Hi-It’s late again. We went out for sushi with Jay Thomas, Matt Shiver and a bunch of other Trek folks. Then headed over to the after race party. Yesterday was a little crazy. We broke Catherine out of the hospital to make it in time to get over to the course to watch both the women’s and men’s races. The course changed up like crazy. For the women’s race, the mud melted and it stuck to their bikes. If you didn’t have two bikes, there was zero chance of finishing. I heard a story about a women that went into the pit and stood in the bike wash line, while she was actually racing, and then going back out on the course and riding. Before and during the men’s race, the course hardened up a ton. The last couple laps were super hard. The men’s race was very good. Anyway, the results are everywhere over the internet. I’ll post more later. Here are some pictures of yesterday.

Catherine getting released from the hospital.

Matt went by the mustard museum and bought $90 worth of mustard to take home.

Just a small sample of the course conditions.

Trudi and Bromont picking up a snack between the races.

Katie Compton on her way to winning her zillonith National title.

Jonathan Page riding the downhills super agressive.

Arm wrestling at the after race party.

More arm wrestling.

We drove back to Kansas from Madison most of the day yesterday. I should probably be writing something about Lance’s doping confession or my thoughts about the Elite races on Sunday, in Madison, but I’m pretty preoccupied by my own injury issues.

I went by the hospital and got a copy of the MRI and the written report of the findings. I really hadn’t heard the particulars about what was exactly wrong with me and I was mildly surprised, maybe more like startled, when I read the report.

It stated- ROTATOR CUFF: Full-thickness full-width tear of the supraspinatus tendon with approximately 6.7 cm medial and Proximal retraction. There is also a full-thickness near full with tear of the infraspinatus tendon intact fibers with retraction of most of the fibers medial and proximally by approximately 3.9 cm. The teres minor and subscapularis tendons are intact.

In layman terms, this means that two out of four of the tendons/muscles in my shoulder are completely disconnected/severed. That isn’t a good thing.

I called a friend, Stacy, an orthopedic surgeon that happens to live in Louisville, and talked for a while on the drive home. She is actually working at the Cyclocross Worlds, which I didn’t know. Anyway, she gave me some good advice on things I should do to try to race in Louisville in a couple weeks. I also have an appointment Wednesday, with the orthopedic surgeon that works on the pitchers of the Kansas City Royals. I know he see some jacked up shoulders. My shoulder is pretty common. Stacy said she does about surgery on about 400 of them a year. That number seems gigantic to me.

So, this morning I’m heading over to Lawrence to see a sports PT doctor about my left leg, but am going to try to get him to focus more on my shoulder, trying to get some of the swelling and inflammation to subside. Then Wednesday, in Kansas City, and hopefully I’ll be riding outside soon.

I’ve crashed on my bike a lot of times. And broken a lot of things. This injury is pretty debilitating. It is very hard to find the “sweet spot”, where the shoulder feels in alignment and there isn’t much pain. Especially at night. Stacy suggested I sleep in a recliner. I’m not to that point yet, but if I don’t sleep some soon, I might have to go out and buy one, just to try it. I slept some on Friday night, but Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and now Monday, I didn’t hardly sleep at all. It is getting a little old.

Okay, I have an early appointment in Lawrence, so have to head out. I’m not sure if I’m optimistic or not yet. I’m too beat to figure it out. Hopefully that will change soon.

I drove nearly all the way home, but a couple hours out, I laid down in the backseat with Bromont. I couldn’t really get comfortable, but finally fell asleep about 10 minutes before we got back to Topeka. Go figure.

Image of a Rotator Cuff.