Causeway Street Loop

A sort of mirror image of yesterday's ride, with a few key differences. First and foremost, I rode solo today so I rode at my own pace which, it turned out, was 1.1 mph faster than yesterday's outing with the western Mass lads. That meant that, for approximately the same amount of time, I managed two extra miles (31.9). The weather was slightly warmer, not as much of that hint of chill in the wind; and the wind was slightly less. Clear blue sky and bright sun.

I incorporated Causeway St in Rutland in today's effort, it comprised the far arc of the loop. A terrific, mostly traffic-free road, sylvan and visually delicious, the cardinal's bright, clear call ringing from the hardwood forest.

Causeway St, March 13, 2016, Rutland, MA

Hill top

Good to get in back to back rides. And now that the clocks have been set ahead an hour, the Barney's Monday night ride resumes this week (though rain is forecast tomorrow). Still, this weekend marks the beginning of a stretch of serious shad training. Or so is my intention.

One note of concern health-wise. I went to the orthopedist a couple weeks back about persistant pain and discomfort in my shoulders, my right being the most painful. I was quickly diagnosed with calcific tendonitis in the right one ("See that?"the sawbones said, pointing at a shark-tooth-shaped shadow on the x-ray, "that shouldn't be there"). Calcific tendonitis is a fancy name for the fact that calcium accretions have built up inside my rotator cuff and, when I move the shoulder in certain ways, the calcium shards grind and jab the tendon. Ouch!

Treatment is a couple cortisone shots (one of which I've had and that helped for a week or so; the next one is this week), followed by physical therapy. I have an 80% likelihood of resolving it without surgery. Though my left shoulder wasn't x-rayed the first visit (I was told that the orthopedist only likes to examine one limb per visit, which seems absurd to me), given that the pain is similar, just not as pronounced, it's a reasonable conclusion to draw that I have the condition in the left shoulder too.

And the bummer is that it's pretty obvious the cyclist's position of leaning slightly forward and, in a concave sort of way, gripping the handlebars is a significant contributor to the onset of this condition. Computing w/ mouse doesn't help either, nor does extensive driving employing the 10 o'cock - 2 o'clock steering wheel hand position. That's a triple combo of bad posture and I've been practicing all three for years. One of the few instances of a bad 3 combination. Alas, the calcium has come home to roost.

Hopefully I'm treating it in time and it hasn't gotten too far gone, or isn't getting worse too quickly. The pain was noticeable both yesterday and today and I made efforts to sit up more often and stretch my arms back and open up my chest as much as possible.

Further reports from the Team Shad medical staff in the days and weeks ahead.