The year is off to an interesting start, as they say here in the Midwest.
First things first and long story short, my hip is still bothering me. I haven't talked to the doctor after last week's MRI, but *my* read of the report online in conjunction with previous discussions is that nothing is newly wrong (so who knows exactly why I had such a painful flare up for weeks at the end of 2024), there are some structural things that won't resolve themselves, and PT and exercise will help until I'm older and need a hip replacement. Instead of riding all moronically on my basement bike, I've been doing some very careful (but still challenging) riding to get used to having better form and build up the weak spots. (That idiotic bike PT guy be damned! (I think I talked about him in my last post.))
While biking this week, I watched scenic videos of rides in Stinson Beach, CA, and the French Riviera. These are good at distracting me from thinking about being in my small and cobwebby 1926 basement.
These aren't screenshots from the actual videos, but they have similar scenery to where I was riding. Nice, huh? Sure beats MN in February, even this year.
So, I'm still planning on the weeklong BikeMS ride in July. I'll need to think through a more comfortable solution for sleeping in my tent in July; last year was not pleasant.
Related to that, I am still planning on working hard to make this a good bike year.
There's a good chance I'll lose my job - possibly soon - based on the Executive Order tea leaves. Many of the typical places I'd work instead won't be hiring, as the effects radiate out. So, I may have more time to spend on my bike when I'm not trying to figure out how to apply my skills and get paid. I think if even a fraction of the current proposals are executed, we'll have some pretty major economic challenges as a country, and we'll all need nature and exercise to help us relieve the stress.
So, I have three requests:
1. Let me know if you want to go for a bike ride with me. ;)
2. Send cute videos of animals, preferably pandas, red pandas, otters, beavers, or Rico the porcupine from the Cincinnati Zoo who is super adorable to watch eat any food - - but popcorn and peanut butter in particular. I've restricted my own access to FB and IG - I don't need Zuck to profit off me. But I do miss the animal videos and the pretty photos of national parks.
3. Don't feel bad if you can't contribute your normal amount to my fundraising efforts this year (https://events.
Actually, I have a fourth request. Take care of yourself. Life is a marathon, not a sprint (hopefully!)
