S'not arty

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g6...pstk5nkbrv.jpg

Anyone ever ride one?

Sorry to hear you are not able to ride. I have physical issues that are limiting but I have not come to that point.

Those are great photos. When I was 16 I spent a month in Colorado in the summer, mostly left alone to my own devices. I spent my days hiking through similar terrain. It was a profound experience for a boy who had previously never seen a hill much less a mountain.

It's great you are staying active, I hope you are able to ride again soon.

+1000 what bici_mania said. I hope you are back on the bike soon.

We also saw a little bit of snow on the first day of Spring no less.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/a...psi1xvibe4.jpg[/IMG]

Spring Equinox Dinner
 

I meant to post these over the weekend...

Spring Equinox/New Moon Dinner for the family

Pork Loin stuffed with spinach, raisins, pine nuts, and garlic.

Loin has been sliced and laid out; spinach mixture spread; now ready to roll...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7622/...a312505b_b.jpg

Jelly-rolled and ready to be tied and covered with bacon...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7601/...2c872017_b.jpg

While the loin is roasting dessert is cooling...our son's favorite dessert, Créme Brûlée...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7636/...8ac9e71d_b.jpg

After roasting, and resting a few minutes, the loin is ready to be sliced and served with a brown rice medley and a California Pinot Noir...

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8740/...61584995_b.jpg

And finally, the dessert, ready to be devoured...

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7595/...de36b815_b.jpg

bici_mania and KOBE: thanks, guys. I just have to keep up my PT and do the active stuff that doesn't cause as much pain as cycling. The current limiting factor is my neck/shoulders. I can barely do 20 miles without ending up with a neck I can barely turn without sharp and deep pain. In my mind, this is dangerous - not being able to constantly look around and assess the situation is suicide waiting to happen!

Thankfully, I don't have the same position while hiking and it's not a problem. An added benefit is that I don't feel compelled to go fast so I can take my time to look around and appreciate the scenery :)

I'm hopeful that I'll be back on the bike soon!

DD

Get well soon, DD, It'd be a great loss to the biking community if you have to retire early!

DD,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. I hope you get well soon. In 2008, I broke three lower vertebrae, sledding with my kids. After a short while, I started to lose mobility and suffered a lot of lower back issues. I started doing yoga regularly and changed my riding style to a bit more upright (think Rivendell style fit). Took a lot of pressure off my back and my neck. Now my issues are minor, more age related :). Good luck with the PT! Hope you are back on the bike soon.

Heh Jeff,

Sorry to hear about these tough physical issues.

Hang in there. :)

Grady

Thanks everyone - much appreciated :)

I have a new perspective as I just read that we lost Tom. I'm not giving up on the bikes just yet if I can help it; hopefully this will only be a temporary diet...

DD

http://www.zoominto.com/zoomapi/ZoomButt.gif


Ugh, I had a little of this going on last fall, only not as bad as yours sounds. I could ride, but checking behind me was a wincing situation. Self medicating (booze) gave me temporary relief, but only in the evening, of course. After a couple weeks I was starting to worry it wasn't going to go away on its own. Then I took a fairly strenuous ride one day and at the end of the climb I was struggling and contorting to take off my sweaty, too-small, cotton T-shirt and something went SNAP in my neck, and all of the sudden I was loose again.

My chiropractor brother-in-law calls that a "self adjustment" and suggested I try varying my sleep position a lot to make sure my vertebrae don't all settle into one rigid pattern. Now I've got a 'click' in my neck to match the one in my right shoulder - every time I move in certain way, it gives me a little click.

I hope you snap out of soon, too.

Tim, that's weird. I wonder if I have something similar; after all, I've had the leg and back pain for some time, and some days are better than others, but this neck/shoulder thing is fairly recent. Maybe I should just see a chiropractor? I'm glad you found relief - it really is a pain in the neck :)

Btw, I'm thinking of heading out your neck of the woods in a couple weeks to do some hiking and hit the beach. I'll give you a call and see about reservations :)

DD

May as well go see the best - Back to Action (that's my brother in law and baby sister on the upper right corner of the home page) Located in Lynnwood, so you could crawl there if you had to ;)

It's been crazy busy at the hotel this spring; don't wait until the last second to book. We'll give you your usual discount. Hope to see you soon, and maybe even in bikeable condition. Hurricane Ridge won't be in the picture for awhile though, or any kind of mountain hiking; it's been snowing all March up at that elevation.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=441562http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=441563 My 1981 Schwinn Le Tour X Lite

http://www.zoominto.com/zoomapi/ZoomButt.gif


Looks clean as a whistle, how long have you had it?

Welcome to the forums!

Wow. Very impressive.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8705/...288c0c91_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8702/...e2d90dbf_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8630/...27f5fc83_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8680/...7d8c99d0_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8675/...407261be_z.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8635/...8701a635_z.jpg

Nice pics, cb.
I like those last two early American style living, real & clean.

We went to a concert:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g6...psxtsds4cl.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g6...psxmxcvbwv.jpg

Thought provoking and lots of fun, too!

Peter Yarrow? (of Peter, Paul & Mary fame)

Did he play "Puff, the Magic Dragon"?

Did you use a telephoto lens, or were you really that close?


Thanks for posting this.:)

Him indeed. Yes, tele (18-200 zoom), put pretty close, maybe 15 rows back.

The man still burns, maybe a little too hot, but it was a good show, and yes, Puff the Magic Dragon was sung, but now both boys and girls get to play with Puff.

You're welcome!

That sucks Jeff. Hope you get some relief. The operable word here is a GOOD chiropractor. Tim's brother sounds like a good start. It certainly does sound like something related to the cervical spine area. But that can be a real tricky area to adjust. My chiro is a real ace on my lower back and pelvic area. But I still hesitate to let him work on my neck. Not that he's not good at that too. He gives my wife great relief.

Question. Do you work out? I mean, in the gym, with machines, etc. While rehabbing my recent shoulder operation thing my therapist, she was very, very good, told me something interesting. When I asked her about strengthening exercises she told me that if you walk into any gym and look at almost all of the things people are doing on machines, that they are mostly good for one thing. Strengthening muscles. But she cautioned that few of the moves were all that good for your joints and bone health. Just FWIW.

Hope it gets better, amigo.

Scott

DD - did you receive my PM?

My daughter has used several chiros. SWIMPAL and I were at an event where a chiro had a booth, and I was curious if he could determine the root cause of some of my afflictions. Right at the show, by using two scales, one for each foot, he determined that I carried my weight unequally (one leg is shorter than the other because of unauthorized modifications). His first suggestion was to put a compensating lift in the one shoe. It damn near crippled me. Getting into the car, bed, anything that required lifting that leg; I needed to assist it.

That was the end of my chiro experience. I know others, including my daughter, who swear by him. Go figure. Definitely don't pick one out of the phone book - ask around.

The PT that worked on Mum, SWIMPAL, and ran a Winter bike training program commented that gyms, especially Cross-Fit, were a continuing source of income for her.

I don't have any biking-related pics to share. Roads around here are finally clear of snow, but loaded with sand now. Scary, to me.
But, in the spirit of "every day" pics, as I've been working on these every day for the last month or so, here's some pics of the leather awl hafts I've been making, and selling on the leatherworker forum. Made to hold a small, diamond-shaped blade, for saddle stitching type leather work. A bit of show n' tell.

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psyadrtogj.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psrawpznzv.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4footfpq.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...pskztbpz20.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psher96wmi.jpg

Getting ready for a long day in the saddle.
http://i.imgur.com/57DyMAM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/pM71yy8.jpg