Blue. Tree. Frog.

These are the three words the ER nurse asked me to remember. When she asked me to recall them a while later I stammered out "Blue...uh...yep, that's all I got!" Which I thought was pretty good considering I woke up thinking it was July 15 and had to look at my Road ID to figure out who I was, thanks again Molly! I actually thought that my last training ride was going to be so uneventful I had started working on ideas about what to write before the race (and this is when God starts laughing, I hope he's ROFL about this one). Yes, I crashed on my last training ride and while I don't remember much I'll relay what I do.

I had met my mom and and my sister, Mary Clair in Silverthorne last Tuesday morning. My sister drove me to Leadville, so I could rest, while my mom followed in her car. We stopped by the race shop so I could get another map and then parked at Twin Lakes Dam. I was about to change when I told my mom and MC to turn around because I wasn't wearing any underwear. My mom asked why, and I replied "I don't need to with bike shorts and I'm not wearing a clean pair for only the drive up." MC and my mom then headed off to Crested Butte to take MC shopping before going to the cabin. I decided to do Columbine but figured I would warm up first by going 5 miles out in the opposite direction and then back by my car in case I needed anything before heading up Columbine. The 10 mile warm up was uneventful, except I saw a snake which was pretty odd considering I have never seen one up there but took it as a good omen because it was my last big training ride. I stopped by my car because I've been contemplating buying a lighter wheel set and decided I would at least call and see if they had them in stock to ship out right away. They didn't have the ones I wanted but they did have a set, I told them I would call back the next day to order them. I wanted to check with some guys at work and see what they thought of them before I paid for overnight shipping. I started the trip up Columbine, this time I actually saw quiet a few bikers, one who was much older yelled at me to "Enjoy it" as I climbed up and he whizzed by going down. I thought to myself I will do just that. I saw an antelope on the way up and it acted a little strange just in the sense that it crossed the road right in front of me and then stopped and stared me down as I road by. But I was going slow enough that it was probably just appalled by my lack of speed.

Take Cover!

It started raining which I didn't mind because being from South Dakota, it's a pleasure to ride in the rain. I did mind when it started hailing. Luckily I was near a campsite and someone had pitched a tarp off their trailer that I ducked in there. I didn't think they would mind me taking refugee till it let up, especially because I left them some money to ward off any bad karma that might follow me. The rest of the climb was slow going but I felt good and made it to the top no problem. At the top I saw a car heading down so I took one of the side roads off to avoid any tight spaces with the car. I road until I reached 20 miles on my garmin and then figured another 10 back to my car and debated doing more but decided to see how I felt when I got back. I don't know if this is relevant but I did take my inhaler at the top because I started feeling some tightness in my chest and wanted to ward off any attack that might be brewing. 

I started the descent down and passed the car pretty quickly. I was making mental notes of how far from the top things were, the creepy house with the army convoy .75 miles from the top, which means 4.25 miles up in the climb. I remember thinking I need to remember that because I always think that house is closer to the bottom. I also made a mental list of things I wanted to do when I got home that night; go to Whole Foods, put together my shower stand, maybe watch Silence of the Lambs, do abs, and start making a list of things for Leadville. That's my last real memory of the ride before waking up in the rear seat of the car I had passed with some biker handing me my broken Oakley's telling me I was going to be okay. 

Didn't see my night going like this...

When I was passed out I was in this weird dream state where I remember walking around the forest up in Leadville. I was angry and at the same time content that this is how I was spending me last training ride, just walking around the forest. I remember some of my college friends were there as well as my roommate. When I woke up I didn't realize that the dream hadn't happened and thought that my roommate was in Leadville so I called his work about 5 times not remembering that I had called and he wasn't there. I also thought it was July 15th and wasn't sure what year it was or where I lived. The people whose car I was in were from Missouri and one of them was a nurse so they put ice on my head and flew to the hospital. On the way I called my mom and one of the ladies talked to her. I tried calling Molly but her ringer was off so she texted back, "Sorry, ringer turned off. Still @ work everything okay?"
I replied back, "No, I crashed I don't remember much in car on my way to hospital."

"Are you serious? Which hospital? You're not driving, are you?"

"Leadville I don't know some people picked me up." And that was all the details I felt were necessary to give her. I do remember talking on the phone to her later but I'm not sure what was said.

At the ER they changed me out of my clothes and into a gown and tried to start an IV. I suggested using a butterfly needle (not sure where I pulled that one out of) so the nurse did and sill couldn't get it so she sent an EMT in to do it who told me you can't use butterfly needles to start IVs but you can to draw blood. Why the nurse listened to me when I coun't even remember my middle name, I'm not sure. The doc checked me over and said no riding for 14 days, but Leadville is in 12?!?? He just said sorry. He then sent a cute EMT (figures the one day I don't wear makeup to ride) to bandage my wounds. He said he would be stationed at Powerline on race day I told him I might stop off for an IV. He also tole me that if it was him, he'd still race. Easy for him to say he's on the other side of the hospital bed.

My mom came in while MC went with the people from MO to get my bike out of their car and pick up my car. I told my mom they had to take my bike clothes off to check me over. She said, "I bet you wish you would have worn underwear." and I said, "It's nothing they haven't seen before." Luckily because my mom and sister were there I could borrow their clothes and not have to wear hospital scrubs out (I already have my Halloween costume for this year so I wasn't really in need). My mom took me back to Abe and Molly's that night where I began to feel worse with waves of nausea hitting so she took me back to the ER where they did a CT of my head (they thought it was weird that Leadville didn't do one considering I lost 90 minutes of memory) and an X-Ray of my hand. Both came back clean. I saw a concussion management doctor on Thursday who said Leadville is out, but I scheduled another appointment for next Tuesday just in case I make a turn for the better. She also said no rides longer than an hour for 4 weeks. So now I'm working on a deferral for the race to try and get in next year. I haven't heard back yet but fingers crossed they approve it.

Not getting that bracelet off anytime soon!

In the mean time because I can't do much else, I've been working on theories to how/why I crashed. I find it very strange that I crashed on that road because I know my skills and the road I was riding is not technical at all; it's essentially like Battle Mountain, just a fire road that's pretty wide. I'm open to anyone's ideas. The right side of my helmet is cracked, but my left eye and chin are scrapped up. My left arm is cut and my left hand is swollen with road rash on the back of my hand and left hip. My right leg is all bruised and scrapped up. I don't have any defense wounds on my palms almost like I didn't have time to react.
This is what I've got:

1.) I was riding and hit my head on a tree branch, got knocked out and then fell off my bike.

2.) A stick/snake got stuck in my spoke causing me to crash.

3.) I swerved to miss a deer or a snake or a chipmunk.

4.) I pass out on my bike before I even crashed, causing my body to go limp which is why I'm not hurt worse.

5.) A mountain man clubbed me over the head to try and make me his wife and as he was dragging me off heard the other bikers coming and left me and ran. (That's the top theory right now)

6.) That antelope came back with a vengeance like this one in South Africa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2oymHHyV1M&feature=player_embedded

Definitely needed more than a sample

We were at the mall the other day because I had felt bad that I crashed (literally) MC's vacation so I rallied for about an hour so she could go get her makeup done at Clinique. My mom fed me cookies the whole time to keep me from fading (I don't remember the last time I ate 1 let alone 4 cookies, but the doctor told her my brain needs glucose). As the lady was wrapping up she looked at me and asked if I wanted any samples, I said, "Sure, you can surprise me though, I can't really think right now." So she gave me some eye cream and the I asked, "Do you think I could get a sample of concealer?" My mom replied, "I think you're going to need more than a sample." 

........

I spent the past week at Molly's with my mom ad MC. I called my roommate the other day to tell him I was probably going to be coming home this past Saturday. He asked if my first aid kit was stocked. I said that since my mom isn't really medical she gets anything she might need, so my first aid kit had expanded immensely from duct tape and Disney Princess band-aids. I should be good for at least another 4 crashes....

What I thought I'd be writing about....

 Things I was going to blog about:
-What I was going to wear for the race, the little Gucci dress, the little Gucci dress, or the little Gucci dress -(Spice Girls anyone?) Actually I was going to wear my Landry's jersey and my short Pearl shorts. I figure I could get away with the short shorts because I'm a girl so no one will take me seriously anyways, and they're not even my shortest.
-What color toenail polish I was going to wear "Teal the Cows Come Home" has been the favorite so far. I would have had to touch it up as it came off the toe with no toenail when I was doing a swim workout last week.
-How the only time I've lost weight during training was right before Molly's wedding when I went in for my last fitting (5 days before the wedding) and was told I'd gained 2 inches in my chest (as a result of all those push-up/pulls I was doing). Probably the only time I'll be upset that my bra size went up. Luckily my mom reminded me that no one was going to be looking at me.

That's where I'm at. It still hasn't really hit me that I'm more than likely not racing. Even if my some slim chance I do get cleared my body has been compromised so much that isn't not really fair to ask it to try when I can't give 100 percent. I was telling my mom how I thought Leadville was going to be the capstone of everything, starting in the ER when I got hit by the car and then finishing at Leadville. She pointed out that it had come full circle. ER to ER. I'll keep you posted with what the doc says on Tuesday but don't hold your breath. 

P.S. I've recently moved and my new address is 2502 S. Lafayette St. Denver, CO 80210 if you feel so inclined to send a get-well card! 

In about 4 weeks you can bet this will be me!