This past week I’ve been all over the map.  At least health-wise.  I haven’t connected all the dots, or actually figured it out much at all, what makes things better or worse.  One thing that I have figured out is that if I sleep more, I am less dizzy.  And if I ride the ergometer, I feel better in general.  Less dizzy, less headache, just all around better.

I got the go ahead to ride a little over a week ago at KU Med.  But not really train.  I have to keep my heart rate super low and thus the resistance is low.  The first couple times I rode, I could actually wear a winter hat and not get hot.  That isn’t my historic way that riding inside feels.

Initially, I was keeping my heart rate in the 90’s, so the wattage was under 200.  Yesterday I brought the heart rate up 10, so now it is in the lower 100’s.  It still isn’t much resistance, but it is a lot harder than before.  I am in pitiful shape, maybe not as bad as I think, but i feel generally out of sorts in nearly all aspects of my health, so it feels the same with my fitness.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time, over the years, on ergometers.  It all started back when I first turned senior, or elite, as they say now.  I spent 3 months of one winter up in a government lab in Grand Forks North Dakota, and I had to do VO2 tests twice a week.  The weather in Grand Forks is pretty harsh in December, so I rode inside a ton.  It is amazing how much better you can riding an ergometer when you spend 3 hours a day doing it.

My experience transferred to when I flew directly to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  Eddie B. had all the national team guys ride tests to see how fit we were.  I had spent some much time on a Monarch ergometer, that I could kill that test.  My power to weight ratio was dramatically better than any other rider there, which was everyone.  That was only because I’ve been riding one for the past three months.  There is a big difference between training on an ergometer and using that power out of the road in a race.  At least a mass start race.

I have to admit, I am happy that riding makes me feel better.  I still have a headache, but not one that is killing me.  Of course, I am still dizzy, but not like I can’t stay on the trainer because I’m going to fall off.  I think my brain appreciates the small amount of endorphins that I’m giving it.  I think I am so used to them, that I am in withdrawals without them.

Yesterday, I only had 1/2 a Percocet.  I had a quarter one at 4am, then 1/4 at 9am.  Now cold turkey.  I can’t say that I feel that much worse without the opioids than while taking them, which is good.  In general, I’m not big on taking medicine.  Of course, there are times when medicine is critical, but I’ve been reading up on my issues as much as my eyes and head will allow, and I haven’t seen much on any particular medicine actually accelerates healing much, in this case. At least nothing that would bring this whole ordeal up to my speed.  But, as I know, my speed isn’t realistic.

I plan to ride a couple times a day from now on.  The feel good lasts a few hours and I think the riding actually induces more sleep.  I’m not sure which is more important.  I have slept as much as 6 hours straight.   And it is getting easier almost daily.  I think that and the riding as inter related.  I like them both, so even if it isn’t exactly true, I’m going to go with it.

I try to get at least an hour more sleep during the day. I can always count on Tucker, and at least, one cat joins me.

Not the best riding selfie, but this was a few days ago. I’m way more conscience now when I’m riding.

I haven’t been spending very much time on the Internet and I rarely go to Facebook, but yesterday a couple guys posted stuff about Whaling City Criterium, from the past.  I did the race just a couple times, but was lucky enough to win it once.

It was a super race, big prize list and challenging course with a small hill.  Plus it was in a pretty great town, very interesting fishing village-type place.  I truly enjoyed going there.

The year I won was 1985.  That was the year I crashed into a car at the British Milk Race going super fast and had broken myself up pretty good.  But I got healed and I had just finished the Coor’s Classic.  I had been training pretty hard, at altitude, for the  World Road Championships in Italy.  It was on the way, sort of, so I flew from Denver to Boston, raced and then back to Boston to fly to Italy.

I only had two Raleigh teammates there, Greg Demgen and Paul Biskup.  As it turned out, that was enough.  The morning of the race, we woke up to rain.  Like really raining.  Paul, Greg and I went out and warmed up pretty hard.  We were taking the race pretty seriously.

The race started fast.  Early on, I got off the front with Alan McCormick.  I’d raced with Alan for years and knew exactly his capabilities.  Alan and I worked pretty good together.  About 1/2 way through the race, I was leading into a slight off-camber, shallow corner and next thing I know I’m sliding on my side into the curb.  I got up and rode to the pit to take a free lap.

Alan came around fairly soon and I got back in.  We had a set pulling routine, but when we got over to where I fell, I pulled over and asked Alan if he’d pull through the corner.  I was a little skittish.

We lapped nearly the whole field.  At the end, we were in a small group of guys.  I think Alan had a teammate in the group.  The race finished up the hill, then a right corner and a short way to the finish.  Obviously the first guy through the last corner was going to win.

I was pretty confident that I was going to be able to jump Alan up the hill and do just that.  But just a second or 2 before I was going to jump, Alan attacked me from behind.  It was pretty early.

I jumped and was surprised how quick Alan was going,  I was hardly gaining on him.  Just 50 meters before the corner, Alan lost momentum and I came around him just in time to lead through the corner and, thus, win the race.  Greg finished 3rd, so we had two riders on the podium.

Back then, it was good prize money at all these races.  I’m sure we made over a grand each, all three of us. There was also super post-race parties.  I was still focused on the Worlds, so took that night pretty cautiously.  I hung for a while and then walked down to the pier and watched all the fishing boats return.

It was pretty late, well after midnight, and the dock was busy.  It was amazing the different fish that they were unloading off their boats.  I stayed down there at least an hour watching.

I had a rental car and then headed to the Boston airport.  I had a flight to London, then London to Venice.  When I got to the airport, at the ticket counter, it said that stand-by tickets were $100.  My ticket was something closer to $400.  Those were the days that you could get your money back for plane tickets.  When I got up to the counter, I asked the woman if there were stand-by seats available and she said there were tons of open seats and she could give me a seat assignment.  I said sure, so pocketed another $300.  I felt rich.

Anyway, thanks to Mark McCormick for posting the newspaper article.  It great to see his and his brother, Frank, names in the junior results.  I have some more photos that I’ll try to dig out later.

Here is the New Bedford paper’s article.

A couple years later,, I felt good and tried my best to stay on Gag, but that didn’t work out so well.  He won road races.  I was riding with Alan then, on the Schwinn team, so Alan finally won the event too.  Wayne Stetina, Mr. Shimano, was 3rd.

I obviously wasn’t the only rider that fell that day.

Greg Demgen at the pre-race parade.

At the road Worlds in Italy. Roy Knickman, me, Thurlow Rogers and Greg Saunders.