Starts third day mostly confined to bed, only allowed short walks tethered to a nurse assistant being treated for the result of slow speed stop off my bike. Transition from self sufficiency to having care given to me under hospital procedures.

More later, battery drained and recharging means surrendering to remote charger.

Short story is deep sand grabbed my front wheel spilling me on the ground, I must have hit my right knee on a bike part resulting in ballooning of that knee after I pedaled about .5 mile back to van. Hit my damaged right shoulder pretty hard. Body parts functioned on pedal out which was good. Drove down to Bend to ortho clinic advertising same day exam, returning patient as I saw them last fall. Knee swelled during drive such that too painfull to push on the brake pedal. Used ski pole as cane to hobble into ortho clinic, a child crawling would have been faster. Long wait before being seen. Xrays taken, knee is stable, swelling is hematoma enhanced by prescribed  anticoagulant. Too painful, ortho told me be admitted to hospital across the parking lot. Wheel chair transportation to start of ER admitting. Passed triage then shuttled to a bed. DR ordered CT w/ and w/o contrast of knee and head and xray of shoulder. ER nurse  needed 3 pokes in my left arm to insert IV plumbing, even 3 hole was almost dry well

I was so dehydrated after ride. Bed ride to CT room where attendant attempted to force the contrast thru that dry hole but veinous valves blocked flow. Returned to ER for another nurse to poke a hole in right arm. Returned to CT to new tech for procedure, this time contrast flowed. Learned result was arterial bleeding possibly enhanced by anticoagulant. I was admitted to hospital sent to 5th floor room with window view to the east where I am writing this on my phone.  Now looking forward to 4th night on hospital bed. Blood draws from fresh sticks taken to learn levels of hematocrit and hemoglobin to indicate any bleeding.

So far my treatment has been pleasant and attended to. Several of the staff are mountain bikers.

The woman ER nurse who poked me 3 times has a strava record for descent of Pyramid peak trail that I up and down hiked several weeks ago.

Just me engaging in the art of conversation with staff.

Van is parked out front of ortho clinic w/ my cable locked bike on rack outside. I called yesterday to learn van has not been towed and bike is still there.

Daytime TV is waste land. Evening is still poisonous for stimulation. Hospital floor has phone charging station to keep phone alive.

My right arm and shoulder are traumatized and stiff but seem to have range of motion. I scored a PT appointment for late afternoon Tues. I was on other side of wall in the ortho clinic from PT office. I had hoped that I could receive PT on my shoulder before or after ortho exam but ortho finally saw me at PT time. I would have given a newly possibly damaged shoulder to PT that has worked on same shoulder over time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday before dark a thunderstorm dumped serious rainfall and added a bit of hail for good measure. I was parked at Swampy where I saw sheets of water flow across the pavement. The storm also dropped the temp into the upper 50s. Tis the fire season sending smoke into the air, ride decision is based on air quality.

Wed after the rainfall dampened / soaked the pumice dirt bonding particles firming up berms and eliminating dust. Unfortunately the air quality was harmful to deeply breathe such as I do to enjoy the hero dirt. In the afternoon I hiked a loop from Swampy observing the effect of the runoff. I found amazing how shallow the slope angle could carry the amount of “dirt”. Because no organic is in the “dirt” nothing holds the grains together.. Almost flat slope carried runoff. Also, disconcerting was the amount of carving the runoff trenched the steeper trails, most noticeable was the steep catch between Swampy and Ridge. This trail was not sustainably constructed from get go with few places for water to get off the trail, as a result the water continued downhill picking up more water as it ran which increased the trench. Even places where Summer of Swampy work to put in drains showed failure. I removed slapper roots, one I pulled with my right arm that caused a pop in my shoulder, not good as this is the damaged wing.

Thursday my new propane regulator was installed in town. This regulator is calibrated for allowing higher release pressure needed to satisfy the Propex heater. Friday morning while still in bed I switched it on and moved the heat selector way high to make it fire up. So great to hear the heater fire on first spark and the sound of combustion was solid instead of spitting at the lower pressure. The other propane fired devices, stove and refrig, seemed happy. Happiness for heater performance continues up here at Swampy where get out of bed temp is in 40s.

Of course my clothes were washed.  I visited with Doug, the owner.

Thursday afternoon I parked off rd 41 where I stay scoring the spot before the green Suburban arrived. I rode Catch and Release to start of Storm King pedaling up to Green Gate, crossed the highway then descended on COD to Ticket to Ride to Welcome Center then picked up start of Catch and Release back to van. Nice firm dirt, rainfall seemed spotty as there was little runoff damage. 10.5 miles climbing 912′ pedaling for 1 hr 24 mins. Average heart rate was 114 beats per min.

And of heart rate. The exercise physiologist established my max bpm at 157 which is 2 beats / min more than the standard of 220 minus age times 85%. He said the 220 method was based on dogs.

Friday I drove back up to Swampy in hopeful anticipation of better air quality which did happen in late afternoon. I planned on a shorter ride here essentially eliminating Swede-SST loop. I wanted to ride these trails after the rain. I greeted a woman at the trailhead before I pedaled away. I stopped at the intersection of Ridge and the Swampy tie mentioned above to observe the water transport of the dirt. She caught me there. We struck up a conversation that opened the door to riding tips that I bestowed on her. Being younger she was so much stronger than me so I moved aside for her climbing. I did catch up to here when the trail leveled off then lead her on the downhills. She internalized many of the tips. One that is really enlightening to me, that I shared with her, is angling my feet on the pedals. Weight transfer happens with where the toes are angled by flexing the ankle. Toes pointed down transfers weight to the front wheel which increases the front tire bite for turning traction. Conversely toes up loads the rear tire lightening the steering traction. Bid her adieu. Wonderful positive person.

The yellow jackets appear to be early fall aggressive seeking meat instead of their normal vegetarian diet. I threw out a piece of shrimp about the size of the tip of my little finger landing several feet from my open side door. Motion caught my eye. Several yellow jackets were attempting to land on the meat which was being attended to by 2 black ants. When the yellow jackets attempted to land on the meat an ant would attack driving it away. Seemed the ants were the more dangerous of the two seekers of food. Interesting nature when looking down.

Flagline opened on Tuesday. I waited until yesterday to ride it. I drove back down to Welcome Center where rd 41 takes off to pay $5 for a bus shuttle up to Dutchman TH for the start of my ride. Empty afternoon bus, just 3 other riders, 2 with me continued to Dutchman. Flagline Access to Middle Flagline that becomes lower Flagline, not seasonally closed, which I have been riding, Turned left on Swampy for short distance to start of desirable South Fork. Afternoon sun angle changes the morning shadows. 15 minutes of suspension loving descent. At bottom turn down creek on Tumalo Creek trail. Amazing no hikers. High speed was .08mph below 25mph. I was flying coasting. That speed is scary for me. The tread and open sight line are excellent, it’s just so fast. The bike is fully capable, it’s teeny fear factor. My confidence is measured by no touching a brake lever. Stopped at lodge for water refill before paying the fun dues by climbing out on Skyliner to major trail intersection of Skyliner, Upper Whoops/ Lower Whoops, Phils, and Pine Drops. Today I rode Storm King down thru the weekday closure to COD down to Ticket to Ride to the Welcome Center. What a ride, 24.2 miles pedaling for 2 hrs 55 mins, I climbed 1401′ and descended 3652′. Average beats was 120. Garmin calculated 42 hour recovery to which I am respecting by not riding today. Garmin recorded max breaths per minute at 42, average was 34. Low dropped to 20.

Flagline: the trail is closed till Aug 15 for elk habitat protection. Riders know it is there but honor the closure. Perhaps the attraction is it’s closed until opened. The price of entry is demanding as climbing happens before the high point starting the descent. Old school trail layout makes for steep climbing both on the Access trail and early part of Flagline which I pedaled all except for making a tight right hand climbing turn that has stumped me during previous rides, my engine lacks the final 3 pedal strokes to complete. Presently trail Sector 16 is closed for logging, when opened it makes for an almost all downhill back to town. To complete the Flagline route trhe closure gives two choices: descend South Fork then climb out on Skyliner or link old haul roads to bottom of Lower Whoops. I believe the Sector 16 closure deters riders.

Data accuracy per the FS. The forest publishes a trail condition notice as well as posting closure signs. Sector 16 has been closed 7 days a week instead of being open on weekends, signs have been placed at necessary trail access points as is at Swampy. today i looked at the FS site which shows the trail si open. However, here at Swampy their sign is still hung. Bendtrails site shows the trail open. Confusion is it or isn’t it.

So, my rides have been / are shortening. I wrestle with is it because I don’t want to work that hard or is it because I’d rather take it easy. I prolly am able to do that ride. This year I have avoided ATCA and Olallie/O’Leary. I still push myself as was yesterday’s ride. One last strenuous ride exists here in Mrazek Ridge currently only open on weekends. I am psyching myself for riding it this coming weekend.

Next week my van undergoes some parts replacement and oil change before I leave. Last oil change was in ST George on 12/13/22, 7,974 miles ago. That’s 8 months ago. Van mileage is 295,373. Years ago I drove a VW Golf GT to 298,xx miles 13 years old. I have never owned a rig this long, 16 almost 17 years old, and later this year more miles. I keep after the van’s health and anticipate more miles and years of use.

At Swampy I’m anchored under a maybe 16″ dia lodgepole pine. Short time ago the sound of something like hammered onto the van. WTF? Filed memory away. Then a second same sound. I quickly opened the slider door then looked around for possible human cause. No one around. A third bang. Outside on the ground was a pine cone. Memory recall: I have watched squirrels locomoting about. Squirrels spend time in trees. Conclusion: a squirrel was chewing a pine cone loose from tree above letting it drop onto  roof of the van, hence the noise. As time went on I saw a squirrel hustling about seeking the cones it dropped. No idea if all were harvested. I watched one acrobatically cut loose a cone from small lodgepole maybe 18′ away then down climbed to ground then scampered away.

12:16PM AQI in Bend is 199, Unhealthy. Bachelor near Swampy 157, Unhealthy. AQI is different per location with Bachelor being better.

Summer time. Dry, no rain, mostly clear blue skies, livable high temps, dusty trails. Shortening daylight. But I get ahead of myself

Last Sunday I rode from Swampy anchor spot on the most direct route to the top of S Fork. All alone, no dust. Another South Fork descent. Old style trail under deep cascade tree cover. Stutter brake bumps that my Rail sucks up. Mine stays stable, no idea how other suspensions suck up the plentiful brake bumps. To me these bumps indicate speed change in anticipation of something challenging. I’m not the fastest around yet when I’m by myself I am always first fastest. Today clear skies created shadows. 15 mins of gravity assist stimulating muscles and reflexes. Perhaps 10 feet before the trail Ting at Tumalo creek trail brake bumps are deep enough to swallow a small stroller. Descend mostly with several short climbs interspersed w/ open sight, I missed 25 mph while not pulling on a brake. Fun descent where my speed does open my eyes wider. Stopped at the lodge to top off my hydration bladder from an outdoor stand spigot. Well water. Then pay back commenced climbing up Tumalo Ridge to junctions of Swede and SST.

About 4 mins to upload a pic. Move time line to today as I hiked up the far side of Tumalo Peak. More later.

I slogged up the old logging road taking longer than 18 mins. Today I took Swede back to Swampy instead of preferred SST. Swede gets the downhill shuttle traffic but with Sector 16 closed 7  days a week little traffic is on this trail Swede is shorter and has 1 killer climb, Lung Burner I heard it called that caused me several blows. I pedaled by a hike a biker.

The day was like above. For me it’s gorgeous. I stopped on a climb to soak up being out. I will pause for pic upload.

Trails up here are more rugged. I really like these trails.

Sunday night again at Swampy. Weather forecast calls for 100 degrees plus or minus for next 3 days. Some smoke. Swampy is 5810′ making here way cooler than town where those temps are forecast. Still high 80’s. This afternoon the van thermometer read 101 degrees. Sat outside in shade. This AM I drove down to town for resupply groceries and sink and drink water then drove back up.

I made today a rest day, no biking but I hiked Tumalo Peak. 53 mins to steeply hike 2.2 miles gaining 1428′. Non stop, breathed thru my nose letting breathing control my speed. Years ago I backcountry skied from Dutchman sno park to top following a skin track. Snowing white out. At the top I encountered another skier who said he knew how to ski the face. He was on randonee and I was an little side cut telemark skis. He dropped in and I followed. I have never skied such deep powder on such a steep slope before or since. Skinned back up then descended thru the trees back down. I spent the night in my Westy way down the mountain then went back up the next day. Same scenario but with a different skier. Today, on top looking down what I skied, I reflected on how dangerous those ski runs were.

So, I have food and water for 2 days which is normal. I have 7 gal sink water tank and a 2 gal drink water jug which I can squeak for 2 nights.

Slow internet and heavy eye lids bid adieu.