempting to do some 'racing'), the second ride was less tiring. It felt very natural to get back on the saddle and I'm extremely excited for more rides soon :)

Let me recount what has happened...After learning about my horse riding accident my sister booked the next flight to come all the way from Australia to take care of me. Bix cooked, prepared things for me and cleaned up the apartment while I laid on my bed. I also convinced her to take me on driving trips because I couldn't take staying indoors any longer. It was very sweet and loving of bix to take care of me, although her efforts in caring for someone was put to the limit :P I rested at home for 2 weeks before going back to work. At work, a friend gave me an inflatable mattress which I laid on in my office for about a week before the supposedly un-puncturable mattress was somehow punctured. Since then I've been laying on my sleeping pad (from camping). I also asked people to help carry my bag or anything heavy for me since it seemed that my back would hurt if I lift anything heavier than 2 pounds. In the start it also hurt if I stood for perhaps more than 10min, so I was either in the lab or laying on the ground. As well, I got tired very easily and often took naps on the floor lol. I saw the ortho-surgeon again 5 weeks after the accident hoping that my back was nearly healed. Instead, from the x-ray the doctor concluded that it would take a total of 3 months to heal! Apparently because it was such a major fracture. I was quite down hearing that because having gone through over a month of not doing any outdoor activity it was getting too much, on top of this I think the muscles which I slowly built up over the past 2 years are degenerating :( But then again, I do need to give time for my back to heal properly because otherwise it would just be trouble in the future.

Now, 8 weeks have passed and I will be seeing the ortho-surgeon again next week. I think from the x-ray my back should be nearly fully healed. During the past two months, my two caring friends helped me with grocery, with laundry, cheered me up when I was down and kept me company - I couldn't have asked for more :) It's during times of need when you get a chance to know who truly cares about you.

Chantry Flat and Fishing!!

These events happened more than a month ago, but they were both quite monumental (especially the fishing) to me and so I want to note them down for future trips down memory lane.

On May 19th we rode up Chantry Flat. I was very excited to do this because I could time myself and set an initial bar. The ride up to the gates of Chantry Flat towards the end was exhausting in itself, I had to catch my breath and blow my nose to prep for the timed ride up. My predicted time was 30min. I started off slowly thinking that I should reserve my energy otherwise I'd blow up on this 'long' ride. So I was taking my sweet time going up and was enjoying the view, I saw a rabbit and the breathtaking scenery and wanted to fish out my camera and take some photos. But thought I'd better not since every second counts. When I arrived at the 2miles point, 15min has already passed - I thought damn! I have to hurry. At this point I wasn't tired and regretted going up slowly so I finally decided to pick up speed. At the last stretch it was quite flat and I changed the gear to harder and pedaled faster - but I lost my pedals and had to slow down to get them back on. In total I did 28min and 32sec. I would have done much better if I had went full out from the start (paced myself better) and if I had clipless shoes. Hence I was looking extra forward to the ride up Chantry Flat on May 26th, but that was the day after I fell off the horse and this record breaker has to be pushed back :(.....maybe not long from now :)

That same week we went fishing in San Gabriel Mountains. We drove through the mountains and then cycled to a fishing spot along the river. There were many different baits to choose from, I wanted to use the largest bait (to catch the largest fish) but it was perhaps too big for the fish in the river so I settled on a red feather. Now I know how to fish, you are meant to cast out the fishing line and slowly reel it in to pretend that the bait is swimming so that fish can be lured. My casting has yet to be perfected and currently it's quite random and dangerous to myself and those around me...but can you believe it?! I got my first fish! It's the smallest trout I've ever seen but I was super proud of myself :D I am so happy to have learnt how to fish - it was my first real fishing experience!! I hope next time we can fish something that's big enough to keep :)