Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Far, Far East

I'm leaving the country. Tomorrow I board a plane bound for Dallas, TX, then Honolulu, Hi, then the final destination Pago Pago, American Samoa....I challenge you to find that on a map. A good friend of mine works for a recently established non-profit Christian organization(TWCD-That's What Christians Do) that does International disaster recovery work....and he needs a hand. The plan is to develop contacts within the Red-Cross so that in the future when disasters occur we can rally a team and head to ground-zero at a moments notice, wherever that may be. There's plenty of work to be done on the island of American Samoa...if you remember they had a HUGE tsunami hit their island about a month ago, a thousand plus dead and millions of property damaged or loss. Matt and I aren't really sure what we're getting into once we land there, or who to even talk with...we're basically winging it and praying for some things to fall into place. Luckily I'm able to leave the tent at home, Matt just yesterday found us a place to stay in AS...fingers crossed it has a/c!! The pictures I'm sure don't do the beauty justice, or even the devastation...hopefully we can make a difference.
I'll spare you the details of the remoteness of the island as well as how small it is to everything we know here in the States...you can Google it and find out for yourself. I'm fortunate that my job situation, or lack there of, allows me to take part in such a beautiful endeavor, helping mankind, as well as traveling to the other side of the world to explore a strange new place....I've no doubt that it will be an adventure, in every sense of the word. Needless to say i won't be blogging for a bit, sorry, you'll have to get your "fix" from somewhere else...might I suggest coming up with ways to ditch work for a few days and come help us on the next disaster??? The organization is called TWCD-That's What Christians Do, and it absolutely should be, however regardless of your "religious" views, it's what we should ALL do. Start small, help an old lady across the street or something....it's the "Theory of Momentum", once you get started, it's hard to stop. I'll see you in a few weeks, with plenty of stories I'm sure. Filemu Tofa.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Update


Thea finally made it home last week. After 5 days in the hospital and one Xena, "Warrior Princess" style back brace she was able to make her way down the elevator then onto "Recovery Road".
I had the opportunity to go visit her Friday night and thankfully see a completely different look in her eye...though still in crazy pain, she was coherent and joking....a stark contrast to a few days prior. As of right now no surgery is scheduled but she is going to have to travel back in a week for a check-up to determine if surgery is needed. She's one tough gal. Unfortunately she is going to have one GIGANTIC bill at the end of this so the shop we work at is setting up several benefit rides on her behalf. The man himself, George Hincapie, has agreed to do a "Win a ride with George" raffle on November 15th...what an awesome thing to do George...thanks.

Things have been rather slow here..not much going on. The "NO-RIDE" bug continues to bite, leaving me completely unmotivated to train or even race. This past weekend was the last event in the Dirty Spokes 12Hr series, so "Doctor J" and I packed the Element and headed over to meet up with our friends, Kevin and Ashley. Neither Kevin and I were completely stoked about the race...the course was two days deep in rain with a 60% chance for race day....not fun news to start a 12hr race. The abridged version of the race as follows: Start off unmotivated...race a lap hoping to "get in the mood", nothing...race another three laps, still not in the mood, legs weak, no power...race a fourth lap...wreck, tweak wrist....good excuse to pull out. Kevin ended up knocking out two more laps then saw all the fun we were having in transition and called it quits as well...no worries, Oktoberfest was happening just a few miles away in downtown Helen...off we went.



















We spotted this little gem on the way out...I know the Element is versatile but this thing is ridiculous!!!
















Sunday we did a little sight seeing, well as much as possible with rain clouds looming overhead. We drove up to Brasstown Bald, highest point in Georgia, just to check out how disgusting the climb was that the Tour de Georgia riders had to do....i was gonna take a pic, but there was just no way to get perspective on just how steep this road was....absolutely brutal. Snapped a few pics of the leaves in full "change" mode then said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways. Obviously the race didn't go according to plan, but at least we got to hang with good friends. Kevin and I both decided that next season the 6hr series sounds much more appealing.

Like I said, pretty boring around here now that the race season is coming to an end. I'm still ironing out details for the winter training schedule....as for now though it's just long slow rides with local Upstate riders. See you on the road...

Thursday, October 1, 2009

I can wear heels now...

...was one of the first things she said when the doctor told her she had crushed her T8 vertebra and that she would be over a 1/2 inch shorter.

A good friend of mine and I went mtn biking yesterday at the US Whitewater Center up in Charlotte...you know the trails...I've blogged on them before. Ten minutes into the ride she wrecked, bad. Thea is the girl i spoke of in earlier blogs who just won the Cat1 SC State Road Race a few weeks ago...she's also raced in 24 Hours of Moab....so she's no stranger to riding. Today was just one of those days.

We hit the trail like normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Took a right onto the black diamond trail, across the bridges, up the climbs....chilling. I roll into an 8ft drop in not even thinking about it...pause and wait for Thea to hit it. She stops at the top, questions it, then rolls in.

That was it, the moment when the day took a very surreal turn.

I can only assume that as she gripped the bars she didn't feather the brakes at all, cause when she rolled in...she was hot...hit the small two foot bump at the bottom which sent her rear wheel over the front. If you're a mtn biker then you know how scary and helpless this feeling can be. I equate it to learning to do a front flip off a diving board as a kid...your feet just weren't meant to travel over your head. Standing a few feet away I witness as her body is horizontal in the air and see it crash head first into a root the size of your forearm....causing her body to immediately go limp, only for a second before it seizes. Rushing over i can see her eyes roll back and body tense up, luckily this only last for 5-6 seconds. I immediately grab her neck to keep her from moving or even trying to stand, she's stubborn. At this point she cant speak for lack of breath, think wind knocked out of you x10. I lay her back against the embankment stabilizing her neck, her breath is shallow and now she's beginning to put words together. Luckily I have experience in wilderness/back country medicine....thank goodness...just enough knowledge to keep her stable till the real medics arrive. I do pray that I never have to see the look that was in her eyes again...on anyone...absolute 100% sheer panic. Not sure how to breath or let alone move your toes....that was the worst part for me, looking in her eyes.
Pictures of this helmet are proof that you should always were one. There are ten more cracks that you can't see...imagine.

Taking my gloves off i run my hands around checking for any blood, none. Next was arms and legs...quick prayer...luckily she was able to move her toes, feet, etc...as well as arms...and she still had one hell of a grip. So far no nerve damage. Certain her collar bone was broke i unzip her jersey, to my surprise it's not. Still no blood. During this little exchange she is gasping and trying to tell me that she can't breath. Ya, i got that one Thea, thanks. Pulse was strong, circulation was good...no immediate danger...I called 911. There was just barely enough cell service to get a call out and to let them know our rough location...all the while I'm fighting with Thea to not pass out and to keep breathing.

Luckily 15 minutes after the incident another biker came by....I told him to head back to the start and let a staff member know exactly where we were so the paramedics could find us. Hard part is that in terms of civilization we weren't very far out, but from any form of a road we were a good 300+ yards away. There was a long thirty minute period of keeping her calm and trying to keep her awake before the paramedics show up. At this point Thea is still gasping for air but has been able to muster some courage to at least calm down a little. After they check her out we slide her on a back board and start the hike out...she moans the whole way.

After finally getting into a room at the ER they begin testing and hooking up some xrays. Looks like you might have broken a rib and fractured your scapula....but we have to do a CT to be certain. These were some very painful test...unfortunately they have to manipulate your body to the desired position to snap the pic....she almost passed out several times. It took a couple of hours before the CT results came back....she'd really done a number on her back. 6 broken ribs, 6 transverse process'(the little nub between each rib on your spine), crushed her T8 vertebra and had a slight puncture in her lung. Thank god no spinal cord damage. It's pretty evident now why she was having trouble breathing...each breath causing your lungs to expand and pushing out on all those breaks.....BRUTAL!!!

As of right now she's still in the hospital in Charlotte with doctors trying to decide if she needs surgery or not...hopefully not. This was definitely not the day that I thought I was gonna have, but then again that's when accidents strike. You ride like we ride long enough and sooner or later Betty, the cycling goddess, will strike. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Thea during your recovery...may it be full and swift.