Rider Down Update #1

So on April 16 I went under the knife. I had a pretty bad left shoulder that would dislocate without much trouble as a result of a little too much falling down associated with bike riding and winter snow sports. So due to the lack of stability and concern about early onset of arthritis I had decided to get it fixed. My original plan was to wait a couple weeks later and get one race in for the season to have some goal to shoot for before being relegated to the couch. My choice was to do the bike leg of Tuckerman Inferno Pentathlon. I had done this last year and it was a nice way to get motivated to ride early in the season.

Problem I had was the surgeon's schedule did not fit with my plans. If I didn't get it done on the 16th I was going to be looking at mid to late May before he had an open slot to slice me up. Knowing that the usual rehab timeline is 6 months until a full return to action, I didn't want to push it out any further as I still have hopes of some early Fall riding in the woods.

With all of that to consider I opted to pass on the Inferno and go under the knife the day before the race was scheduled. The morning after surgery I woke up and saw that we got a dusting of snow. I checked the weather and saw that Pinkham Notch had gotten 10 inches overnight. That is the finish area for the bike leg of the race I was going to do that day. As I laid there I though I was pretty much OK with not doing the race on skinny tires with almost of foot of fresh snow while riding up a mountain pass.

The surgery went well so they tell me. What do I know as I was knocked out the whole time. I woke up with my arm in a sling and some new holes in me. Bummer now is I'm supposed to wear the sling for 4-6 weeks and it doesn't hurt so I keep wanting to use my arm. Supposed to see the Dr. tomorrow to get the stitches out and see how it looks. I am hoping everything is at least on schedule so we shall see.

JJ