Road signals

"Point in the direction you want to go" , that's always been my method. The old horse and buggy signals don't work anymore.

FIRST, I stick my arm out and wave it up and down, to make sure the drivers see me.

Then I POINT, with my pointy finger, first with my arm fully extended, then flexing my elbow with my finger still pointing that direction, several times or until I need to grab the bars again. 

Even with that, I don't ride on roads much anymore. Trees and rocks won't usually run me over. Here's someone who agrees with me.

.https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/adventure/red-line/bike-hand-signals-are-confusing-heres-a-better-simpler-solution/article23969732/?ref=https://www.theglobeandmail.com&&service=mobile#_=_

 

It is what it is

Wayne spent two nights at the hospital, under observation and waiting for a CAT scan and two MRI. 

They found broken L2 and strained neck ligaments front and rear, and possible compression damage in his cervical discs. Now he is home, waiting and healing, with the neck brace on for one month. No work, no driving. Then he sees a surgeon to evaluate his neck. He's upbeat about all this, and still maintains "it is what it is" ....

 

Man Down!

So this morning was like so many others, a 'perfect day for a ride'. That's how it started. At Cutler Park. So it was aptly renamed the 'Cutler Chuckler' by some of the partly reunited 'Team Chuck', 3 of whom were in attendance today, Upchuck, TacoChuck, and FlatChuck ( As of Snowpachuck I have been honorarily inducted as ChiliChuck, but that's a different story for a different day....). We also had Ralph the lawyer, Michael Hurley the Chicken Farmer, John'Reff', and Wompatuck Wayne. We also started with a few young-uns from the Natick Landrys' store, but they opted to do their own shorter ride so they wouldn't be late for work at the shop on a busy Sunday. So we started with eight of us 50-something knuckleheads, rolling the fun single track ditches and berms on that fine sunny day. Something wasn't right about the next drainage ditch 'jump'/roller, followed by a quick steep up. We saw it from below, but all agreed to give it a roll. Most of us opted to hug the ground but that was difficult, by design. The cry of 'MAN DOWN!' is never good. Wayne had cartwheeled off his bike onto his head, cracked his helmet in two places, and was obviously hurt. He was conscious, asking about his bike and his little green alien, but we were very concerned about the mid-back pain he related to us. We were very close to the parking lot and he wanted to get up and ride back, so we got him to his truck, and Upchuck got him to South Shore Urgent Care in Weymouth. They transferred him to South Shore Hospital for observation, Catscan and MRI. He's still there awaiting results. I visited him at about 6pm, and they finally gave the hungry man a sandwich!. He's in a lot of pain, still has all his faculties but he's suffering. Stay tuned for updates on his condition.( as of 11:30, still awaiting results) Keep Wayne in your thoughts, and ride safe.

Doubletrack

So I got out on a 'recovery ride', the day after Mother's Day. Those of you who know, know that Mother's Day is the biggest Day of the year in the restaurant business. The week leading up to it was hell, trying to make sure we had enough prep done ....then the weekend itself adding up to 42 hours just Friday Saturday and Sunday... add to that the running lack of help in the kitchen ....So by Monday I was burnt toast. I couldn't think about riding in the morning. I had yet to finish my chapter update, which kept me inside on the computer until noon. I lay about half the afternoon. Finally I dragged myself and my bike to BlueHills and started feeling better. "Didn't break any speed limits", as I reported in Strava, got 12 miles in and was glad I got out!