Last minute traveling is OK by me. I’m tired right now, but being suddenly on a bus, headed somewhere for some purpose is a nice feeling. I wonder if I’ll ever get tired of it.

Sometimes I think back  to when my back was broken and try to remember that level of pain. It seemed that nothing could be worse. No amount of pain could be worse because of two main characteristics of the injury. First is that the injury was about as centrally located as is possible in a human body. This makes finding neutral positions in which to turn the pain off almost impossible. It also means almost all movement will trigger it. Sitting was impossible so I would either be lying flat or standing, and neither of those were particularly good either. The second characteristic is the electrical nature of a nerve root injury. Feeling a searing, paralyzing sensation actually move around your body, especially down your legs, is one of the most concerning things a person can experience.

And all of that was months ago, now. By Feb I was doing much better and now it’s the end of May and things seem to be progressing still.

Some sad news is that I’ve learned that spending time on my bike, the Red Fantom, is too risky. I took it for a tune-up (where I was propositioned by a fancy-pants biker guy) and spent some time riding around my area, having a great time exploring and coasting. But the next morning my back was stiff and sore, particularly above the injury. I thought maybe it was just a matter of not having been in that half-crouched position in a long time, so the next day I took it up to work, about a 5 minute ride only. The result is that I was noticeably sorer throughout the day and night.  I let it get mostly back to normal for a day or two and then tried riding to work once again, and the result was the same as before:  soreness and stiffness.

So, riding is pretty much out of the question for now.

It’s difficult to get into a good posture on a non-dorky bike.

Sad.