Friday 15th Nov

Today I:

• Awoke early after a poor nights sleep due to yesterday's bike crash
• Arose early to drop the Suby off to have some rear suspension bushes replaced, and to have the cooling system checked again - the car got hot again yesterday
• Dropped my car off, and rode my bike back to my hotel.  My finger/hand didn't feel too bad.
• Iced my hand
• Went back to bed to read, but instead looked at bike porn then fell asleep
• Did some stretching. The used a hard rubber ball to manipulate my gluteus.  Rolled my ITB's using my foam roller
• Tried to find my Theraband (used to strengthen my trapezoid muscles - with the aim of alleviating my elbow tendonitis).  I couldn't find it in the luggage I had in my hotel room.  I haven't used it for ages because I'm pretty sure that it promoted sharp, nasty pain in the area of the collarbone that I've broken twice - that still has a plate and 8 screws in it.  Touch wood though, my elbows are getting better.  I had a good 6 weeks off the bike before I rode when I was in Squamish - and my elbows weren't be bad there.   I had two weeks off the bike after Squamish, and here in Moab they are better than they were in Squamish.  Most importantly they don't seem to be deteriorating with usage.  Because I like a pic or two, here's a pic of my broken collarbone of 3 years ago, before and after surgery.

• Had a shower - which wasn't as easy as it would normal be because I badly hurt my right pinkie when riding yesterday…by smashing it into a partly cut-off tree-branch.  I hurt it badly enough to end my ride, but not so bad that I couldn't very gently ride back to the car.  I'm icing it regularly.  The swelling is reducing, I'm getting move movement, and developing some nice bruises on the finger & knuckle and palm. By the way, if I'd gone to the Emergcency Room at the local hospital it would have cost me at least $1,000 before any X-Rays ($200+), before any pain killers, before what ever else!!  Here's the scenes of the incident and where the bike ended-up

• Did a little investigation about nearby National Parks that I'd like to visit
• Rode my bike to the mechanic.  My finger/hand felt a little better than this morning 
• Picked up the Suby, and Tony the mechanic mentioned the nasty phrase "head gasket".  Please not.  He replaced the thermostat in case it was misbehaving.
• Took a few pics of the beautiful scene caused by the sun hiding behind clouds

• Had a quick look for my Theraband in the car before I drove off.  No joy
• Decided to wipe clean then lubricate my bike chain - it was getting a little noisy.  I like a clean & quiet bike
• Headed downton to have a late lunch from Subway
• Started listening to a podcast about the FBI's unethical undercover operations during the 1960's at Berkeley in California, and about the inappropriate relationship between Ronald Reagan and the FBI.  
• Hear a car crash when I left Subway.
• Had a thorough look for my Theraband in the car.  No joy
• Outside Subway, I wiped the bike chain clean to prepare it for some fresh lubricant - it was easy to wipe it with the bike is on the roof.  
• Noted that there was an Ambulance, a Police car, and two Sheriff's cars, as well as a tow truck at the car accident.  I don't understand the different between the Police and the Sheriff.
• Took a few pics of the scene.  You'll see how Moab looks, "the canyon effect", and a lit up rock.

• Went to the local supermarket (most supermarkets have a pharmacy) to see if they had the equivalent of the cream "Hirudoid" to put on my pinkie.  Alas not.  Hirudoid does a good job of reducing swelling/bruising.
• Came back to the hotel took my bike off the roof, then lubed the chain.  I rode it around the car park….so nice and quiet. 
• This motel doesn't allow bikes inside rooms, so each time I come or go with my bike I have to ask the person at the front desk to open the storage for me.  That is getting boring.
• Undertook a thorough search of the luggage in my hotel room to find my Theraband - given that it wasn't in the car it must be in the hotel.  I eventually found it in the bag that hold my electrical cables and chargers.  Obvious really…
• Iced my hand
• Started my washing at the laundry at my motel
• Started to write this post.
• Collected my washing, then hung it around my room - I avoid using electric dryers if I can
• Eat the rest of my lunch for dinner
• Kept typing this post…
• For a blog post about yesterday, I resized the photo's I selected from the ~280 photographs I took  during the day.  79 photo's are uploading as I type this.  That's too many photo's, but they're all so good!
• 2 hours later…writing around the pics…writing the post remind me of what a great ride it was - I want to go back!
• 10pm. I'm done blogging.  It's well and truly time to ice my hand again.
• Tomorrow allegedly brings bad weather. Pah.