Back in the saddle

Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
it home.

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife made a
lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike ride"......so we
did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path along the ACDC flood
control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the worse
pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning rather stuffed up.
Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being stuffed in an MRI ring (I
can't imagine a big guy fitting in this thing).....after having a two foot
long needle (maybe it was three feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject
some nucular (thanks GWB) waste. Damn I think that hurt more than breaking
my clavicle! Now I have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.

It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Gary

Good, bad, and ugly.
That first ride back, even if you're a mere shell, is sweet ain't it?
I took a quick parking lot spin on a new Switchblade last weekend. I
can't tell much about an MTB in 3 minutes in a parking lot, but I was
impressed by the new SRAM gripshift stuff. I had the original version
which, you know, worked, but the new shifter has a much different feel
-- spring activated rather than simple friction. The shifts were
bangin' too.
Dumb question, but what is it in Phoenix that causes all the pollution?
Is there a lot of manufacturing/refining going on, besides the regular
rush hour car smog? Lack of trees maybe?
I once fell asleep in an MRI scanner. But I could probably sleep
through an nucular war.

/s

"Scott Gordo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife made
a
lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike ride"......so
we
did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path along the ACDC flood
control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the
worse
pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning rather stuffed
up.
Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being stuffed in an MRI ring
(I
can't imagine a big guy fitting in this thing).....after having a two
foot
long needle (maybe it was three feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject
some nucular (thanks GWB) waste. Damn I think that hurt more than
breaking
my clavicle! Now I have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.

It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Gary

Good, bad, and ugly.
That first ride back, even if you're a mere shell, is sweet ain't it?
I took a quick parking lot spin on a new Switchblade last weekend. I
can't tell much about an MTB in 3 minutes in a parking lot, but I was
impressed by the new SRAM gripshift stuff. I had the original version
which, you know, worked, but the new shifter has a much different feel
-- spring activated rather than simple friction. The shifts were
bangin' too.
Dumb question, but what is it in Phoenix that causes all the pollution?
Is there a lot of manufacturing/refining going on, besides the regular
rush hour car smog? Lack of trees maybe?
I once fell asleep in an MRI scanner. But I could probably sleep
through an nucular war.

/s

Phoenix is in a valley thus the name....valley of the sun. Being a valley
we get temperature inversions that keep the warmer, polluted air down on the
ground. Most of the pollution is particulate matter from the surrounding
farms, construction and of course, auto traffic (FBR golf turney drumming up
real traffic congestion this week). This year is bad because the jet stream
has stayed way North which means little wind, no rain now for a record
number of days and daytime heating of the ground with the air aloft being
cold trapping the warm air...I think I said that?

Gary (arm is still throbbing from that four foot long needle)

"Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
it home.

Not familiar with "Tubes"?????

Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.

Gary

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife
made a lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike
ride"......so we did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path
along the ACDC flood control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the
worse pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning rather
stuffed up. Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being stuffed
in an MRI ring (I can't imagine a big guy fitting in this
thing).....after having a two foot long needle (maybe it was three
feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject some nucular (thanks GWB)
waste. Damn I think that hurt more than breaking my clavicle! Now I
have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.

It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Gary

Cool. I haven't ridden either of my MTBs since before you got hurt
either! But I have had other activities to entertain me. I did look at
the bikes while grabbing some loaner ski gear out of the garage the
other day.

I've experienced the pre-MRI big needle in the shoulder too and I didn't
care for it either. Then I almost hurled in the MRI truck (ours is a
truck so we can share it with other rural communities). That would have
been kind of funny, because apparently TJ maintains that truck, so he
would have been dealing with my chunks. Luckily I made it outside before
erupting. Ah, good times...

Glad to hear you're somewhat back anyway.

Matt

GeeDubb said:

"Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
it home.

Not familiar with "Tubes"?????

Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.

Gary

I saw them play a show with Utopia in about 1983. It was, like, totally
awesome!

Matt (I doh wanna work, I just wanna bang on da drum all day!)

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife
made a lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike
ride"......so we did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path
along the ACDC flood control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the
worse pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning
rather stuffed up. Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being
stuffed in an MRI ring (I can't imagine a big guy fitting in this
thing).....after having a two foot long needle (maybe it was three
feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject some nucular (thanks GWB)
waste. Damn I think that hurt more than breaking my clavicle! Now I
have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.
It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Coolness. When I had my shoulder surgery, I took my first "ride-let" 6
weeks to the day after (was told 3 months). Few days later I was truckin'
up (and down) the Anderson Truck Trail -- no one tell my doc!

Bill "it only hurts when I use it" S.

MattB said:

GeeDubb said:

"Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
it home.

Not familiar with "Tubes"?????

Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.

Gary

I saw them play a show with Utopia in about 1983. It was, like, totally
awesome!

Matt (I doh wanna work, I just wanna bang on da drum all day!)

Wrong Matt. Bang on the Drum was Todd Rundgren. The Tubes sang:

Talk to You later
She's a Beauty

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot said:

MattB said:

GeeDubb said:

"Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

> Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
> it home.
>
>

Not familiar with "Tubes"?????

Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.

Gary

I saw them play a show with Utopia in about 1983. It was, like,
totally awesome!

Matt (I doh wanna work, I just wanna bang on da drum all day!)

Wrong Matt. Bang on the Drum was Todd Rundgren. The Tubes sang:

Talk to You later
She's a Beauty

D'oh, I should have cross-checked on allmusic. But I was thinking that
was Utopia, not The Tubes. <checks allmusic> Hey wait, that WAS Rungren
in Utopia! So I was right, but just not clear about which band I was
attributing that to. I knew they played that at the show, and like I
said it was totally awesome! 😉

Matt (I really do just want to bang on the drum, or ride, or ski)

MattB said:

Ride-A-Lot said:

MattB said:

GeeDubb wrote:

>
> "Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
>
>> Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still
>> calling
>> it home.
>>
>>
>
> Not familiar with "Tubes"?????
>
> Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.
>
> Gary

I saw them play a show with Utopia in about 1983. It was, like,
totally awesome!

Matt (I doh wanna work, I just wanna bang on da drum all day!)

Wrong Matt. Bang on the Drum was Todd Rundgren. The Tubes sang:

Talk to You later
She's a Beauty

D'oh, I should have cross-checked on allmusic. But I was thinking that
was Utopia, not The Tubes. <checks allmusic> Hey wait, that WAS Rungren
in Utopia! So I was right, but just not clear about which band I was
attributing that to. I knew they played that at the show, and like I
said it was totally awesome! 😉

Matt (I really do just want to bang on the drum, or ride, or ski)

OK. I'll give you 50%.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot (Was a radio and club DJ in the 80's) o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot said:

MattB said:

GeeDubb said:

"Freddy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

> Is it turning into LA there and are the Tubes still calling
> it home.
>
>

Not familiar with "Tubes"?????

Yep, little LA but no outlet to beaches.

Gary

I saw them play a show with Utopia in about 1983. It was, like,
totally awesome!

Matt (I doh wanna work, I just wanna bang on da drum all day!)

Wrong Matt. Bang on the Drum was Todd Rundgren. The Tubes sang:

Talk to You later
She's a Beauty

They also sang "White Punks on Dope", now there is a song!

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado

Owner/Operator of the Pekingnese Ranch.

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife
made a lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike
ride"......so we did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path
along the ACDC flood control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the
worse pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning rather
stuffed up. Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being stuffed
in an MRI ring (I can't imagine a big guy fitting in this
thing).....after having a two foot long needle (maybe it was three
feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject some nucular (thanks GWB)
waste. Damn I think that hurt more than breaking my clavicle! Now I
have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.

It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Gary

Good for you Gary! I've used down time to re-motivate myself and try to
come back stronger. I can't say how successful I've been.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado

Owner/Operator of the Pekingnese Ranch.

GeeDubb said:

"Scott Gordo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dumb question, but what is it in Phoenix that causes all the pollution?
Is there a lot of manufacturing/refining going on, besides the regular
rush hour car smog? Lack of trees maybe?
I once fell asleep in an MRI scanner. But I could probably sleep
through an nucular war.

Phoenix is in a valley thus the name....valley of the sun. Being a valley
we get temperature inversions that keep the warmer, polluted air down on the
ground. Most of the pollution is particulate matter from the surrounding
farms, construction and of course, auto traffic (FBR golf turney drumming up
real traffic congestion this week). This year is bad because the jet stream
has stayed way North which means little wind, no rain now for a record
number of days and daytime heating of the ground with the air aloft being
cold trapping the warm air...I think I said that?

Having lived in Asia for years, I grimace a bit when people talk about
the awful air quality in the Phoenix valley. Certainly it's not great
when it's at its worst - but after spending winters in China where you
literally could not see across a major street (not even a hint of
what's on the other side), I'd say "it's all relative". For those who
haven't been here, "bad air" means there is a brown tint to the layer
of air hanging over the city, and the mountains 20-30 miles away are
somewhat hazy (though still visible). I used to dream of visibility
like that in China in the winter (when the wind blew hard and long
enough to get it, I was amazed to see a mountain range I didn't know
was there out my kitchen window - this after living there for months).

FWIW, I've found the Arizona dry air to be more of a problem than the
particulate matter in the air. I've got a really, really big
humidifier and my sinuses are MUCH better when I use it.

The other thing that has helped my sinus condition is sinus irrigation
- basically pouring salty water in one nostril, through the sinuses
and out the other. Looks totally ridiculous, feels "odd" (not
unpleasant) but if you have sinus issues, DO IT. You'll thank me. I
tried to buy a professional product (Sinucleanse, I believe...) but
couldn't find it in stock anywhere... so I use a water bottle (works
perfectly - I just need to make sure and use one that will NEVER find
its way onto a bike!!!!!). ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

.

FWIW, I've found the Arizona dry air to be more of a problem than the
particulate matter in the air. I've got a really, really big
humidifier and my sinuses are MUCH better when I use it.

The other thing that has helped my sinus condition is sinus irrigation
- basically pouring salty water in one nostril, through the sinuses
and out the other. Looks totally ridiculous, feels "odd" (not
unpleasant) but if you have sinus issues, DO IT. You'll thank me. I
tried to buy a professional product (Sinucleanse, I believe...) but
couldn't find it in stock anywhere... so I use a water bottle (works
perfectly - I just need to make sure and use one that will NEVER find
its way onto a bike!!!!!). ;-)

I really have to get on the irrigation program. I encounter huge dust
balls at work all day long and LA ain't known to be the most humid place
on the planet.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

GeeDubb said:

Six weeks since I saw the light of day on the old Switchblade. Wife made a
lunch date with me yesterday and said 'lets go for a bike ride"......so we
did. We spent a little over an hour riding the path along the ACDC flood
control and it felt oh so incredibly good.

Of course there's always a down side....Phoenix is having some of the worse
pollution in history right now and I woke up this morning rather stuffed up.
Then I spent two hours in the CT scanner and being stuffed in an MRI ring (I
can't imagine a big guy fitting in this thing).....after having a two foot
long needle (maybe it was three feet?) shoved into my shoulder to inject
some nucular (thanks GWB) waste. Damn I think that hurt more than breaking
my clavicle! Now I have a two week wait to see what the MRI images show.

It's still a little too soon to be riding the rocky trails.

Gary

Danged but I'm glady you're getting better, amigo! Way to go, and that
woman of yours knowz what yer needin...

CDB

G.T. said:

Mark Hickey wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

FWIW, I've found the Arizona dry air to be more of a problem than the
particulate matter in the air. I've got a really, really big
humidifier and my sinuses are MUCH better when I use it.

The other thing that has helped my sinus condition is sinus irrigation
- basically pouring salty water in one nostril, through the sinuses
and out the other. Looks totally ridiculous, feels "odd" (not
unpleasant) but if you have sinus issues, DO IT. You'll thank me. I
tried to buy a professional product (Sinucleanse, I believe...) but
couldn't find it in stock anywhere... so I use a water bottle (works
perfectly - I just need to make sure and use one that will NEVER find
its way onto a bike!!!!!). ;-)

I really have to get on the irrigation program. I encounter huge dust
balls at work all day long and LA ain't known to be the most humid place
on the planet.

Check out www.sinucleanse.com - there's even a video showing how the
process works. Like I mentioned though - I found a cycling water
bottle works just fine (and no one is ever going to ask to borrow a
water bottle from me again...).

I had a sinus headache one or two days a week, and they essentially
stopped when I started doing the irrigation.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

"MattB" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've experienced the pre-MRI big needle in the shoulder too and I didn't
care for it either. Then I almost hurled in the MRI truck (ours is a truck
so we can share it with other rural communities). That would have been
kind of funny, because apparently TJ maintains that truck, so he would
have been dealing with my chunks. Luckily I made it outside before
erupting. Ah, good times...

Glad to hear you're somewhat back anyway.

Matt

What was causing the nausea?
How long after the injection did it hurt? I can barely move my right arm
and I was getting much more motion prior to the injection. The injected
area doesn't hurt but the outside of my shoulder and bicep is throbbing.
Oxycodiene didn't phase the pain so last night wasn't too restfull. Of
course the pain could be due to the Dr. making me put my right hand behind
my head (took nearly five minutes to get into that position) and then
holding it for nearly 30 minutes while inside the tube (or Tubes???? who are
they?).

Gary

"Mark Hickey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

"Scott Gordo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dumb question, but what is it in Phoenix that causes all the pollution?
Is there a lot of manufacturing/refining going on, besides the regular
rush hour car smog? Lack of trees maybe?
I once fell asleep in an MRI scanner. But I could probably sleep
through an nucular war.

Phoenix is in a valley thus the name....valley of the sun. Being a
valley
we get temperature inversions that keep the warmer, polluted air down on
the
ground. Most of the pollution is particulate matter from the surrounding
farms, construction and of course, auto traffic (FBR golf turney drumming
up
real traffic congestion this week). This year is bad because the jet
stream
has stayed way North which means little wind, no rain now for a record
number of days and daytime heating of the ground with the air aloft being
cold trapping the warm air...I think I said that?

Having lived in Asia for years, I grimace a bit when people talk about
the awful air quality in the Phoenix valley. Certainly it's not great
when it's at its worst - but after spending winters in China where you
literally could not see across a major street (not even a hint of
what's on the other side), I'd say "it's all relative". For those who
haven't been here, "bad air" means there is a brown tint to the layer
of air hanging over the city, and the mountains 20-30 miles away are
somewhat hazy (though still visible). I used to dream of visibility
like that in China in the winter (when the wind blew hard and long
enough to get it, I was amazed to see a mountain range I didn't know
was there out my kitchen window - this after living there for months).

FWIW, I've found the Arizona dry air to be more of a problem than the
particulate matter in the air. I've got a really, really big
humidifier and my sinuses are MUCH better when I use it.

The other thing that has helped my sinus condition is sinus irrigation
- basically pouring salty water in one nostril, through the sinuses
and out the other. Looks totally ridiculous, feels "odd" (not
unpleasant) but if you have sinus issues, DO IT. You'll thank me. I
tried to buy a professional product (Sinucleanse, I believe...) but
couldn't find it in stock anywhere... so I use a water bottle (works
perfectly - I just need to make sure and use one that will NEVER find
its way onto a bike!!!!!). ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

I was born here and it's just frustrating to see what's happened to this
area over the last 46 years. Sure, it could be worse as you pointed out but
that doesn't make the problem we're having any better. It's a rare day I
can see Four Peaks from Shaw Butte anymore.

What percentage of salt to water do you use in the nasal irrigation? I've
done it but not frequently enough. When I was racing in '98/'99 I had
chronic sinus infections so I was forced to irrigate since nothing else
seemed to work. I also stopped drinking Bud Lite which I think was the
real problem....

As for the dry air....try SW Colorado alpine riding for a week! I go up
there and the inside of my nose is cracked in two or three days! Phoenix is
a wealth of humidity comparatively.

Gary

GeeDubb said:

"MattB" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've experienced the pre-MRI big needle in the shoulder too and I
didn't care for it either. Then I almost hurled in the MRI truck (ours
is a truck so we can share it with other rural communities). That
would have been kind of funny, because apparently TJ maintains that
truck, so he would have been dealing with my chunks. Luckily I made it
outside before erupting. Ah, good times...

Glad to hear you're somewhat back anyway.

Matt

What was causing the nausea?

It turned out to be a stomach bug coming on, but I'm sure the big shot
and enclosed space didn't help either. IIRC, I had "the pukes" for a day
or so and it was going around at the time.

Quoted message said:

How long after the injection did it hurt?

Probably ached for a couple of days. This was pre-op, and it was an
injury that come on over time so I didn't have the trauma you had. It
was pretty sore as I recall.

Quoted message said:

I can barely move my right
arm and I was getting much more motion prior to the injection. The
injected area doesn't hurt but the outside of my shoulder and bicep is
throbbing. Oxycodiene didn't phase the pain so last night wasn't too
restfull. Of course the pain could be due to the Dr. making me put my
right hand behind my head (took nearly five minutes to get into that
position) and then holding it for nearly 30 minutes while inside the
tube (or Tubes???? who are they?).

Gary

I bet holding that position would make it sore. I'd give it at least a
few days before really getting concerned.

You don't remember The Tubes? Here: http://tinyurl.com/9n6t4

Matt