Steve Tilford

I don’t see the difference between having allergies and just being sick. As far as I’m concerned, the symptoms are the same, so it is pretty much the same thing.

I don’t know why allergies are such a big deal now. I guess people just want something to complain about. It has always been a big deal to athletes. Not that I’m saying that athletes have a right to complain about things more than the general population, but when you make your livelihood from sports and your body doesn’t allow you to perform up to its maximum level, then it seems okay to whine more. Athletes definitely seem to whine more about stupid stuff pertaining to how they feel. I definitely do.

My grandmother lived to 99 years old. I moved in with her when I was 12. She was 81. I never heard here say one word about feeling bad. Not one. She would be sick, break bones, etc. not one complaint.

One time she had fallen down and broke her wrist. She was in her 90’s by then. A week or two later, she asked me if I would look at her back because she was having trouble sleeping and thought maybe something was the matter. She only wore dresses, she never owned a pair of pants. So we unzipped her house dress, looked, and her back was a million shades of black and purple. It was unreal. So, we loaded her up and took her to the doctor. She had broken nearly all the ribs on one side of her back and maybe a couple others. I’ve broken ribs a few times in my life and I think it is one of the most painful bones to break. The healing process is so slow and any movement, laughter, coughing, just breathing exacerbates the pain. Her whole side of ribs were broken, but she never said a peep about pain.

Anyway, I’ve been hearing a ton on the news about how bad the allergies are because of this early spring, blooming throughout the country. I saw down in Georgia, that the pollen counts are at record highs and that they are 6X higher than a really bad year. That would not be a good place from me to be right now. I check out the pollen reports where ever I’m heading. Not that I’m going to avoid going there, but just the knowledge that there is a reason I might feel subpar is good.

The pollen counts here in Kansas are extremely high right now. Mainly tree pollen, which is bad for me. I started taking Zyrtec allergy stuff a couple days ago. I’ve never had much luck with pills for allergies, but at least mentally, I think I’m addressing some of the issue. It might be a long Spring for some of us this year. It is only March.

My grandmother and me.

Tree pollen every morning on the car.

I finally got around to putting that $15 spoke into the Shimano tubeless wheel. I’ve had a handmade truing stand since I was a junior. A local guy from Nebraska, Fred Galata, made it back in the late 70’s I guess. It is made of aluminum and machined to perfection.

I’d seen the stands before and finally told Fred that I’d take one. I don’t remember how much it was, but Fred brought it down to a race in Oklahoma, maybe Talimena, and the four of us from Kansas had to scrape every penny together we had to buy it. We were driving back North, up by Bartlesville, OK around midnight. I was driving, going pretty fast. I hadn’t seen another car for a while and of course, with my luck it was a cop. He did a U-turn and pulled us over.

He said that we had to pay him $30 on the spot or he was going to arrest me. I told him that we didn’t have any money at all. That we’d just bought a truing stand at a bike race and only had the tank of gas in the car to get back. He asked again if we didn’t have $30 between the 4 of us. I told him no. He then told me to step out or the car. He proceeded to hand cuff me. He said he’d give me one more chance to pay. I told him we would gladly pay him, but we didn’t have any money at all.

So, he put me into the front seat of his car and proceeded to drive the 20 miles back to Bartlesville at 100 mph. Kris and the other two guys I was with thought it was some kind of trick, so they didn’t follow us because he was going so fast.

We we got to the station and he handed me over to another officer. That guy took me back into the jail to lock me up. He unlocked the cell where there was a guy laying on the floor vomiting. He said something about the guy drinking Drano when he went to the bathroom. I told the officer that I didn’t want to get into the cell with him. That I had been speeding, but it didn’t seem like I should be thrown into jail with a guy that is puking. The officer that brought me in heard our whole conversation and told the other officer that I seemed like an okay kid and maybe he should just lock me to the bench in the waiting area. So that is what they did.

Within 15 minutes this guy comes into the station and they tell me he is a bail bondsman. I didn’t know what that was, but he explained that he could pay the police the money and they would release me. But, I had to pay him $100 for him to pay my $30. I told him that seemed unfair and that I could send him the money when I got home tomorrow. He pretty much said, take it or leave it. I took it. The whole thing took maybe an hour. By the time we were done, around 2 am, my guys had finally found where I was. They had driven around town for an hour trying to figure out where I was. The bail guy wanted one of our bikes as collateral for his bond. I told him that was ridiculous and asked him how were we supposed to get it back after we sent him the money. He probably recognized who we were, young, honest kids, because he didn’t really push it. We got home that night right when the sun was rising.

I sent the bail man the money the next day. I think I got it from my dad, because I wouldn’t of had it. He usually wouldn’t of had it either, but we came up with it somehow. I always think of that story whenever I’m using that truing stand.