rankin116

That sounds miserable. It's like you got some greyscale. Avoid the stone men!

Ygduf

water as hot as you can stand it every few hours and repeated zenfal. I feel you. I'm highly allergic and poison oak had me wanting to die.

Flatballer

Zanfel, but yes, that. I'm ridiculously allergic, got poison ivy from some work chopping down trees at the yacht club. I don't think it touched me, I think it was in the air from the sawdust. I had leathery bad burns all over my arms, neck, face, sides, ankles, chest, etc. My wife banned me from working outside at those types of things anymore. I'm not allowed in the brush anymore. She's one of the lucky ones who isn't allergic (none of her family is) so she gets to check if an area is safe for me.

You have my sympathy. I considered cutting my limbs off, but realized cutting my face off would probably end badly and that wasn't very practical.

globecanvas

I've been doing the super hot water. It hurts so bad until it stops hurting. Then it's good for about 15 minutes and starts itching again.

Pretty sure I got it when I face planted on my cross bike Monday. One of those things where there's a big log on a climb, and you time it just right, and your brain says "pull up bars now" and your upper body pulls up but you're tired from the climb so the motion stops at your hands and the bars don't go up at all and you just wail right into that big log.

Anyway, that makes it bike related. I'll wrap a dirty scarf around it like Jorah and try to pass.

topflightpro

Go to the urgent care and get a cortizone shot for it. That's the fastest and easiest way to deal with it. You'll feel like you're body is made of cement for a few days, but it will help.

I had it so bad on my legs once - after crashing while mountain biking - that the doctor didn't even get into the exam room. He looked at it from the door, said, "Yeah, you've got poison ivy all right. I'll get the nurse to give you a shot."

big john

Last time I got poison oak I bought a tube of "poison ivy scrub". Best treatment I've ever tried. The older I get, the less I react to the poison oak but the last time I walked through it pushing my mtb and the stuff was wrapping around my legs.

Sorry about the face-plant, btw.

Ygduf

snip snip done.

and there is a literal snip snip sound.

as the lidocaine wears off, the kicked in the junk feeling wears on.

Doge

Took me weeks to ride again. Gave new meaning to frozen peas.

carpediemracing 

Oof. See a doctor for sure.

Walked with Pops along the MUP in the middle of town. Literally all poison ivy for 30-40-50 yards, like bushes and ground cover. Meaning the bushes were bushes of poison ivy. I need to take a picture, it's the worst I've ever seen.

When I went to the doc last Dec the first bit of conversation was "normally we see you for poison ivy but you haven't been in" "yes I stopped going into anything resembling green"

carpediemracing 

Oh that's even worse. All sweaty, the poison ivy oils just going everywhere.

First ever night time mtb ride for me back in the day. I just bought the old high BB pepto pink mtb from my boss, the shop owner. He got some aluminum frame super duper machine, along with the manager. We went out to break in the bikes "after work when we finished building them". I think we took off at about midnight. We rode around, went into a golf course for a while, then took a time out to hand paddle a rowboat across a little harbor (manager's grandmother's boat slip, they kept a tiny boat there I think for boat slip privilege purposes, boat was probably a few inches from being capsized but water was dead calm), then, finally, some dashing around a few neighborhoods. Shop owner, a good rider, leads the way around his neck of the woods. He blasts down a little road and goes straight where the road goes right. Blasts into bushes under a street light. I think I can see him take a left as he disappears out of view. I go blasting into the bushes as well.

Suddenly I'm weightless.

It's a good 8-10 foot super steep drop off, but since I launched into the bushes I basically jumped of the drop off. I land, roll, etc. Then BAM, another rider, bike land on me. It's dark, can't see anything.

Get home, feel vaguely off. Next day or two I develop bubbly rashes all over my body, basically the whole front of my torso, my arms, a lot of my legs, all sorts of itchy places. At one point I was crying on the floor in the middle of the night, scratching everything until it popped/bled, because pain is better than itch, my gf not knowing what to do. I never considered seeing a doctor because I was young and dumb, it was just one of those "you just deal with it" kind of things.

Ends up the shop owner had yelled a warning but because I had no idea what he said I thought he was just goading us into chasing him.

After the ride I said "I wish I had a camera!" He replied "Why take pictures of something you'll be doing all the time!"

Never did another midnight mountain bike ride, at least not like that.

canuckbelle

Long-ass day today. 55mi road race, finishing up a Cat 1 climb. ...and we have to ride the ~32 mi back to the start after we finish on the mountain!!! Then it's a few hours off until the 3mi hilly TT in the evening. (Crit tomorrow.)

topflightpro

My wife insisted I go to the doctor yesterday as my shoulder and elbow aren't looking much better.

The X-Ray showed a separated shoulder, but the physical exam did not reveal the pain and mobility issues normally associated with a separated shoulder. So the doc isn't sure what is exactly wrong. Still, she told me to avoid long rides on the bike for a couple weeks until the swelling goes down.

As for the elbow, she said the bone is bruised. If I were to have an MRI, it would light up. Told me to avoid banging in to anything and to expect it to take 3-6 months to heal. If needed, I should wear an elbow pad.

hubcyclist

Just ran 5k number one in a duathlon. My wife is riding 17 miles so hopefully I've got another good 5k effort. 22:29 according to the strava. Not bad for not really having run at all to train. Hope my muscles don't betray me later

Wylde06

Had to come into work this morning. The only upside to it is no one knows im here so I will actually be able to get work done without someone coming up to me asking for help or someone calling my phone.

big john

R.I.P. "The Greatest".

cmh

For what it is worth, technu works great to minimize or eliminate the effects of poison ivy or poison oak. You have to use it within a few hours, but it cleans off the oils (which soap doesn't do very well). I clean my legs off with it just using a rag and some water as soon as I'm back at the car after a ride where I know there is poison oak, than wash with it again in the shower once I'm home.

himespau 

Didn't want to wait for the off season?

himespau 

Honestly, I was surprised he was only 74. I remember him lighting the torch in Atlanta and how bad he was then and that was 20 years ago. Parkinson's is a helluva thing.

Ygduf

my off-season began April 12th with birth of twins.

revchuck 

I think that most of us can relate to that. The bikes will still be there when the kids are gone. Enjoy them while you can!

himespau 

Ah, duh. Forgot about that.

mattm

Damn.

tetonrider

wait...what? damn...that sucks.

it's not ideal, but you could do a bunch of trainer work that will be fine on your shoulder and can build quite a bit of fitness--in fact the kind that you want. there are some specific workouts that will not put pressure on your shoulder.

personally, i'd continue to move (bike or otherwise)--increased blood flow is a good thing for healing and your mental state.

big john

My ex-wife cried watching him light the torch.

Wylde06

Registered to race in todays championship crit...now I cant go