Category Archives: Personal stuff

Still here

Personal stuff, Ride reports (not Tu/Th), Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

It’s been a bit tough lately; there’s no question I’ve had some issues with power since coming back from France. Those two broken ribs interrupted things in a bad way. Even though it was only a very short time off the bike (just a day or two), and it seemed remarkable I was riding again just a day after diagnosis and two days after breaking them, I had to take it easy for a while. No big climbs, no really long rides, had to be careful not to crash and re-injure myself worse than before. Normally, I’d come back from France and have some of my best times on the local climbs! This time? Far from it.

Most of it, I think, comes from a pretty rapid deterioration in breathing ability. I’ve got some pretty sucky lungs (going in for another test next week), and the only thing that keeps me going is working them (my lungs) really hard. I mean really, really hard. My ability to clear CO2 out of my system is terrible, testing out at 28% of normal. I make up for it by breathing much more rapidly than most, which requires your lungs to really, really work. Give those lungs some time off (shorter rides, staying out of the hills initially) and what happens?

Even though things seem so bad right now, it still feels like I’m just one really good hard ride away from getting back to normal. Tackle something really challenging, like doing a Santa Cruz loop again.

Sounds like I’m looking for excuses, right? And I’ve got one more in my pocket. The meds I’m on for my bone marrow issue are doing a great job at controlling my otherwise out-of-control platelet engine (you don’t want too many platelets as they can lead to nasty things like strokes, heart attacks, blood clots…), but they’re also beginning to drive my hematocrit level lower. I dropped from 43% (not bad) on my test 4 or 5 months ago, to just 40% (not so good) on my test last week. Fortunately I’m in a place where it’s OK to lower my med dosage a bit, which might bring them back up a few points. This, by the way, is approved by my hemo/oncologist. I doubt he has too many patients that want to chart out dosage vs power levers vs hematocrit. 🙂

I’ll try to get back to updating more regularly. Another thing that’s kept me away from the diary has been planning for my annual vacation with my wife; Covid makes international trips just a bit more challenging than before! Plus this trip has a lot of moving pieces, takes place in Greece and includes time on a cruise ship in the middle of it all. Cruise ship? Me? Such a strange concept, but I’m actually looking forward to it. Leaving on Wed Oct 27th, returning Wed Nov 10th. Two weeks, 6 missed rides, and nobody gains weight on a cruise ship, right?

EU shuts down US travel; a proposal to get things back on track

Personal stuff

Where the Delta variant stands today, and why US tourists are being restricted

The graphic above shows why; that top chart shows US cases continuing to climb while other countries have seen their rates flatten out or decline. And with the US continuing to deny reciprocity (the US doesn’t allow EU residents to travel here for anything but essential reasons), it feels like the EU has had enough.

I think… my opinion only… I think that if the US proposed bilateral rules that would allow EU citizens to travel to the US and vice versa, under the following conditions-

– Fully vaccinated
– PCR (not rapid antigen) test 72 hours prior to departure

If we proposed that, I think the EU would open back up for US travelers. I believe this is something that should be supported and advocated for. But how?

For those who refuse vaccinations for whatever reason, my proposal on the surface looks hostile. But it’s actually, I believe, the fastest way to return the world back to semi-normal and allow non-vaccinated travel again. We’ve got to get a handle on this.