Okay, this hasn’t been a good month. Actually, the whole year, minus the cyclo-X racing in January has pretty much sucked. This is now sucking big time.

I went and did the ultra sound on my leg yesterday afternoon and the results weren’t good. I have a DVT (blood clot) in my lower leg from the crash back at Joe Martin NRC. I haven’t exactly figured out what I’m going to do exactly, but all the options aren’t that appealing to me. I do know that I’m not going to be racing bicycles for the foreseeable future.

I got pretty lucky and got to talk to the doctor who reads the results of all the tests. He came in and gave me some very important information that I’m going to think about for the next week before I make any other decisions. I’m going to do another ultra sound on the leg next week to check out the progression, or more optimistically, the regression of the clot. He did tell me that this procedure would be in weeks, not in days. I’ve researched the issue a bit and it might be more accurate to say that it is going to be months, not weeks. Whatever the time frame, it is going to be much too long for my liking.

Anyway, I don’t get depressed very often, but this is pretty much a downer. There are many more things that can go wrong with our bodies, this is just a blip on the screen. But, I’ve broken and trashed myself pretty good over the years and have never have been told that the recovery period could be over 6 months. That is until nearly December.

I’m still in a little state of shock. I’m sure I’ll have a different mindset in a few days. Right now I’m going to just wait it out for the next week until I get the next test.

This is the sheet they gave me in to show where the clot is.

This is the machine that they use to find these things. I've never had a good experience with them personally.

pours. Literally. I’m down in Texas. I took Trudi to the airport and headed south yesterday morning. I figured it was best to remove myself from a situation where I was going to be sittin’ and moppin’. Plus I had some stuff to do down here.

Anyway, everything was going pretty well until I pulled off the interstate. Approaching the first light, my brakes were making a crazy squealing noise and there was a weird smell. But, it didn’t smell like brake fluid, but antifreeze.

Long story short, I made it, but barely. And there was coolant pouring out of the front of the van. By, pouring I mean really pouring. The engine compartment in the van is super compact, so it is nearly impossible to see anything. And the engine was too hot to get my arm in there and feel what was going on. I’m thinking, hoping it was just a hose that split or came off. I can’t imagine another reason that so much water would come out so quickly without a car “trauma”.

I don’t have any car tools, but my friend Rod Lake here does. So, I’m going to get on the car project sometime soon.

Car repairs haven’t been going that well with my shoulder. I changed the differential oil last week and it is so amazing how much you need to use your left arm to get leverage on your right arm.

I’ve gathered a ton of information about the DVT in my leg. Thanks for all the emails and the information. The internet is so cool in that respect. I’m still riding now. Easy and short. That is my plan until I find something that says the contrary.

Okay, going to do a lap of White Rock Lake before it gets hot. The Bike the Bricks race is in McKinney tonight. I’m going to be a spectator. I’m not in the mood to race anyway, so I don’t think it is going to be any mental strain.

You can't see it very well here, but there is a waterfall coming out of the front of the van.

The van turned over 300,000 miles last week. It's a diesel, so it should chug along for a while longer.

Changing the differential oil was much harder with only one arm, as I'm sure this radiator thing is going to be.