After spending 2010 and most of 2011 ramping up to attempt Paris-Brest-Paris, 2012 seems like a down year for my cycling. Shoulder surgery, some lower back degeneration, and iron deficiency anemia slowed me down compared to prior years. Nevertheless I managed to continue my streak of completing at least one 200 km ride every month for the third year in a row. As a result I earned another RUSA R-12 award. It's special to me because for many years I had a goal of cycling at least one century ride/month for 12 consecutive months and was never able to pull it off. Once I began doing Randonneuring rides I have not missed a month. Now it's kinda like my not drinking except it's one month at a time instead of one day at a time.
I didn't really keep track of my mileage but estimate I rode about 6,000 miles in 2012. Most folks would consider that a lot but compared to prior years it's not nearly as many miles. 2010 was just over 10,000 and 2011 was about 8,000.
The fact that I crashed out of PBP after about 1050 km still bothers me. I want to complete a 1200 km ride and 2013 looks like a good opportunity. I won't be coaching TNT cyclists until the fall so I am setting my sights on the Shenandoah 1200 in June. This is a ride that starts in northern Virginia, heads up to Gettysburg, then heads down the Blue Ridge mountains to Mt Airy, NC. Then it turns around and head back up to northern Virginia. It's no doubt a hard ride but if I train smart from January through May I should be able to complete it. At any rate that's my main goal for 2013.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
America the Violent
For me the Newtown mass shooting is a familiar refrain. I have no idea what sets off an individual to take random lives like that, but it happens much too frequently in our society. The first one of these I specifically remember was in August, 1966 when Charles Whitman went to the top of the University of Texas tower and began shooting. He killed 14 and wounded 32 others--none of whom he knew after having just murdered his mother and wife. The siege ended with Whitman being killed by policeman who entered the tower. I've also had two friends killed in multiple shootings. In 1993 Frank Ditullio and 2 others were killed by Paul Calden while eating lunch. Calden was a disgruntled former employee who held a grudge over being let go by the company Frank and the other two worked for. Calden subsequently killed himself after leaving the scene. In 1999 Joe Dessert happened to be at All-Tech Investment when Mark Barton entered the office and killed him and 3 others. He then killed 5 more individuals at Momentum Securities across the street. Barton killed himself later that day as police approached his car.
These three occurrences are only the tip of the iceberg. There have been so many of these over the years that some of them do not even get national attention unless they involve many many victims, or other unusual circumstance. We are left to wonder if things like gun control, improved mental health treatment, police in every school, or any number of other things could have prevented these past events or reduce the chance of them happening in the future. Maybe they can be reduced over time but it's not likely to ever end. After all America is the country that overturned the Colonial British Empire, tamed the wild west, drove the Indians onto reservations and maintained segregation for a century after the abolishment of slavery. Many innocent lives were lost due to the violent nature of these events. They remind me that random violence existed in America long before we had 300 million guns, video games, and closed state mental institutions. I understand there is risk inherent in every day--I just hope to avoid becoming a random target. Maybe someday these random mass shooters will start testing their weapon on themselves--FIRST--not last.
These three occurrences are only the tip of the iceberg. There have been so many of these over the years that some of them do not even get national attention unless they involve many many victims, or other unusual circumstance. We are left to wonder if things like gun control, improved mental health treatment, police in every school, or any number of other things could have prevented these past events or reduce the chance of them happening in the future. Maybe they can be reduced over time but it's not likely to ever end. After all America is the country that overturned the Colonial British Empire, tamed the wild west, drove the Indians onto reservations and maintained segregation for a century after the abolishment of slavery. Many innocent lives were lost due to the violent nature of these events. They remind me that random violence existed in America long before we had 300 million guns, video games, and closed state mental institutions. I understand there is risk inherent in every day--I just hope to avoid becoming a random target. Maybe someday these random mass shooters will start testing their weapon on themselves--FIRST--not last.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Race Across America (RAAM)
My participation in the Georgia Chain Gang's 2012 edition of RAAM began several months ago when I agreed to support the team as a crew member. On June 8 my participation began to ramp up as Lynn Teague and I drove 2 of the support vans from Atlanta to Oceanside California. We covered almost 800 miles Saturday and spent the night at my cousin Pat's house in Oklahoma. Very good to see her and Rusty. On Sunday we drove another 800 miles to Flagstaff. Had breakfast with my friend Jennifer Youngberg and then had a comparatively short 500 drive into Oceanside.
Tuesday through Friday were spent helping prepare the vans, picking up the transport vehicle (Dodge Sprinter Van), shuttling arriving team mates from airport, any many other minor tasks. I also had to find time to keep up and get ahead in a summer school class in Human Growth & Development. I took it because it is completely on line and the instructor was kind enough to work with my schedule during RAAM.
Saturday finally arrived which was the day all the teams started the race. The Georgia Chain Gang was the last team to start which gave us plenty of rabbits to chase across the country. We were an 8 person team with 8 crew members and one other person who primarily drove the Sprinter Van. My role was that of navigator in one of the follow vehicles which meant I was responsible for keeping the rider we were following on course by communicating with the driver. We were either following one of the 2 riders assigned to our van or jumping ahead of the other follow vehicle to set up the next rider. We were part of the night shift which meant we worked from 5:00 pm to rough 5:00 am the next morning. Then we piled into the sprinter van hauled ass to a hotel, slept, ate and then caught up with the day shift and started all over again.
I can't remember the towns we slept in but we crossed 12 states from Oceanside CA to Annapolis MD in 6 and 1/2 days. I wrote notes about what worked and perhaps didn't work for us during RAAM:
Crewing for the Georgia Chain Gang in 2012 was an incredible experience for me. I had 4 overall goals going into this and achieved them all. Everyone finished safely without injury (although egos & feelings sometimes suffered), we raised a lot of money for LLS and funds are still coming in, our team had a respectable finishing time, and I learned a great deal about RAAM and the aspects of organizing and moving a team 3000 miles in 6 ½ days. While still fresh here are my observations and reflections on what went well along with suggestions on things we could have done better. While I have had conversations with many crew and riders during and immediately after RAAM these are my own personal opinions. I hope no one takes anything I express here the wrong way; my goal is to help make future RAAM attempts even safer and more successful.
We were fortunate to have 5 individuals on the overall team who had ridden and crewed in 2 previous Georgia Chain Gang RAAM events. Every one of them brought a lot of beneficial experience to our 2012 effort. However, as the event unfolded it seemed like we did not have one individual truly in charge. I believe that once the race starts riders should concentrate on riding and others should be given responsibility for logistics like hotel rooms, food, van organization and who should be riding and for how long.
One area I think could have been organized better were hotels and shift changes. We should have figured out we would normally cover about 500 miles every 24 hours. Given that, hotel rooms and shift changes could have been tentatively set up in towns where the next crew shift could drive to in advance, rest and set up for incoming riders and crew. Incoming folks could then go to same hotel rooms, rest and drive to next location. Coming off a shift and having to drive another 2—4 hours before resting eventually took a toll on crew and riders. Probably unavoidable on the first shift change but could have been more organized in subsequent change overs. It seemed like Jane had to primarily manage this while riding or trying to rest.
I also had the opportunity to arrive 5 days early and help with pre-race preparations. Tony and Jerome did a great job of driving that effort and I was happy to help. Nevertheless my observation was we had to do a lot of running around getting supplies that could have easily been brought out in the 2 vans. Foot stool, extension cords, drill, more coolers, storage containers, blankets, bungee cords are examples of things we should have placed in vans before they left. We also seemed to be short on things like tubes, floor pumps and basic tools that should have been readily available in all 3 vehicles. Steve did a lot of work setting up navigation, filming, and communication efforts. I can’t comment on filming, but as a navigator all I needed was route book and GPS. The invertor/computer generated route mainly got in the way and the walkie talkies were not used in our van after the first 30 miles. A mega phone would have been useful when we had to pull up alongside rider to communicate.
The mini vans along with the Saris bike racks worked very well. One suggestion would be for each shift to have their own cooler and dry food storage containers. That would make shift exchanges more efficient. It would also cut down on some of the food waste and the fact that sometimes crews/riders did not have the supplies they anticipated having on board. If we use this set up again, we should improvise a better way to mount the reflective triangle. The sprinter van also worked fairly well. If we use a van like this again we should consider building out the back to make bike and luggage storage more efficient. This van isn’t a very comfortable vehicle for longer crew/rider transports in my opinion. I could only sleep if in the very back seat in the middle. Maybe I’m the exception but usually I don’t have a problem taking a nap in most vehicles.
I was in van with Lynn, Dave and Lisa. We benefited from Lynn and I caravanning vans across country, along with fact that Dave, Lynn and I knew each other from prior events. Although Lisa was new to us she got lots of technical advice from Dave when neither one of them was actually riding. Dave and I also each had previous crewing experience. The net result was we had an incredible amount of team work and tranquility in our van all week. I’m not sure that was the case in other vans especially once fatigue and sleep deprivation set in later on. In the future I recommend setting up rider/crew assignments early and providing an opportunity for them to actually practice together before RAAM. While this may not be as important for experienced riders/crew, I think it would be very helpful for new riders/crew.
I thought our strategy for making up time in WVA, PA, and MD by staging riders along the route was very sound. However, we should not have attempted this using all riders and crew starting mid-day Friday. While it did make up time on other teams, I think it destroyed crew and rider concentration at a critical time. Some crew and riders got too fatigued to effectively help as we got close to the finish. In my opinion rider safety became seriously compromised AND no one person took charge of maintaining safety over performance during the final portion of the race.
As I mentioned I hope these suggestions are not interpreted as criticisms of anyone. Overall I think everyone had a positive experience. I know I did and look forward to helping organize additional RAAM teams in the future.
Tuesday through Friday were spent helping prepare the vans, picking up the transport vehicle (Dodge Sprinter Van), shuttling arriving team mates from airport, any many other minor tasks. I also had to find time to keep up and get ahead in a summer school class in Human Growth & Development. I took it because it is completely on line and the instructor was kind enough to work with my schedule during RAAM.
Saturday finally arrived which was the day all the teams started the race. The Georgia Chain Gang was the last team to start which gave us plenty of rabbits to chase across the country. We were an 8 person team with 8 crew members and one other person who primarily drove the Sprinter Van. My role was that of navigator in one of the follow vehicles which meant I was responsible for keeping the rider we were following on course by communicating with the driver. We were either following one of the 2 riders assigned to our van or jumping ahead of the other follow vehicle to set up the next rider. We were part of the night shift which meant we worked from 5:00 pm to rough 5:00 am the next morning. Then we piled into the sprinter van hauled ass to a hotel, slept, ate and then caught up with the day shift and started all over again.
I can't remember the towns we slept in but we crossed 12 states from Oceanside CA to Annapolis MD in 6 and 1/2 days. I wrote notes about what worked and perhaps didn't work for us during RAAM:
Crewing for the Georgia Chain Gang in 2012 was an incredible experience for me. I had 4 overall goals going into this and achieved them all. Everyone finished safely without injury (although egos & feelings sometimes suffered), we raised a lot of money for LLS and funds are still coming in, our team had a respectable finishing time, and I learned a great deal about RAAM and the aspects of organizing and moving a team 3000 miles in 6 ½ days. While still fresh here are my observations and reflections on what went well along with suggestions on things we could have done better. While I have had conversations with many crew and riders during and immediately after RAAM these are my own personal opinions. I hope no one takes anything I express here the wrong way; my goal is to help make future RAAM attempts even safer and more successful.
We were fortunate to have 5 individuals on the overall team who had ridden and crewed in 2 previous Georgia Chain Gang RAAM events. Every one of them brought a lot of beneficial experience to our 2012 effort. However, as the event unfolded it seemed like we did not have one individual truly in charge. I believe that once the race starts riders should concentrate on riding and others should be given responsibility for logistics like hotel rooms, food, van organization and who should be riding and for how long.
One area I think could have been organized better were hotels and shift changes. We should have figured out we would normally cover about 500 miles every 24 hours. Given that, hotel rooms and shift changes could have been tentatively set up in towns where the next crew shift could drive to in advance, rest and set up for incoming riders and crew. Incoming folks could then go to same hotel rooms, rest and drive to next location. Coming off a shift and having to drive another 2—4 hours before resting eventually took a toll on crew and riders. Probably unavoidable on the first shift change but could have been more organized in subsequent change overs. It seemed like Jane had to primarily manage this while riding or trying to rest.
I also had the opportunity to arrive 5 days early and help with pre-race preparations. Tony and Jerome did a great job of driving that effort and I was happy to help. Nevertheless my observation was we had to do a lot of running around getting supplies that could have easily been brought out in the 2 vans. Foot stool, extension cords, drill, more coolers, storage containers, blankets, bungee cords are examples of things we should have placed in vans before they left. We also seemed to be short on things like tubes, floor pumps and basic tools that should have been readily available in all 3 vehicles. Steve did a lot of work setting up navigation, filming, and communication efforts. I can’t comment on filming, but as a navigator all I needed was route book and GPS. The invertor/computer generated route mainly got in the way and the walkie talkies were not used in our van after the first 30 miles. A mega phone would have been useful when we had to pull up alongside rider to communicate.
The mini vans along with the Saris bike racks worked very well. One suggestion would be for each shift to have their own cooler and dry food storage containers. That would make shift exchanges more efficient. It would also cut down on some of the food waste and the fact that sometimes crews/riders did not have the supplies they anticipated having on board. If we use this set up again, we should improvise a better way to mount the reflective triangle. The sprinter van also worked fairly well. If we use a van like this again we should consider building out the back to make bike and luggage storage more efficient. This van isn’t a very comfortable vehicle for longer crew/rider transports in my opinion. I could only sleep if in the very back seat in the middle. Maybe I’m the exception but usually I don’t have a problem taking a nap in most vehicles.
I was in van with Lynn, Dave and Lisa. We benefited from Lynn and I caravanning vans across country, along with fact that Dave, Lynn and I knew each other from prior events. Although Lisa was new to us she got lots of technical advice from Dave when neither one of them was actually riding. Dave and I also each had previous crewing experience. The net result was we had an incredible amount of team work and tranquility in our van all week. I’m not sure that was the case in other vans especially once fatigue and sleep deprivation set in later on. In the future I recommend setting up rider/crew assignments early and providing an opportunity for them to actually practice together before RAAM. While this may not be as important for experienced riders/crew, I think it would be very helpful for new riders/crew.
I thought our strategy for making up time in WVA, PA, and MD by staging riders along the route was very sound. However, we should not have attempted this using all riders and crew starting mid-day Friday. While it did make up time on other teams, I think it destroyed crew and rider concentration at a critical time. Some crew and riders got too fatigued to effectively help as we got close to the finish. In my opinion rider safety became seriously compromised AND no one person took charge of maintaining safety over performance during the final portion of the race.
As I mentioned I hope these suggestions are not interpreted as criticisms of anyone. Overall I think everyone had a positive experience. I know I did and look forward to helping organize additional RAAM teams in the future.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Warren Bruno
My friend Warren Bruno lost his 8 year battle against lymphoma. I met Warren in the early 1990's while working as a volunteer for the Tour de Town bike ride. Back then Warren owned Aunt Charlie's restaurant/bar and we worked together organizing an annual Labor Day ride with races in Buckhead. Ironically proceeds from that event benefited the American Cancer Society. The ride was terminated by ACS because it was not generating more than $100,000 as they became interested only in major fund raisers. The Buckhead Entertainment District also dissolved and Aunt Charlie's closed. I lost track of Warren.
Fast forward to 2005. I'd been coaching the TeamInTraining cycling program several years and training a group cyclists to ride a century in Claxton. One of the team mates was Warren. I learned that he had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin"Lymphoma, but was doing well enough to train. Early on I asked him if he would share his story and he was somewhat reluctant saying "I really don't enjoy talking about it". Before letting the matter rest I mentioned how whenever we had a survivor who was also training it provided a tremendous lift to the team. A short time later Warren told me he would be willing to tell his story. If you knew Warren during the past 7 years you probably know the rest of this story. Warren became an honored hero for that cycling team and several others over the years. He was the inspiration behind the Georgia Chain Gang a cycling team that did RAAM in 2009 and 2010 raising almost $200,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2009 he was the crew chief and had planned to crew again in 2010 before his cancer returned. He is the honored hero for the 2011 edition of the Georgia Chain Gang and riders and crew will no doubt ride and work even harder in honor of his memory. I am a crew member of this year's team and we have already raised over $125,000 for LLS--and still counting.
I have so many memories of Warren, but the one that sticks out the most is the message he sent to our cycling team last year doing Tahoe and Fletcher. Warren had actually trained to do Tahoe but had to bow out just days before the event. He created the "Top 10 Reasons Cancer Is a Blessing". I pasted it here because it is a true measure of the inspiration Warren created in everybody he came in contact with:
10. Your having Cancer gives neighbors and relatives something to talk about at gatherings.
9. Cancer wakes you up to the fact that you are not in charge.
8. Cancer is a daily reminder that life is finite.
7. Having cancer makes your world stand still, enabling you to take the time to see how wonderful life is.
6. Cancer teaches you not to waste time or spirit on trivial matters
5. Cancer drives you to remember people you have shared life with and recall the many trials and joys that make your life so rich.
4. Cancer brought me to TNT, and a wonderful community of caring people working together in support and love working for a cure.(and a great new group to share my tired old jokes with...)
3. Cancer opens your eyes to the good works you have done and the people that you impacted.
2. Cancer is a constant reminder that we are all connected and we are loved.
1. Cancer brings you much, much closer to your family, people you love, and people you care about.
"To try is to live"
Warren Bruno
Godspeed, Warren, I miss you.
Fast forward to 2005. I'd been coaching the TeamInTraining cycling program several years and training a group cyclists to ride a century in Claxton. One of the team mates was Warren. I learned that he had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin"Lymphoma, but was doing well enough to train. Early on I asked him if he would share his story and he was somewhat reluctant saying "I really don't enjoy talking about it". Before letting the matter rest I mentioned how whenever we had a survivor who was also training it provided a tremendous lift to the team. A short time later Warren told me he would be willing to tell his story. If you knew Warren during the past 7 years you probably know the rest of this story. Warren became an honored hero for that cycling team and several others over the years. He was the inspiration behind the Georgia Chain Gang a cycling team that did RAAM in 2009 and 2010 raising almost $200,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2009 he was the crew chief and had planned to crew again in 2010 before his cancer returned. He is the honored hero for the 2011 edition of the Georgia Chain Gang and riders and crew will no doubt ride and work even harder in honor of his memory. I am a crew member of this year's team and we have already raised over $125,000 for LLS--and still counting.
I have so many memories of Warren, but the one that sticks out the most is the message he sent to our cycling team last year doing Tahoe and Fletcher. Warren had actually trained to do Tahoe but had to bow out just days before the event. He created the "Top 10 Reasons Cancer Is a Blessing". I pasted it here because it is a true measure of the inspiration Warren created in everybody he came in contact with:
10. Your having Cancer gives neighbors and relatives something to talk about at gatherings.
9. Cancer wakes you up to the fact that you are not in charge.
8. Cancer is a daily reminder that life is finite.
7. Having cancer makes your world stand still, enabling you to take the time to see how wonderful life is.
6. Cancer teaches you not to waste time or spirit on trivial matters
5. Cancer drives you to remember people you have shared life with and recall the many trials and joys that make your life so rich.
4. Cancer brought me to TNT, and a wonderful community of caring people working together in support and love working for a cure.(and a great new group to share my tired old jokes with...)
3. Cancer opens your eyes to the good works you have done and the people that you impacted.
2. Cancer is a constant reminder that we are all connected and we are loved.
1. Cancer brings you much, much closer to your family, people you love, and people you care about.
"To try is to live"
Warren Bruno
Godspeed, Warren, I miss you.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Health Care--Updated
Back in 2009 my post on health care indicated that US health care costs averaged about $7,000 a person. Now when you divide our total health care cost by the population it's around $11,000. I am certain that Obama Care--if left to stand--will dramatically increase these costs
AND there will still be individuals outside this system.
I've been fortunate to have health insurance and now Medicare plus a supplement that for a reasonable price has covered most of the stuff I've been through the past few years. Last year I suffered nerve damage in both hands from a very long bike ride, crashed in Paris-Brest-Paris suffering a fractured right clavicle and then discovering that my rotator cuff in the same shoulder was torn. That led to my second shoulder surgery a few months ago. Besides my health insurance premiums my only out of pocket expenses were the continuous passive movement (CPM) machine post shoulder surgery which Medicare would not cover since I didn't have total shoulder replacement surgery.
So I'm pretty lucky in that over the past few years I've averaged more than $11,000 in medical costs per year without having had to pay anywhere near that amount. But there's no doubt that the American health care system is deeply flawed. I think the biggest single reason is most of us have no real idea just what our own true health care actually costs. Oh yeah, I see huge bills that doctors and hospitals send to my insurance companies, and sometimes I find out how much is actually paid to providers which is sometimes pennies on the dollars. But I have no real skin in the game any more especially now that I'm on Medicare with a supplement.
I do not believe our government can truly reform this system with all the proposals for a national health care system. All the government will do is transfer money among the haves and have nots, and create even more bureaucracy. Until we change the fundamental way medical insurance is administered--plans largely bought through employers that disappear for an individual when changing employment--things are not going to improve the efficiency of the system. Notice I also just referred to the issue as medical insurance. It's not really health care because most folks have to encounter a potential medical problem before they claim a benefit.
For many individuals there's no health care dollar incentive to follow a reasonably healthy life style. Look at how many Americans are obese, smoke, or make other unhealthy choices. Many Americans are ready to crucify insurance companies for the premiums being charged but how many of these same folks don't take charge of controllable health habits? And if we're going to eliminate the ability to charge for any pre-existing conditions then perhaps we should simply do away with insurance companies and have the government bill everyone $11,000 a year. That would be a nice extra with holding from our pay checks wouldn't it?
Bottom line: when individuals have more skin in the game and tax free incentives to take better care of themselves health care will get much healthier.
AND there will still be individuals outside this system.
I've been fortunate to have health insurance and now Medicare plus a supplement that for a reasonable price has covered most of the stuff I've been through the past few years. Last year I suffered nerve damage in both hands from a very long bike ride, crashed in Paris-Brest-Paris suffering a fractured right clavicle and then discovering that my rotator cuff in the same shoulder was torn. That led to my second shoulder surgery a few months ago. Besides my health insurance premiums my only out of pocket expenses were the continuous passive movement (CPM) machine post shoulder surgery which Medicare would not cover since I didn't have total shoulder replacement surgery.
So I'm pretty lucky in that over the past few years I've averaged more than $11,000 in medical costs per year without having had to pay anywhere near that amount. But there's no doubt that the American health care system is deeply flawed. I think the biggest single reason is most of us have no real idea just what our own true health care actually costs. Oh yeah, I see huge bills that doctors and hospitals send to my insurance companies, and sometimes I find out how much is actually paid to providers which is sometimes pennies on the dollars. But I have no real skin in the game any more especially now that I'm on Medicare with a supplement.
I do not believe our government can truly reform this system with all the proposals for a national health care system. All the government will do is transfer money among the haves and have nots, and create even more bureaucracy. Until we change the fundamental way medical insurance is administered--plans largely bought through employers that disappear for an individual when changing employment--things are not going to improve the efficiency of the system. Notice I also just referred to the issue as medical insurance. It's not really health care because most folks have to encounter a potential medical problem before they claim a benefit.
For many individuals there's no health care dollar incentive to follow a reasonably healthy life style. Look at how many Americans are obese, smoke, or make other unhealthy choices. Many Americans are ready to crucify insurance companies for the premiums being charged but how many of these same folks don't take charge of controllable health habits? And if we're going to eliminate the ability to charge for any pre-existing conditions then perhaps we should simply do away with insurance companies and have the government bill everyone $11,000 a year. That would be a nice extra with holding from our pay checks wouldn't it?
Bottom line: when individuals have more skin in the game and tax free incentives to take better care of themselves health care will get much healthier.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Shoulder Surgery Update
The shoulder surgery I had on December 27th turned out to be one step above shoulder replacement. My supraspinatis (one of the rotator cuff tendons) was reattached using a cadaver tendon and my biceps tendon was also reattached. Physical therapy has been hard and painful but after 2 months the PT guy said I was where most people having this specific procedure would be after 6 months.
I was able to get back on the road cycling after 4 weeks although could not ride more than about 25 miles before it fatigued. I was able to keep my streak of consecutive months doing at least one ride of 200 kilometers by completing a brevet on February 18. My January brevet was actualy a pre-ride done a few days before surgery but I got credit for it on the actual brevet date of January 1. According to the Randonuearing rules that's legal.
Last Wednesday my physical therapist sugested I just continue doing the exercises on my own at home. He estimates it will still take another 4-6 months of hard work to get back to normal and I may never get complete range of motion raising my arm straight up but should get close. Right now I'd be happy with a pain free joint.
I was able to get back on the road cycling after 4 weeks although could not ride more than about 25 miles before it fatigued. I was able to keep my streak of consecutive months doing at least one ride of 200 kilometers by completing a brevet on February 18. My January brevet was actualy a pre-ride done a few days before surgery but I got credit for it on the actual brevet date of January 1. According to the Randonuearing rules that's legal.
Last Wednesday my physical therapist sugested I just continue doing the exercises on my own at home. He estimates it will still take another 4-6 months of hard work to get back to normal and I may never get complete range of motion raising my arm straight up but should get close. Right now I'd be happy with a pain free joint.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Colege Once Again
Last summer a friend who is a retired professor at Georgia State University told me about a program where Georgia residents over 62 years old can attend any public college or university tuition free. I knew that Georgia State offered classes in exercise science that would qualify for the continuing education credit I need to maintain my USA Cycling Coach license. In order to qualify for this program I had to apply as a transfer student to GSU and request my transcript from the University of Richmond be sent to their admission office. As a GSU 62 transfer student I am exempt from tuition but have to buy text books and pay applicable lab fees. The cavet is I cannot register for any classes until the first day of class.
Once accepted I was asked what degree and major I planned to persue. I advised them I would work toward a BS in exercise science and started planning for the spring semester. However, several weeks before the semester every single exercise science class was already closed. I visited with my assigned faculty adviser who looked over my transcript and suggested I start by taking the only two "core classes" I still needed. Once I was in the system and had completed those classes she said it would be possible to get into the exercise science classes.
So here I am taking US History and a Computer Skills Course. As the semester draws to a close I'm on track to get an A in History. As for Computer Skills which is completely on line I received all possible points on graded assignments but only 8/12 points on the quiz. We'll see how the rest of the assignments go but I think I'll do fairly well.
Once accepted I was asked what degree and major I planned to persue. I advised them I would work toward a BS in exercise science and started planning for the spring semester. However, several weeks before the semester every single exercise science class was already closed. I visited with my assigned faculty adviser who looked over my transcript and suggested I start by taking the only two "core classes" I still needed. Once I was in the system and had completed those classes she said it would be possible to get into the exercise science classes.
So here I am taking US History and a Computer Skills Course. As the semester draws to a close I'm on track to get an A in History. As for Computer Skills which is completely on line I received all possible points on graded assignments but only 8/12 points on the quiz. We'll see how the rest of the assignments go but I think I'll do fairly well.
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