Well........

I'm out...... or at least on injured reserve for now. After my event recording the other evening my doctor wants me to take it easy until I see the electrophysiologist. So lets see...No State ITT Championships (Sorry Brownie), No ITT at the OVAL, "NO RACING PERIOD" (Sorry Ag3r), at least for now. Hopefully this is another step in the right direction and hopefully the last chapter in this part of my life, so I can get back to being competitive. It's been a long time coming and really has not been that bad until now.

A Part of My Life....
That I don't' want to give up. I've Been riding and racing for almost 20 years now and it has helped to create some the best experiences and friendships I could ever hope for. I have physically suffered, been injured and hospitalized all as a part of it and relish every moment of it. I have ridden and raced in the pouring rain, and gone out for a ride with friends in -10 Deg. weather at 9 o'clock at night just for the fun of it. Did a 24 hour mountain bike race with a broken wrist and a guy with only one arm. I've ridden over 100 miles in under 4 1/2 hours.

Ive Been Inspired by...
Those with disabilities


I've won races with friends that we probably shouldn't have (if you ever see the strongland team trophy look for the "FLYING FUHRMAN FOUR" , that's right OJ"s Buddy, and our team name. Chuck, far left in the photo, thought it would be funny)


And I have seen more of my friends that I probably should have and or wanted to.


I'm Sure........
That there are those that might not understand the Psyche of an athlete and their passion for what they do, and their willingness to go to any end to achieve their goals, and for those I feel sorry. But For those that do understand and their families that support them, cudos to you.

Keep Your Enemies Close.................

I am my own worst enemy. Our ride last night was phenomenal. I had decided not to push myself and just ride how I felt, and I was feeling good. Event recorder all hooked up and ready to go and I was feeling no hint of problems. I haven't and wont brag about how fast the four of us were going but we had covered nearly half of a 43 mile ride in less than an hour when stupidity or competitiveness finally got the best of me. We were just motoring along this nice section of road and I decided to get my sprint on and play some reindeer games. Well a little too hared for a little too long and blamo I was toast and puling off to the side of the road to record my arrhythmia. Fortunately it did not last too long and I was able to finish the ride fairly strong and I got a good recording for the doctor.

A Can Of Worms.............

As I said I had a good recording for my doctor so upon returning home I called the monitor company and sent the results over the phone. So upon finishing that the lady starts asking me some questions, are you OK, are you dizzy, do you feel faint. The answer to all of these was no and then I explained to here that this recording was from an hour ago and that I had just gotten to a phone. So she had me take another recording and send it to them. Now I had ridden the whole way home without any problems but as soon as I got off of the bike it started again. So after the recording she started telling me that I was still in affib and if I had any problems to immediately go to the hospital ..... not what I wanted to hear and information I did not pass onto my wife. She also said that I would be hearing form my doctor soon.

Now the downfall to these type of situations is that the protocol the company uses is for sedentary nonathletic people...hence all the panic. I guess that they had received a substantially high heart rate reading that kind of freaked them out, but in my case is normal when the affib kicks in during exercise but I did not know that is what she was seeing until my doctor called. His associate called shortly after and after talking to me for a while and telling him my history and experiences he did not seam to be too concerned.

Ladies and Gentlemen....."THE DOORS"

Now I can't even tell you how many times I have watched this particular movie, lets just say several. I am not sure what draws me too it other than THE DOORS are by far one of my favorite groups. Now I am sure that most guys watch it as it is the the one and only time that you will see a Meg Ryan full on breast shot, but I'm well beyond my teenage years.

A Step in The Right Direction........

So I went to see my Cardiologist yesterday for the first time in over 8 years. Due to my general non-well being I thought that it might be in order. He asked me many questions about the current state of my Affib, and we talked over many options, most of which he thought were not right for me due to, what he stated, my youthful age. He would also, I believe, Like to see me rid of this problem in my life as would I adn I pray that that is exactly where this is headed. So this is where things stand.....

• Continue riding, but really pay attention to how I feel and try to prevent agitating my heart (no racing for now)
• Carry Heart Track Monitoring system with me at all times until my stress test to record the events as they happen. I actually have done this before but he wants current information.
• Stress test (these unofficially occur every Tuesday and Thursday evening, bring your bike all are welcome, we meet at the Oak Grove at IUP at 5:15) to see what kind of shape the ticker is in (last time I did this the people running the test thought I was crazy and could not believe that I was able to carry on a regular conversation with them throughout the entire test) Of course the real excitement came when after the test, while sitting on the edge of a Hospital bed, my heart rate jumped from 63 bpm to over 250 bpm. I have never seen people move so fast or frantically in my life. Of course the doctor and myself were used to seeing this type of thing and took it in stride.
• After the test I will hopefully be going to see a Electrophysiology Specialist to discuss my options for permanatly ridding myself of this issue.

So What's The Point........................

So on my and "Z's" last ride one of the subjects of conversation was motorcycles, particularly loud pipes. I have often wondered about this over the years as many Loud Piped Idiots have blasted my eardrums over the years. "Z" had always wondered if the sound was as deafening to the rider as to the spectator. Now I could have answered that question as I know a guy that rides a Harley that actually has mufflers on it, which does tone it down some, wears ear plugs when he rides. (does that seam stupid to you as well or is it just me) Now if your Bike is so loud that you have to wear earplugs yourself then what is the point. Also, as a cyclist being aware of your surroundings is very important and hearing is a big part of that. "Z" also came to the conclusion that loud pipes make riding unenjoyable as he actually took one for a ride. He said it was so annoying that he could not even enjoy himself.

Not much happening......

Not a whole lot going on these days. Taking some time off the bike, at least hard riding, for a few days. Too many heart fluctuations to allow me to enjoy the outings lately. I have however started a discussion on the afibbers website. Lots of good information to be found there, not to mention fellow affibers. Like I have mentioned before I personally have 3 other friends that ride that also have affib. 2 have had ablation and the other to this point has not. I am not sure that this is an option for me, and from what I have been reading even if it is, getting your doctor to do it is hard to get them to agree to it.

My Hearts Just Not In It........

Wow!!!!!! What a terrible past two weeks. Limited riding time and it seems I am in Affib or just not feeling right more times than not. Affib attacks on both group rides last week, as well as periodic attacks in between.

I was really looking forward to doing two different races this pas weekend. Friday night at the track ITT and Dash for cash on Saturday MTB. I was not only looking forward to racing but also seeing some friends and teammates that I have yet to see this year, but after last weeks rides I decided against. I really hate to pay entry fees for a race only to either have a miserable ride or be unable to participate at all. If this keeps up I am going to by a MOTO.

It seems that even an easy ride these days cause me grief. Went out with "Z" last evening for some LOE and did good through the ride. We did about 20 easy miles with a few good climbs. I wen hard on the climbs just to see how my heart would respond, I started back on my supplementation on Friday, and had no trouble at all. But later in the evening and all through the night I did. I really need to get this figured out before I go completely nuts. I am going to try doing some longer tempo rides ans see if that helps. I will have to try to hook up with Fanning as that is the only type of riding he does.

Speaking Of "Z"........

Was over at Poser Central the other day and he seemed surprised that somebody could sweat enough to ruin equipment. I will have to introduce him to "Z" someday. This guy has ruined more cycling equipment with his sweat than The Poser could possibly fathom. Actually I should get these guys together so "The Poser" could draft "Z" and get some of his caustic sweat on his bike parts to further his Posability. This guy ahd ruined frames, cranks, chains, derailures, cables, paint and brakes to name a few.

Anyway, "Z" is in pretty good shape for a guy who, due to a neck injury has been doing nothing but roller mile this year, haveing only just over 100 mi on his ORBEA. When is the last time you only had 100 mi on the road by JUNE? Probably before you even owned a bike as a kid Im guessing.

Most accidents happen within a mile of home........

There has never been a truer statement. While riding around the house with my son this evening I figured I would try some wheelies. the 29'r seems to take a little more effort to get the wheel up but after several times I started riding it out further and further.I was having trouble though keeping my handlebars straight. So the next time around I really focused on that but lost focus on how my front wheel was coming up too far. Needless to say I ended up on my back...fortunately in the grass.