Chantry Mission Update 01

This morning we went up Chantry and I'm glad to say that I have accomplished my goal of reducing my time down to 30.5min. I'm starting to control my breathing a bit during the climb. As well I've realized that being on the smallest gear to being on several gears harder really does not make too much difference in cycling difficulty yet a noticeable difference in speed! As I was descending Chantry, I felt so carefree which makes me very happy - I haven't felt this way in a very long time :)

Next mission, down to 28min by the end of the month.

The Cars - Drive

This is such a beautiful song - and perhaps the saddest I've heard.

3 Months Anniversary

The past couple of weeks I haven't been working well, for some reason I'm not particularly motivated. Actually make that the past 3 months since my horse riding accident. If I'm to graduate in 1.5 years, I really need to get my act together and do work! Get results, write up papers, publish them and go to conferences. My research is going well. I've been very lucky so far (ok I did put in quite a bit of thought and sweat). Now all I have to do is finish up. I think the main reason in my lack of motivation is that I can never seem to be able to get up early! When I get up at 7.30am, I'd arrive at work at 9am and every time this happens, my whole day would be ruined. If I get in earlier then I have much more motivation for work. There is something special about mornings :D

It's been 3 months since my horse fall, my back is getting better and better and I've been walking around without my back brace. My posture is SO good now - very straight with chest forward. That's one good thing coming out of this accident!

I've been anticipating on going up Chantry for some time now to see how good or bad I've become. This morning, to mark the 3 months anniversary of my accident (just a coincidence :D) I got up at 5am and left the house at 6am for Chantry. It was still rather dark outside and there were only a couple of cars on the road. I was so excited to get back into the game and going alone made me quite anxious but also thrilled at the same time. In addition, it's so nice to head out early in the morning!!

The climb up to Chantry was a test in itself. I met two middle aged cyclists who were going at the same pace as me - slow. Finally we arrived at the gate, they did stretches while I drunk some water and cleared my nose. Going up, I dropped these two guys pretty fast and I felt that I was doing very well. However, I do need to control my breathing as often times I don't feel tired from cycling but more tired from having to take breathes so often. My lower back also started to hurt... Anyway, I thought I could narrow down my previous record of 28min and 32sec because I was pushing hard from the beginning (started hyperventilating :P) but I looked at my watch, it had been 28min and the end was not in sight, then at 29, 30, 31...I cannot believe this but I took 32min WTH?!!! I felt cheated, defeated and frustrated in myself. In short, I was very disappointed. Descending my hands nearly went numb from using the brakes (this is the first time I went on a long descent like this and by myself so I was quite tense). I was still thinking about why I was so slow and mustn't have been paying attention and missed the turn at Sierra Madre and got all the way to Foothill. I rode on Foothill for a bit and realized that the traffic was just too crazy and doubled back.

During the ride, my lower back hurt, but my neck area and shoulder blades also hurt. I think I was too crammed on my bike. This was because in my attempt to decrease the pain from you know where, I moved my saddle forward so that I could rest myself in the groove. But clearly that just made me sit more forward resulting in a crammed and awkward sitting position. Actually today it didn't hurt very much, I think it was because I applied the lubricant not just on the chamois but also on myself (very important). When I got home, I was exhausted. I took a shower and collapsed on my bed - which was really nice :)

I'm going up Chantry again next week before my Yellowstone trip - mission 31min. Hopefully before soon I'll get back down to 28min and increase speed from there. By the end of the year I'd like to go down to 24min - 4 months to achieve this (the clipless pedals will help me)!!!

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 :)

Random thought

I'm working while imagining all the things that I could be doing if I had money. Not just some money, but A LOT of money so that I could do what I've always dreamt of - travel the world while helping people. I want to travel to all corners of the Earth and do what I can to make life better for others, eg build schools for children so that they could grew up and contribute back to the world themselves. Wouldn't life be exciting?! Seeing all the wonderful places, experiencing the different cultures and meeting people whose backgrounds and views in life are distinct from my own. To top this off, knowing that I would somehow contribute in making the world a better place would be such a fulfilling and satisfying feeling. Yet since I don't have a lot of money, or some money for that matter, I made my career in helping people through trying to find a cure for cancer and in my vacations I can live out my dream of traveling the world.

There are many wealthy people out there who spend excessive money on themselves and have seemingly no other goal in life than to make more money. I think when people spend money for momentary self-pleasure, the excitement soon wears off and they are left searching for the next fleeting pleasure, and this pattern goes on...I believe real and long-lasting pleasure and happiness in life can be achieved in helping others, in appreciating what you have and in what life has to offer as well as not taking things for granted.

Horse Riding Accident

I went horse riding this Wednesday as I do every Wednesday night. I was assigned to ride New Jersey whom I haven't ridden before. My instructor said that he is quite bouncy and that we probably won't get to canter today. The trot was indeed bouncy but I soon got the hang of it. I must have done a pretty good job cos my instructor said that we can try the canter. I cantered him around one corner, the canter was fine albeit a bit fast. I then cantered in the opposite direction. The canter started off good but all of a sudden, New Jersey just took off. He looked extremely scared as if he's been chased by a pack of wolves. He galloped into an adjacent arena (Yes! I've galloped!) with me trying desperately to stop him calmly. That didn't work. We were fast approaching a fence with him still galloping at full speed so I turned him (or maybe it was he himself) to avoid the fence...At the turn I begun to loose balance and fall. I may have hang onto his neck for a millisecond and then I crashed my head on the fence and fell on my butt. The impact on my back was quite severe. I tried to get up but I couldn't. Everyone came over and asked me questions to see if I suffered a concussion. All I could think of was what if I'm paralyzed. I tried to move my legs, feet, arms and hands - thankfully I could move them all! But my back hurt so much...I was lead to the office and given an icepack and told to relax. It was then that I overheard people saying how they just found that part of New Jersey's hoof fell off - perhaps this was why he just took off? My instructor did say that it wasn't my fault and these things can happen without any reason. Then more people came and asked me what date it was? Who were you riding? Which horse do you hate the most now? I answered New Jersey. Which is the correct answer to give but honestly, even if I was paralyzed (and have to suicide) I still wouldn't hate him. Horses are not in this world just so that humans can have the pleasure of riding them!

I painfully drove home, at home I felt and saw a bump on the middle of my back. It didn't hurt at all...hm, perhaps it was always there? I wasn't too concerned since it was far from my lower back which hurt like hell. So off I went to have dinner with a friend. It was he who practically forced me to go to the hospital. I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it but admitted myself to the ER. After taking X-rays and CT scans it was concluded that I have a compression fracture on my L1 vertebra - compressed by 50% ouch! The doctor and nurse gave me crutches. I didn't want anything to do with crutches but was made to try them out - it hurt more than not using them. I told the doctor that I don't want them, the argument went back and forth for awhile, then I realized it was clearly not going anywhere and gave in. When I got home I left the crutches outside my apartment cos I didn't want to see them.

The next day, my two caring friends took me to see the orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon told me that this is a serious fracture and that the bump I can feel on my back will probably stay there forever :( He said the best chance for full recovery is if I'm immobilized in bed for 2 weeks. I was fitted with a back brace and there is no use for the crutches - so I happily ditched them. The following day I went to take an MRI, I had to stay in a tunnel for 30min with my eyes covered and ear plugs to block some of the loud noise (thankfully I had some music to listen to). Before starting this, the person taking the MRI kept on touching me with the apparent excuse of comforting me. I don't understand how does excessively stroking and squeezing others arms and hands gives the person any pleasure? But then again, there are many strange people out there.

I won't continue horse riding, to do so would just be plain stupid. If by any chance I fall off a horse in the next few months, then any injury compounded with this current one could be extremely serious. Fortunately for me my life does not revolve around horses, there are a lot of other wonderful and fun things for me to do - for instance cycling!! I can't wait to try out my clipless shoes and my new cycling gear. LG :D