Covid

I called my doctor and we did a remote consult. He put me on Paxlovid. Within 36 hours I was back to normal. I coughed a lot but that was part of the process of my sinuses clearing. The only side effect of the drug was a metallic taste in my mouth that went away after a week. I quarantined for five days and wore a mask for five more after that. 

Physical

I had a physical about two weeks after returning from the tour. My blood work was all messed up. I had elevated levels of blood sugar and my cholesterol was through the roof. Two months of gas station convenience stores and energy bars probably didn't much help, I suppose.

I weighed about 198 pounds. It's my first time below the Mendoza line since the end of my 2018 tour. That's about 15 to 20 pounds less than when the tour started. I had noticed that after my return my pants kept falling off. I had to tighten my belt to absurd lengths to keep them on. My beltless bike shorts (they go over my bike tights) were snug when I left home in May. Now I put them on and they’d fall straight to my ankles. To keep them on, I resorted to rolling the waist band.

A Comedic Unpacking

After I recovered from Covid, The Mule arrived home. (It was packed flawlessly by West End Bikes of Portland.) So there I am in my aforementioned bike pants trying to unbox and re-assemble The Mule. I had the frame out of the box. Every tube was wrapped in either heavy cardboard or styrofoam tubing. The styrofoam was affixed to the bike using zip ties. I pulled out my trusty Swiss army knife. It was super sharp because I have only used it a couple of times since I bought it in May. As I went to cut a tie, my hand slipped and I put a deep gash into my left thumb.

There was blood everywhere. I tried to continue with the bike but it was pointless. So I put my thumb in my mouth and walked around the house to go inside and bandage it. Except my pants kept falling down. There I am sucking my thumb, bleeding from one hand and holding my pants up with the other. Thankfully my kids and wife weren’t around to laugh their asses off at me.

The thumb is healing slowly, and The Mule is back on the road. The pants are awaiting weight gain.

Mark's Day in Court

As readers may recall, while riding down the highway along the Lochsa River in Idaho, Mark was given a traffic citation for failing to ride as far to the right as is safe. It was a completely bogus citation. I was really hoping that the deputy would have to explain himself in court. On August 9, Mark had his hearing via Zoom. Barney the Deputy didn’t appear. The ticket was dismissed. Justice was served.