We did the 800 mile drive from Louisville to Cable yesterday.  It seemed long.  I’m not feeling all that good.  My thumb is a .5 on a 1 to 10 scale and my ribs are a 8.  Actually, if I cough or hiccup, it goes to a 15.  I somehow forgot how much ribs hurt.  Plus, the lack of sleep is killing me.  I think I’ll get used to that though.

I’ve had a bunch of time thinking about not racing.  I’m okay with it.  It would have just been a personal life experience, short term.  Wandering around the course on Wednesday, I had a few interactions that were way more memorable than the race ever could have been.

I am always surprised when people approach me and tell me their personal stories.  Real personal.  I’ve gotten much better at this, listening.  It used to make me pretty uncomfortable. And it seems, everyone has a story.  Maybe it’s an age deal, but it seems like a lot of people that are in the 40’s -50’s, have big life tragedies going on.  Parents dying, sick children, broken bones or illnesses.  And these things get them down, which is understandable.

A couple guys came up and thanked me for being so understanding, for personally taking time  to respond to them when they reached out.  That surprised me, how could you not return an email or phone call to “a stranger” that reached out?  And really, none of us, in this small community of cycling are really strangers to each other, even though most of us have never met each other.

I think people do a lot of this to try to cope with the shit that life throws at them.  I’ve found cycling to be very useful for lots of these issues.  Every once in a while, it seems, someone will see one of my public life experiences and relate to them.  For some reason, this eases their stresses, and gives them hope, or a vision to escape the mental turmoil.  It is a good thing.

People give me credit, when in reality, I don’t deserve any credit.  I’m just posting stuff I do, or feel, and some people feel something in common, which helps them deal with their situations. Sometimes I get a personal contact and I just tell them what I’d do or what I’ve done.  Seems to help sometimes, which is great.  Life sometimes throws unsolvable problems at us.  We just need a little time to figure out solutions, or how to deal with them, or just accept them.

Anyway, I ran into multiple guys, people that went out of their way and thank me for helping them out.  It is such a compliment and really is a lot better than racing a master’s race.  So, I’ve made my peace with it.  Kind of strange how it is turned around and these guys helped me deal with a problem that really didn’t have a solution.  Nice.  Thank you.

Plus, I got a chance to catch up with a ton of old friends I don’t see often enough. This is Bill Elliston. We have a ton in common, think alike in many regards. Super good guy.

Last night I was pretty ill.  Like violently ill, for the whole night.  Man, that was an experience.  I have no idea what the deal was.  Trudi made stir fry at 7, then around 9 my stomach started feeling weird.  By 11 pm, I was in incredible pain.

I don’t see how it could have been food poisoning.  5 other people ate and they all feel great. There was no meat in the stir fry.   It was on top of wild rice.  Whatever.

I have never been that sick in my life.  I was deliriously sick.  It would come in waves, maybe 30 minutes apart.  I’d think it was over, but it just kept coming and coming.  I probably threw up 50 times.  The last 10 or so, nothing was coming up and that is when I felt I was doing real damage.

Plus, about 3 or 4 am, I started cramping.  Like all over.  My right foot was cramped up for maybe 2 hours, but that was the least of my issues.  I was getting hamstring cramps, thigh cramps, which I’ve never had, my neck, back, you name it, it cramped.  Trying to hobble to the bathroom all cramped up would have been a sight to see.

Initially I was worried about my broken ribs, but that turned out to be a non-issue.  Sure it felt like someone was stabbing me in the side every time I puked, but the abdominal pain was 100 fold that of the rib pain.

I thought seriously about going to the hospital around 5 am.  It didn’t seem right that I could be that violently ill for so long.  But the hospital is in Hayward, about 30 minutes away, and by the time I’d made a decision to go, the pain had already subsided some, giving me hope it was done.

So, around 7 or 8 am, it just left as it came.  Now I just feel like I got run over by a train.  Pretty much just like the flu, which is a 99% improvement from the night episode.  My legs are twitching like I just rode a 6 hour hot road race.  It is all so strange.  Plus, my stomach is making noises that would perfect for a soundtrack from Jurassic Park.

Sorry to even post this, but you know how it is, I seem to write whatever is on my mind.  And I can’t think of anything else, just now, than replaying the night over and over.   I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy.  When it rains, it pours.
   

My position for the day.  

Once thing I love about going to different places is seeing how the locals have evolved with their environment.   Maybe I’ve had more time to just observe, since I’m sort of out of commission, but this trip it seems like it seems more foreign that usually.

Up in Northern Wisconsin, in the winter, this climate is harsh.  People really need to be ready or it could be deadly.  The temperatures are so much lower than most the rest of the country ever encounters, we don’t even have any idea it even occurs.

I spent a winter in Grand Forks North Dakota, where the winters are harsh.  I remember asking a girl there if all the cars there have plugs for block heaters.  She didn’t know that cars came without them.

A couple New Year’s ago, we were out on the Hemlock Ridge at midnight and the actual temperature was around -35.  I think the high temperature the day was -12 or something silly like that.   Dennis’ ski race is Saturday and they keep changing the forecast.  The high now is supposed to be -2, with a low of -20.  It is lucky there isn’t as much wind in skiing as cycling, but it is still cold.  42 km at -5 would be tough.  But, he’s lucky it isn’t Sunday.  The high temperature is -8 on Sunday.  It is crazy.

Okay, here are some photos from the last few days up here.

Ned’s unofficial National Championship jersey from the Fat Birkie a  couple years ago. I think it is cooler than the real one he won last year in Utah.

Dennis has done a ton to his cabin to add insulation. He had blown foam put in last year. But many houses here get crazy ice dams. The weight and damage of the ice and water is incredible.

Dennis put in new v-groove when he blew in the foam. It looks super nice.

Dennis’ bike room switches into a winter sports complex depending on the season.

I was worried about my car, so I bought this. It didn’t go low enough.

So, I siphoned close to a gallon out and added pure antifreeze. It is strange when you have to have the antifreeze go down to -40 or below.

Dennis at the Seeley Ski Club’s garage where they keep their snow mobiles.

This is Gav, George and Yuliya boy. He eats sour cream on his pancakes.Yuliya is from Russia.

Normal WIsconsin trunk.

Seems like a high percentage of the pickups have plows attached.

You don’t often see a $10000 Fatbike parked in front of a bar at noon when it is -10 out.

Ice fishing tents, with deer stands behind.

The trapping isle at the hardware store.

And, of course, the ice auger section,  for drilling holes in the lake ice.

Trudi heading out on her first fatbike experience.