St. Joseph, Missouri to Chillicothe, Missouri

Today was such a disturbing day that I am sorely tempted to not even post a blog. ("Sorely"..., now that's a double entendre!) Today I was absolutely unable to ride at all. What a major disappointment. This was an 85 mile ride today, one which I viewed entirely from inside the van. I did not come here to ride in a van.

It turns out that I really managed to do a number on myself yesterday, with my fall. I feel much worse today. There is a huge hematoma overlying my right hip laterally. I probably dumped in at least a full unit of blood there, maybe two. It doesn't hurt at all, unless I move. My right shoulder is hurting all the time, even when not being moved.

I was unable to sleep at all last night, being unable to find any comfortable position in bed. (I now know that Michel does snore, just not very loudly.) This morning found me in more of a brain fog than I was yesterday, then even right after my fall.

Using my right hand, I was unable to put any pressure on the handlebars this morning, that because of right shoulder pain. When I went to the area where other cyclists were eating breakfast this morning, some riders wanted to know why I had stuffed a grapefruit in my pants. Indeed, just lateral to my right greater trochanter is a soft mass of exactly that size. (I don't remember grapefruit being black, however!)

Inspecting my helmet a bit more carefully now today, I see that I owe it a huge thank you. It is pretty well shattered. I could be the "poster child" for a bike helmet safety message.

I guess that I did fall a bit hard yesterday.

I am in Chillicothe now, population 2,121. This town does not have a bike shop. Reluctantly, I did walk over to the local WalMart. Hidden among the brightly colored children's bike helmets there, I did actually find one good quality Bell adult helmet. I bought it. It fits arguably better than my old Giro helmet.

Late this afternoon however, I found that I can now ride my bike! My right shoulder is better! I rode it in the parking lot a little bit. That should constitute a fair test, I would feel. If I can ride 25 feet in a parking lot, I should be ready to do 75 miles of hills tomorrow. That is logical thinking, I feel. My right shoulder is better with the handlebars now. I have (if you don't ask for details) full ROM at the right hip joint.

I'm good!

Tomorrow we have a 75 mile ride to Kirksville, Missouri. This will be lots and lots of more of these infernal "roller coaster" hills. It will be hot, humid, and with a 30% chance of thunderstorms.

We will see...,