On the Bike Again.. (cue Music)

Yup, I've been back on the bike. I had a doctors appointment on the 9th of July after therapy and he said I could get back on the bike again (but still no push ups... push ups? What are those?). He also told me I didn't have to do Physical Therapy anymore if I didn't want to and BOY did I ever not want too! The Doctor asked me if I had set any appointments for the next week and he laughed after I told him no cuz I was hoping he'd say that :-). They had just started me on dumb little exercises that I think are a waste of time and money... for me.

I have full extension of my arm after I work on it at night (holding onto a weight with my arm hanging over the edge of the piano bench) and he said I could use 3# weights at home (I had already been using some and now I've done some 5#'s but haven't been very consistent).

The physical therapist said I was the poster child for elbow recovery. She said normal recovery time is 5 months and I had only been to PT for 2 months.

Yes, I'm awesome.

I thought about riding that Saturday, but since I had just started exercising again I decided to give it another week (apparently I've never been that motivated of a triathlete cuz I've been using my arm as an excuse not to do ANYTHING.. and therapy as an excuse to go to McDonalds for breakfast as a reward cuz I actually WENT to PT).

So the 17th Melissa and I went up to Mt. Charleston after 5:30am (I was late cuz I set my alarm wrong) to ride for about 1.5hrs. I was most worried about coming back downhill and had run through all the possibilities in my mind the night before.

We barely made it to the bottom of the first real hill before we turned around.

Hey now, I'd been off the bike for 3 months and Melissa for... longer than that (since she got too preggy to ride). She'd at least been going out running. She was nice enough to stay with me.

On the way down, she got ahead of me cuz I didn't want to stay right behind her since I wasn't very confident braking with my right arm. But other than that I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be. (I had gotten on Mom's beach cruiser at the 4th (don't tell the doctor) and I'm glad I did. I could tell myself, "See, I'm riding and not sliding out and breaking my arm!")

This is the after picture to prove I did it!
Then this weekend was Girls Camp.

The leaders asked me if I was planning on riding my bike down the mountain like last year. Um.. I think so but I'm not sure. The YW Prez texted me before she went up that she would drive my car down for me if that's what I decided to do.

I didn't really decide to do it until the day before. I went... danced and sang, tried not to distract from the spirit as the girls shared their testimonies, told all my elephant jokes.... again (always SO FUNNY!), taught them the "3 sharp-toothed buzzards" song, got some prizes, forgot my bike pump and breakfast, and thenI rode down the mountain.

I have no pictures to prove it except the tattoos on my leg (I had oiled the bike right before I left for Girls Camp).I admit to being scared out of my wits at first. There might have even been some tears (I blame 3 hours of sleep).

It was doing the winding turns at over 30 miles an hour that I couldn't handle. My hands were on the brakes almost the whole time. I kept having to tell myself to ride with the bike or I was going to cause myself to crash since I was so tense. Eventually the road straightened out and I could let it go. After that anything under 20mph was easy.

Of course, I had kinda forgotten this was only the second time on my bike and I hadn't been exercising for 3 months. My whole body ached from trying to keep myself from crashing. My left arm was tired of compensating for my right arm. My legs burned and I still had an hour to go. Needless to say I got to the church about a half hour later than I planned. The group had left the mountain a little later than they planned so I actually only missed them by a couple minutes.

Nobody from my ward was there. I was actually kinda sad that nobody was worried and waiting for me. I had been very worried about me! So I put my bike in my car, found my keys on the front seat, got McDonalds (I DESERVED it), drove home, showered, and laid on my bed for the next 3 hours.

Man, am I proud of myself! Just thought I'd mention that.

I tried to get some pictures of the scar for those of u who haven't seen it lately. Its gotten a little wider at the back from all the stretching but not too bad.

Then I attempted to get a picture of how you can see the plate sticking out over the point of my elbow.

Mm... it wasn't working so well so I went into the bathroom so I could use the mirror.I think the next one is the best one. Can you see the two white spots at the point? That's because the plate is square and my elbow is round.

I showed it to the doctor and he felt it... and "Mmm"' 'd and said he could take that out with local anesthesia in an operating room. I reminded him that I was never having surgery ever again in my entire life (I'd rather die). He laughed again, said "Was it really that bad?" "Yes" "OK, for now we'll watch it and if the skin gets red because the plate is trying to come through then we'll take care of it".

The plate could come through? THAT IS SO AWESOME!

My arm is still stiff which drives me crazy, I have to have padding under my elbow before I put any weight on it, I have no feeling around the scar (except pain), and it still thinks its weak (the wimp), but other than that I'm back to normal. Well... as normal as I can be. :-)