CLICK HERE FOR HOME
MABEL WAS HAPPY: Riding again!
Since I’ve been embarrasingly candid in my SOOKYBEAR’S LAIR—SOULMATE EXPERIENCES memoir series, I might as well spill the beans here too.
I haven’t ridden since November.
That’s right! What is that, six months! God, half a year since I’ve been on my stroker Shovel Mabel?
Ya know what? So sue me, okay? Ha!
Today I felt an intense pressure to get on the bike again, but will reveal why I haven’t up until today.
Hey man, May 1st, and the temp’s goin’ up to 90 degrees today in NYC? Unreal! I think we’re transitioning straight from winter to summer, with spring being skipped entirely.
The reasons are many that I haven’t ridden since November, but I won’t bore you with the majority of ’em. The primary reason was, I’ve been rehabbing a left shoulder injury, and felt that at last, it was strong enough to handle riding. The rehab consists of martial arts practice and weight lifting.
We all take the ability to ride for granted, just another function that we are able to do, as usual. However, when injuries occur, one finds out how many bodily components are used for riding, that aren’t truly used much during everyday life.
Now that I’ve “involuntarily” retired ( see “MEMOIR: WORRY NOT”), every day is “the weekend,” so I have lots of time for exercise, riding the bike and driving the Vette.
The good news is, that the shoulder held up, so now I feel confident that it’s not a hindrance to riding.
The mediocre news is, I found out today, that I have to do more rehab on an old hip flexor injury.
SHIFTING WAS SLIGHTLY DIFFICULT: My hip flexor needs work.
The hip flexor is responsible for lifting up one’s knee up, by bending or “flexing” the leg at the hip. This is the motion responsible for example, for retracting my left leg for shifting gears on Mabel’s heel-toe shifter. Shifting today was manageable though, even though my hip flexor really felt the effort, with a maneuver that should be effortless.
Even the smallest motions in gear shifting (so I found out) such as pulling up one’s left toe to find neutral from first gear, depends on the hip flexor motion. No prob—I’ll just add hip flexor exercises to my routine.
The best news is, that even after six months of not running, Mabel started up. The battery was slightly weak, but strong enough to crank to start. Yay!
Hey man, good ta be (I hate to give props to EZ—ha!) “in the wind” again. Hearing that majestic idle, hearing that overpowering….
“BRAAAAAAAAaaaaacccckaaaa…”
….as Mabel and I back off the throttle in fourth gear. Man! Nothin’ like it!
SCOTT “GENGHIS” WONG, AKA “SOOKYBEAR”
FINITO
GOING THE DISTANCE 