Bringin It Home

While Michelle rode from Ephraim to Northport Pier, the tippity-top of Door County before heading South to Kewaunee, Kirk took a guided historic walking tour of Ephraim and I hung out at Leroy's Water Street Coffee Shop. For the 2nd day in a row they didn't have any soy milk for my high maintenance tea misto.









Michelle near the Lighthouse in Ephraim

Lunch in Bailey's Harbor for Kirk and me and a last roadside stop for homemade dried cherries and cherry chutney, and then Kewaunee, a humble little town that did, however, have 44 gracious, mid-19th century homes that had made it to the National Historic Registry. Here's an inside glimpse of a room at the Kewaunee Inn where we stayed (for $63.00).

One of the bennies of touring with a SAG vehicle is you can take some little side trips here and there. Thursday, Day 12 of 13 would be such a day. The Brewers were playing at home against the Dodgers, and hey, why not?? So, we busted it from Kewaunee to Milwaukee with Michelle and Toto, her Bacchetta CA2. First lunch at The Palms, an awesome little restaurant in the 3rd Ward which has served as my turn-around point for my Wilmette to Milwaukee rides.




Michelle and me at The Palms.














The "good guys" won 5-1 at Miller Park, the good guys being the Dodgers, since we're Cubby fans.















We capped off the day with a brief visit at the Milwaukee Art Museum to catch their Summer of China Exhibit.


Love Chihuly Glass















Friday August 19th Michelle will ride "home" to Wilmette where she and I'll hang for a week. I will hopefully have received the orthopedist's blessing to launch my bike again, and Kirk will be heading back to Chautauqua for a week with his Mom.

Truly a WOOT couple of weeks.

Random Shots

Hard to take Escanaba too seriously with such inspired signage.

On To Dog Rib

Beverly, my iPhone, got really confused today. Clearly she had never been to Ephraim. First she thought I wanted to go to Dog Rib and later Epitaph. We found Ephraim despite her errant suggestions.

Anyhow, before leaving Green Bay and heading to true Ephraim we cruised Lambeau Field. Seemed quite a traitorous thing to do, but I seriously believe it will be my only shot at catching a glimpse of our arch rival's house.

We hooked up with Michelle in Egg Harbor for lunch at The Village Cafe before the final roll in to Ephraim.

Caught the musical theater production of "Guys and Does" at The American Folklore Theater in Fish Creek. What a lot of fun!

Mainstay, Ed Saba, and Escambia

Apparently Beverly, my iPhone, hasn't been to the UP before cuz she gives me any number of possible spellings for the likes of Manistique and Escanaba. But, Manistique was, indeed, our next stop after leaving Trout Lake. Flat roads, good shoulders, dense woods, and the top of Lake Michigan sightings was the visual fare of the day.
Kitch-iti-kippi, Indian for Big Sprigs, was an amazing glimpse of one of UP's natural wonders.

From there it was on to Escanaba where we were able to catch the movie, The Help, on a vintage screen barely bigger than some people's home-style flat panels.


This sign reminded me of why we're moving to Arizona.

It's Not Fluorescent Orange, It's Tangerine

A farewell dinner with Mark and Jeff at The Galley in St. Ignace after loading their bikes in our van.They would take a bus from St. Ignace to Holland where their car was parked; Michelle would carry on alone from Trout Lake, 30 miles NE of St. Ignace on around the Lake to finish in Wilmette.

We had been looking forward to our night's stay in Trout Lake at the Birch Lodge and Motel. Pre-arrival conversations foreshadowed a memorable night most notably when Bill, the co-proprietor, proudly told us that people from all over the country came to the Motel for its vintage mid-century furnishings and Tangerine colored walls, which should not be mistaken for fluorescent orange.











Bill and Deb had bought the Birch Lodge and Motel not too long ago and were looking forward to turning it into a bed and breakfast.








The mosquitoes were resplendent and very large.

The Lodge looked quite elegant on the outside but on the inside was memorable in a 1940's sense.





The vintage microwave was located in the Lodge's kitchen, which I believe was their personal kitchen, too. It took 3 minutes to heat a 6 ounce cup of soy milk.





Bill had worked in forestry for many years in the UP so knew the area well. Michelle and I were reviewing the next day's routes with him and he brought us to the map on the wall in the great room. It was vintage 1940, parchment brown and featured the best places to hunt and fish. Didn't want to hurt his feelings, but we stuck with the 2011 Cycling Map of the UP. :)

Yooper Land

Ferrying to Mackinac Island--Jeff (standing), Mark and Michelle in the foreground.










Lighthouse entering the Mackinac Island Port












Mark, Jeff, and Michelle found their legs and burned up the road at 18-20 mph; they were excited to enter another country, or so it seemed to us sout-landers: Mackinac Island and finally St. Ignace, the first time for all us to be up in the UP.






Kirk rented a bike and joined the others in a circumavigation of the Island while I patrolled Main Street.

True North

Between Traverse City and Petoskey our riders would number 3: Michelle, Mark, and Jeff.

Thursday would be a SAG-prepared Deli lunch for all of us at Torch Lake, where Eminem, Michael Moore, and Jack Kevorkian's lawyer, Jeffery Fieger all had homes.



Turkey, cheese, artichoke bruchetta, cherry mustard, dried cherries, fresh nectarines, and chips. Quite tasty.

About 2 miles from our designated lunch spot, we spotted a passel of riders along side the road; looked like some of them were ours. True it was Jeff and Michelle, but they were in the assist mode for Dave and Deb whose tire had flatted. My floor pump would have been helpful except her tire was slashed; it was a tubeless tire, and Dave lived only 4 miles up the road. Easier for Kirk to take him home to get his truck to come back to the scene of the flat and carry Deb and both bikes back home. Cyclists are like that: friendly and helpful to all.

We found Castle Farms in Charlevoix. Kirk's and my tour of this remarkable restoration of what was once a cattle farm, was my first venture outside the car on the Circle Tour; maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is a little brighter now??

Northward!

Northward to Traverse Bay by way of Beulah.

Bill's daughters wrapped up their Chicago sight-seeing in time to meet him in Beulah Tuesday about 5:00. They would need to be in Jackson, MS ready to go to work by Thursday morning--about a 1,000 mile car trip on top of some big rides.

Tuesday to Beulah was a hilly day, at least 3 teener climbs (climbs where the grade was in the teens). But oh, the glorious view from atop those climbs, especially the one in Blaine.

Today Mark and Jeff were riding partners as were Michelle and Bill. We were beginning to find our SAGGING groove--reading in our room for a couple of hours before leaving to follow the riders' route, passing them a couple of times during the day to fill up bottles as needed, which wasn't often as there were plenty of services or little towns along the way.

Our family has had a lifetime of pleasure with words, names, and being playful with both. Why else would my bikes be named Fern, Tilda, and Chamella and my iPhone be named Beverly? Well, the games continued as we learned Michelle's GPS is named Jackson which inspired us to name Jeff's phone Rutherford, in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes, our uninspiring 19th President. Mark, feeling left out, announced his phone's name was Peach Pit. So, it made only good sense that we ate dinner at the Cherry Hut (which has been demeaned and renamed in our company to the Cherry Pit).

Jeff, Kirk, Michelle, and Mark

Laughter really is great medicine; but we also spent some of each of our dinner meals with some pretty awesome sharing about such topics as books read that continue to impact our lives, memories of the place where we grew up, what is it about our life work that has given purpose and meaning to our lives and how did we find this career path, etc.

Michelle headed out Wednesday for Traverse City an hour or so ahead of Mark and Jeff. They all hooked up in Glen Arbor for lunch, browsing, and enjoying the glorious azure of sky and lake and the plush of cardamon sand. Kirk and I were hoping for lunch in Leland, but alas, while the town was teeming with tourists, there was nary a restaurant that could accommodate a gluten free, egg free, dairy free, corn free diet. So, it was a roadside rice cake with sunflower seed butter and a bowl of non-allergenic cereal with soy milk from the ice cooler in the car. Dinner in Traverse City had to be better, and it was. Thank you Red Mesa Grill.

Mental Funk

I began my role of SAGA, crewing/SAGGING for the Circle Tour riders 3-weeks post foot breakage. The good news is my foot seemed to be making excellent progress, really didn't hurt much, and I had shed my crutches entirely. I was still walking with quite the short-leg limp, but it felt good to walk unencumbered by sticks of some kind, even though I had a host of body aches from being biomechanically out of balance.

The down side was that it was now 4 weeks since my last time on the bike, the drama and trauma of the event was well passed, yet my routines for spiritual self-care were all scrambled at best and more often non-existent. Certainly the most significant of those routines was my meditation time on the bike.

I realized I hadn't blogged since my fall, I had barely been on FaceBook, and my text/email/phone connects with my peeps had been minimal. Kinda sounds like depression to me. At the 3-week mark I was still only half-way through the casted constraints so the end-of-the-tunnel light was still faint indeed. I was not enjoying being with myself and I'm sure Kirk was tired of my uninspiring self as well, although he remained his patient, accepting, supportive self.

And then there was The Longest Day, as recounted on the previous post. Hours of sitting in the car playing Angry Birds, Kirk reading, and my not having the interest or energy to Kindle read. YIKES, this was looking to be a long two weeks. How could I shift my brain chemistry??

Wednesday was the day I had the opportunity to talk to several of my peeps by phone, reconnected with a couple of others on line, began doing my Jin Shin Jyutsu again, and, and, my brain chemistry began to shift.

It was definitely a "Thank you, Jesus" kind of day!!

WOOT!!

The Longest Day

After finishing our rousing dinner at 10:00 at Johnny Carino's capping off our first day's ride to Holland, Vikki and Craig headed to Ann Arbor (155 miles) while Dale and Susan headed to Homewood, IL (140 miles). Mark and Jeff had actually driven from Michigan City to Saugatuck after our Gathering of the Scattered dinner at the Sahara in Michigan City on Sunday. They would take two days to ride from Saugatuck to Ludington meeting Michelle and Bill and the SAGGER team in Ludington at the end of Day 2.

Our departure time from the Super 8 in Michigan City (Day 1) was to be 7:00, but by the time we captured all the photo ops, etc., it was 7:30. Ten miles into the ride we moved into Eastern Time so in actuality departure was 8:30.

Day 2 to Ludington would be 119 miles so we were aiming for a firm 7:00 departure. At 6:50 no one had seen Bill. Kirk knocked on his door and found him in the middle of a reverie. Needless to say we did not leave by 7:00. It was more like 7:50.

Ten miles into the ride we received our first text of the day from Michelle: she had flatted. Second text of the day: she had flatted a second time, this time a pinch flat while changing the first--a foreshadowing of a long day.

The bike trail through Muskegon had been finished since my last ride through there and I hear it was lovely. Would like to have ridden it with them since I have such fond memories of riding in, around, and through the Haven's Muskegon, Pentwater, Ludington with Denise, Ken, Don, and my Chicagoland bent buddies pre-completed bike trail.

A few more miles down the road we hit our first unrideable stretch of road construction: not even a bike could get through. Kirk and I hung out waiting for the riders to plan the re-route. When they arrived, their elapsed riding speed was another 8 mph, a foreshadowing of seeing the moon rise on the road.

We drove ahead to Montague (18 miles), parked and read for nearly 3 hours waiting for their arrival, until we were run off our parking spot because a local said our car wheels were on her Aunt's grass. Whatever.

By the time the riders showed up it was after 3:00. At this rate they would not pull into Ludington till 9:30 p.m. at the earliest. Time to bump them up 30-odd miles to Pentwater. I tell you what, we were one, stuffed van with 4 people, two Bacchettas, 3 large shopping bags of Hammer Products, 6 people's luggage, extra wheels, an ice cooler, a water jug, and a bunch of other smaller miscellany.

Dropped the riders off in Pentwater; from there they had a WONDERFUL ride on into Ludington.

Hooked up with Mark and Jeff at James Port Brewing Co. for dinner in Ludington, toured the Badger Ferry Dock with Michelle and Bill wrapping up the second day.

And On The First Day...

Six riders, Susan Carlsen, Dale Johnson, Vikki and Craig Rohrer, Bill Mendenhall, and Michelle Williams rolled out of the Michigan City Super 8 in a low grade fog (weather related fog that is) heading for Holland 90 miles north.

The First Day of any tour is a little sketchy as the group does its little shake down of who's going to ride with who, and quelling the anxiety balls that live in the bellies of stomachs, quads, glutes, and gastrocs. Little did I know that the crew/SAGGERS had their share of anxiety balls to quell and shake out, too.

I've watched Lon and Susan of PAC Tour fame crew for the almost 10,000 miles I've ridden with them. But other than being the chief cook and bottle washer in 2007 for Team 60 Going Hard, a 4-man RAAM team I have no personal experience crewing/SAGGING. It would take Kirk and me about 3 days to come up with a crewing model that worked for our little group of 1-6 riders we had on the road. We finally settled on a model that was somewhere in the middle of the two extremes: Randonneuring (no support, but an occasional secret control) and PAC Tour's high-end support with laminated, flawless cue sheets and hot lunches cooked along side the road.

Out of the gate we seemed to have dropped the ball: we lost our riders. Never did find them for 6 hours!!!!!!!!! So, the story goes we went to Wal-Mart right after they left to pick up some needed supplies and re-fuel. We had designated a mile mark for a SAG Stop. We got there and waited for 30 minutes. Based on even a 12 mph speed they should surely have been there by now. They must be way ahead of us, they had to be.

Our hearts would go pitter pat as we saw not one but what turned out to be 500 Shoreline Tour riders. We learned quickly to identify them by their Day Glow, large name tag on their seat pouch. But none were our riders.

Then there was the rain storm from h***with wind and sheets of rain so fierce we needed to pull over. But no riders.

Then they called, Oh Yea!!. They were averaging and elapsed speed of 8 mph which actually served them well as they were behind the storm and never felt a drop. I began to worry, though, with a 1,200 mile trip ahead of me an elapsed speed of 8 mph would be a really slow go.

We finally found them about 3:00 in grand spirits in South Haven but with still 30 miles to go to Holland. It would be a long day.

Our hotel, a Country Inn and Suites was at the back of a totally dead, as in no tenants, mall. Actually made finding it kind of a challenge.

By the time everyone was in, cleaned up, and reloaded in the vehicles nearly all the restaurants were closed (nearly 9:00) or didn't open cuz it was (Sunday), and others never opened cuz they were closed permanently. But, we lucked out and found Johnny Carino's. It was classic PAC dinner time with such raucous laughter inspired by friendship, shared miles, iced tea, and a root beer for Michelle we probably could have been evicted.

Day 1 was in the books.

Gathering of the Scattered

Kirk and I arrived at the Panera in Wilmette on Saturday, August 6th at 1:00 p.m. after having been homeless and on the road for 44 days and 6,200 miles. Michelle arrived at the Panera in Wilmette at 2:00 after having been on the road from Jackson, MS for 2 days and 750 miles.

Mark and Jeff’s garage in Wilmette was our staging area where we off-loaded all the stuff in our van from the first 44 days that would not be needed on the Circle Tour (CT) including (sadly) my bike and related essentials like helmet and shoes. We couldn’t figure out how to build a cleat into my airboot/cast for my broken Right foot. Offloading made room for Mark, Jeff, and Michelle’s Hammer products and gear bags.

Mark and Jeff would drive to Saugatuck and then ride to Ludington where we would meet them Monday evening. They would join us, though, at the Sahara (check it out on Facebook via the Sahara link) in Michigan City for dinner in a couple of hours.

Michelle had sounded the reunion horn to Susan and Dale from Homewood, IL and Vikki and Craig from Ann Arbor, MI; all had been on the Transcon with her a year ago. They, too, would meet us at the Saraha for dinner and ride with us to Holland on Sunday, August 7th, the first riding day.

Bill Mendenhall, one of Michelle’s riding buddies from Jackson, MS has been training up a storm for his first multi-day ride. He, too, was driving to the Saraha in Michican City from Jackson with his college-age daughters and one of their friends. While Dad would be riding along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, they would play on the western coast of Lake Michigan in Chicago, the scene of Lallapalooza in Grant Park. Tuesday they would drive to Beulah, MI to pick him up and then the four of them would bust it back to Jackson in time for work Thursday morning.

Who woulda thunk we could get all those folks around the dinner table at the appointed hour coming from such diverse points of origin, but, WOOT; it happened.

CT Inception

The Circle Tour of Lake Michigan, henceforth CT, was born in the wee hours after Michelle Williams completed her transcontinental ride from Everett, WA to Yorktown, VA with PAC Tour in August of 2010. She was having that sinking spell many of us have had after completing something that big and that high up on our bucket list. One email led to another and we conceived the CT to be ridden self-supported (but plastic, i.e. motels) counterclockwise from Wilmette.

I had actually planned to do the CT solo in 2010, but I hadn’t yet figured out how to fuel myself on the bike AND manage my food intolerances. So, I had bagged that ride for 2010. Fortunately for long-term cycling enjoyment sometime in the 2010 riding season I figured out how to fuel using Clif Shot Electrolyte Replacement Drink + Hammer Sustained Energy + Hammer Gel + Dutch Baby Gold potatoes. With the CT still unridden by me it opened the opportunity for Michelle and me to ride it in 2011.

And so began the CT planning in earnest.

Over the months several riders considered joining us for some of the days. The original plan was for Kirk to join us in Mackinaw City and SAG us across the UP to Green Bay since I doubted I’d be able to find food in the UP that conformed to my diet restrictions.

Then one of several huge surprise miracles. First, Kirk decided to retire the end of June 2011 instead of end of June 2012. Second, his Spanishtown commitment in early August was cancelled so he would be able to SAG us the entire distance of the CT. And third, after I broke my right foot and was unable to ride or drive he would be SAG for both of us: Michelle on her bike and me in the car. Now that’s a major WOOT!

After several route iterations our CT would start in Michigan City, IN instead of Wilmette since I would not be able to guide the Mississippi riders through Chicago and Gary. From Mich City forward our route would look like this:

Holland->Ludington->Beulah->Traverse City->Petoskey->Trout Lake via Mackinaw City Mackinac Island and St Ignace->Trout Lake->Manistique->Escanaba->Green Bay->Ephraim->Kewaunee->Port Washington->Wilmette totaling 13 riding days and about 1,150 miles.

Chautauqua

The original plan was for us to leave Williamsburg for Chautauqua by way of Delaware for me to pick up one more of my unridden in states. But...Foot Fate.

So, straight to Chautauqua we went overnighting in Harrisburg for the 2nd time in less than a month in order to visit the National Civil War Museum. Kirk’s 2nd week in Chautauqua, the week of August 22nd, the week he will spend with his Mom who just turned 90, will be themed around the Civil War. He’s read Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson and Lincoln: An Illustrated Biography by the Kunhardts in prep for that week; and of course we just spent a week in Williamsburg.

Our Chautauqua theme the week of August 1st was to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary in the very place where we were married on the very day, August 2nd and honor the life of my brother's wife, Pam, who died May, 2010. Kirk would officiate the burial/memorial service at the Family Plot one mile outside the Chautauqua grounds;

King's Daughter's and Son's Chapel where we were married August 2, 1969

honor the life of my brother’s wife, and to share in my brother’s 40th reunion performance of his with his Barbershop Quartet buddies.

Laying Pam's ashes to rest in the family plot outside Chautauqua

A word about Chautauqua. My family began spending summers there in 1954, the summer I was 8. My folks bought a house there in 1957 which they owned till 1990.

David, my brother who is 5 years younger than I, worked summers there through college and maybe beyond. Kirk and I would vacation there at the family home as often as we could when our kids were growing up.

Chautauqua, a non-profit, caps its annual fund raising efforts with an “Old First Night Celebration” when each of the constituent groups would present their gift to the assembly of Chautauquans at the amphitheater which holds >6,000.

When David was 20, he and 3 of his buddies presented Chautauqua with their work group’s gift of $$ accompanied by their Barbershop Harmony. Chautauqua invited them back 20 years later, age 40-ish, and again 20 years later, now age 60-ish.

Left to right the Barbershoppers are: David Briggs (PA), Noel Calhoun (IL), David Calhoun (FL), and David Walcher (MA). Thanks to David Briggs for the vintage 1973 and 1994 pix.






Chautauqua, while usually a time and place we look forward to with hope and expectation of renewal, gratitude to my parents for helping this place become a part of our spiritual sinews, and the sense of Ahhh--coming home to a place that has been a part of my heart for more than 55 years. This year I bore a heavy heart.

Chautauqua is a full-fledged walking community with steep hills. I was 2 weeks post foot break. Our housing for the week was on the 3rd floor of a walk-up--The Methodist Missionary House. I would need to stay 2-1/2 miles off the grounds in a motel. Kirk would be staying on the grounds in the Methodist Missionary House and would need to walk a mile to get the car, drive 2-1/2 miles to get me, and then reverse the process 1-2 times a day. He would need to push my wheelchair everywhere I went as it had four 6-inch wheels--not self-propelling at all.

This was the second time in not so many years that Kirk and I were at Chautauqua and not staying together. My mother died in 2006 and a few family members had assembled at Chautauqua for her burial service. Kirk would officiate once again. However, the day before we flew to Chautauqua he was bitten by a dog. By the time we arrived he had septicemia and had to be hospitalized overnight for IV antibiotics. He signed himself out AMA to come to the cemetery, conduct the service, and then returned to the hospital.

My brother, David, was not in attendance at our mother’s funeral as he had sustained a terrible fall a few months prior to her death, had broken his neck, and was 4-way paralyzed. Since then he has, remarkably, regained some function. Nonetheless, it is painful to see the toll the fall has taken on all dimensions of his life.

We were both ready to leave Chautauqua, head back to Wilmette and gather the riders for the Circle Tour of Lake Michigan that has been in the planning for over a year.

Williamsburg Triangle

We left Columbus, GA after Rotary on Wednesday, July 20 after a smashingly successful 90th birthday celebration for G'ma Mary, reunion with Bryan, Daniel, Katie, their spouses, our 6 grandkids, Kirk's brother and his wife and two of their adult kids and Nate's wife (20 in all), as well as a smashingly successful breakage of my foot.

Off to Charleston, SC, a place neither of us had previously visited. In addition to appreciating Charleston's contribution to our colonial beginnings, it was to be my opportunity to add SC to my collection of ridden-in states.

Kirk enjoyed a walking tour of the old city while I traveled much of the same by bus with Marvin, the bus guide. Being only 5 days post broken foot truly limited my freedom to explore. We'll need to return soon to SC for me to lay down some two-wheeled tracks in SC.

Williamsburg was foundational to sustaining us as a couple in 1968. Kirk graduated from Davidson College in June of that year and was sent to Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis for US Army Officer Training. I had graduated from Indiana University a year earlier and was working at the IU Medical Center also in Indianapolis. We both attended a Young Adult Group at North United Methodist Church September 14th. A spark of magic happened between us that night; we got together a week later, September 21st and then off to Springfield, MA he went to serve his 2 years at the local AFEES. He gave us a 20% chance of ever seeing each other again.

Two weeks later my parents invited me to join them for a birthday weekend in Williamsburg. I accepted the invite if this guy I had met could come, too. He came, we fell in love, I moved to MA 7 months later, and we were married in Chautauqua, NY 10-1/2 months after first meeting. But it was Williamsburg where we fell in love, a love that has just deepened over the next 42 years.

The Willimasburg Plantation, was about 5 miles from historic colonial Williamsburg and PERFECT space and amenities-wise for us to settle in for a week after being on the road for a month and either being in a different bed nearly every night or being "on" with family and friends.

A wheelchair was my means of transportation. Good thing Kirk likes to get his walking steps so pushing me wasn't a total drag.

Neither of us remembers much about or formal Williamsburg visiting from 42 years ago, but the gratifying addition has been the daily inclusion of re-enactments of colonial life from the perspective of the enslaved Africans.

The real-feel temp every day we were in Williamsburg was 105-115. Our African-American guides gathered us around them in the tobacco and cotton fields, in the heat, telling the story of 16 hour days bent over picking cotton, taking us to a tree and whipping it as the Masta would whip the slave for the least provocation, taking us to a 12 x 20' hut where 10 enslaved would crowd together to sing-heal each others spiritual and physical wounds and ready for the morrow, imploring what would we do if the Masta announced his daughter was getting married? More often than not some of the enslaved's children would be given to the Bride as a wedding gift. The parents and children would likely never again see each other.




A couple of side trips completed our tour of the Williamsburg Triangle: a visit to Yorktown, where on October 19, 1781, the decisive military campaign of the American Revolution culminated with the British surrender to combined American and French forces under the command of George Washington; and a visit to Jamestown, the site where in 1607 104 men and boys landed 13 years before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts, completed the Williamsburg Triangle.




One of several Colonial Taverns serving period meals.

Foot Fate SAGA

Foot Fate SAGA

Rolling my foot on the reputedly special pool-side coral tile, indeed, changed the course of not only my next weeks, but equally those of Kirk’s. The night of the snapped 5th Metatarsal we went to two Urgent Care facilities in Columbus, GA to find their doors locked tight by 9:00 p.m. Guess nothing Urgent happens in Columbus after 9:00. So much for trying to discriminate between an Urgent need and an Emergency need thereby conserving our insurance dollars and allowing ER staff to care for those whose medical needs were life-threatening rather than just life-style threatening.

Yes, my 5th Metatarsal was broken, and yes I needed to see an orthopedist Monday. I had visions of wearing my carbon fiber-bottomed bike shoe until I saw the orthopedist on Monday and waiting till the next day to go to a medical supply thereby not incurring the expense of crutches dispensed by the ER. The ER staff had a different plan: applying a temporary cast until I could be seen Monday. Guess I won’t be wearing my bike shoe, won’t be riding the next day, and will be taking crutches home from the ER.

And, what would I do now about the 1,200 mile Circle Tour planned for a year with 6+/- other riders? What would I do now about missing riding in the unridden in states of DE and SC?

Monday came; orthopedist consulted: first recommendation was a non-weight bearing cast. Left his office with an aircast/boot with a promise to not weight bear and crutch 100%.

A flurry of back and forths with the Circle Tour Riders and the ride is ON, a slightly amended route with Kirk SAGGING and me being the SAG-Administrator or SAGA, for short.

One of the surprising ah-ha’s of returning to crutchdom 48 years after breaking my Left 5th Metatarsal playing basketball as a freshman in college, is that crutching takes a heck of a lot of upper body strength. A watershed moment for sure. I will be adding an upper body program to my wellness program when we finally get to Tucson.

The realities of being broken footed, and especially right broken footed began to emerge over the next few days. The upside: Kirk is retired, we’re together all day, every day, and we’re doing fun things day-after-day. Had we still been in Wilmette with Kirk still working FT, I would have been pretty much trapped in my four walls with 14 steps between my bed, bath, and beyond.

The downside: I depended upon Kirk to push me in a wheelchair all around Charlestown, SC, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Chautauqua. He typically walks an average of 7 miles a day, documented at VirginHealthMiles via his trusty pedometer, but these first 2-1/2 crutch-dependent weeks he averaged 13 miles a day. My most significant contribution to our little team of two was to keep a cheerful attitude and join Beverly, my iPhone, in providing trouble-free navigation over the next 2,000 miles.