Posted On Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 By David Veatch
I played pool at lunch today with a co-worker we’ll call Dave (because that’s his name). Given recent events, I figured I’d be pretty hard pressed to make a decent bridge and a single ball, much less string a rack together. Turns out I was wrong. I played rather well for someone who plays once a week on a good week. I didn’t run any racks, but I came damn close a few times. I chalk (see what I did there?) it up to having to be special careful placing my hand on the table every time, and being sure I knew where I wanted to go. The finger I cut up is the primary load bearing finger, and I didn’t want to have to repeat myself. There’s just something about ripping pain that makes you want to minimize the movement. The same thing happened last year when I hit my left index finger with a hammer while beating landscaping stones into the sand around the patio. I hyper extended that little digit, causing some fairly dramatic discomfort. Given that it’s the primary guide for the cue stick, I had to be very careful then, also. I slowed down to more »
Posted On Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 By David Veatch
I know this. I’ve known this for decades. Now my finger knows it too. Graphic pictures after the cut…
Posted On Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 By David Veatch
So… anyone with me? What is Mountain Unicycling? Mountain Unicycling (known as MUni) is an awesome challenge of mastering the skills to maneuver, balance, and react to allow yourself to ride a unicycle over difficult terrain. Mountain unicycling terrain includes but is not limited to single track, rocky slopes, dirt, mud, sand, snow, ice, creeks, roots, logs, ledges, drops, bridges and even walls. MUni is an incredible workout and a very enjoyable way to enjoy the great outdoors. That aside, I’m seriously considering getting myself a unicycle… just to see if I can do it.
Posted On Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 By David Veatch
At least I can say I’m learning something. At least I can say it’s happened at three different places on the trail, rather than the same place over and over again. What I can’t say is that I know better than to ride the trail after it’s been raining. When I started off on my ride home today, it was dry. All of Indian Creek Trail was dry, in fact. Dusty in places. I was getting annoyed because I’d have to dust off the bike when I got home. Still, I tallied forth with determination. I navigated the site of my first crash easily. Then I got to the Gary Haller trail, and the farther north I got, the wetter it got. I noticed this, and slowed down accordingly. I navigated the site of my second crash just as easily. However, right around mile 18 or so, I came up on a rather garish looking patch of mud. I positioned myself to hit it straight on so I wouldn’t be turning while in it, but I attempted said positioning where the asphalt was… you guessed it… wet. The bike went one way, I went the other, and slammed my left more »
Posted On Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 By David Veatch
Well, I did it again. This time I was heading north on the Gary L Haller trail. I was near mile marker 15 just off Northgate, going down a shallow decline and picking up a little speed. I didn’t notice any caution signs indicating a sharp turn. When I got to the base of the “hill” and entered the turn, I was going way to fast for such a sharp turn, and brakes fully compressed, I went headlong, heels over head over heels into the brush. I came to a stop, and all was quiet for a moment when *BANG!* my rear tire blew. Right about that time my left calf seized up good and proper and I recognized some of the signs of a good old fashioned adrenaline shot. I took stock of things at this point. My calf was cramped pretty good. My right wrist and left hand were aching. The bursitis in my right shoulder had been aggravated. My left hip felt like it’d been hit with s sledge. I had minor scrapes and rash along both arms, my left knee and my left shoulder. Finally, I wrenched something a little bit in my lower back. All more »
Posted On Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 By David Veatch
After the slide yesterday across the asphalt, I wasn’t sure what to expect today. How sore would I be? A little? A lot? At all? Here’s the scoop… My fingers that were torn up a bit are tender, but typing isn’t that bad. My shoulder and back are tender where they slid across the pavement. My hip is still swollen and tender, as well as being stiff after inactivity of any length of time. Oddly enough, my neck is a little sore. I can only imagine that I grimaced quite dramatically as I fell and slid, using muscles that I rarely use. I really do wish I had a video of it. From the front so you could see my face.
Posted On Monday, July 28th, 2008 By David Veatch
I took the Indian Creek trail from 101st and Lamar to Pflumm today. The impetus being that I like riding the trail. It’s very curvy, which is perfect since I generally find long straightaways pretty boring. It’s also made of fairly smooth asphalt which, when wet, is very slick. I bring that up because it rained today, which, of course, made the trail surface wet, and thus very slick. I knew this, so I took it pretty easy. I was still going at a good clip, pushing 18-22mph through a lot of it, slowing down for tighter curves, and speeding up for areas with more visibility. Don’t worry, I made sure to look ahead and leave plenty of room for oncoming traffic. Unlike, for instance, the choad-head riding a hybrid that looked up as I approached and, already on the wrong side of the path, went to the farthest edge of the wrong side of the path, looking at me, mouth agape, like some toothless baboon as I rode by him, myself also on the wrong side of the path b/c he gave me no choice. Aside from him, traffic on the trails today was law-abiding, polite and sparse. I more »
Posted On Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 By David Veatch
http://pitch.com/2007-11-08/news/uneasy-riders/full By Carolyn Szczepanski. Just as I gear up to start commuting myself… A good, if chilling story that outlines very clearly the dangers we, as cyclists, face.
Posted On Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 By David Veatch
After the ride to Siouxsan, Dennis and I made plans and preparations for the next day. We weren’t sure exactly what ride we’d take, but some friends of his were running the show and had assured him that they’d take my (lack of) experience and fitness into consideration. So, that night we worked on the bike I was to ride. It was in good shape, but the brakes needed some work. He had disc brakes installed, but the lines needed bleeding and the brakes some general tuning. It took a few times, but we did the best we could with what we had. After an hour, maybe two, we settled down for the evening and went to bed. The next day, we woke early again and, with some coffee and breakfast in us, hit the road. Our first stop was a bike shop to rent a bike for Dennis. I was to ride his, and he would ride the rental. It was a while ago, but I have a smattering of memories of the shop. It was a smaller one, with, oh, maybe a few dozen bikes all told. Nice ones, if I remember right, but my idea of “nice” more »
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Posted On Thursday, October 25th, 2007 By David Veatch
“You’re OK! You’re OK!”, said my brother as I tumbled down the side of a mountain in Oregon. I’d gone up to Portland, Oregon in September of ’05 for a long weekend. The idea was to hang out the first night, hit a good entry level mountain biking trail the next day, and a longer more advanced trail the day after that, and finally head home the following. It worked out… mostly like that.
Tags:
Bike Rides,
Family,
Forest,
Gunsight Ridge,
Hill Training,
Injury,
Mountain Biking,
Oregon,
Organized Rides,
Siouxan,
Stories,
Trails,
Travel |
Cycling |