A Very Dark Pit

Once again, it has been a while since my last blog entry here. There are several reasons for that, the most obvious being that I get just as bored writing them as you get reading them.

Also, after my carefully planned seasons went to hell in 2012 and 2013, I drastically cut back on registering for and participating in Gran Fondos. Which means there’s less to report.

We did spent a weekend in the Eifel and had a short trip to the south of the Netherlands – on both occasions I enjoyed my rides so much more than the rides through the flats around my hometown.

One of those ended badly again, but this time not because of poorly maintained bicycle lanes. I set out to complete a Strava Challenge (Gran Fondo 8), on the day we – the Sufferfest community – learned we had lost one of our own, due to a tragic accident.

I was feeling great and doing fine the first 90 – 100 kilometers, when out of the blue, I started to feel ‘weird’. That may not seem cause to be alarmed, for ‘weird’ is my middle name, but I really struggled to get home after that.

However, when I did and got of the bike, I collapsed – Paula was away for the day, but luckily my neighbors were home, heard the noise, found me in the hallway and called 911*.

I ended up in the ER and spent the rest of the afternoon in the hospital – Paula was informed and joined me there once again…

They told me the main ‘problem’ was that my kidneys were failing, but what was causing it, needed to be determined.

As I’d been cycling for what they probably considered a lot, they suspected I neglected my nutrition.

As I know for sure that I never do – after the one and only time that I bonked during a winter ride along the beach, back in 2004 – I argued that this seemed unlikely.

A (chronic) inflammation or an infection seems (more) likely…

I remember writing a report on our trip to Ménuires in May 2012, in which I suspected that my intercostal muscles might be involved – I’ve been on medication since my first crash earlier that year and it didn’t get any better after I crashed again in 2013.

At any rate, against the ‘strong’ advise, I declined the invitation to stay overnight or even longer – if at all possible, I prefer the comfort of my own house over the noisy environment of a hospital.

Whatever the cause – and it may all well be an after effect of the trip to France – it looks like I should take a step or two back, until I know more. The argument that I know what I’m doing, doesn’t hold water…

On a more serious note: I’ve purchased the running videos from the Sufferfest earlier this week. Being a bit weary about riding zee baik, I picked up working out inside early this year. Besides, the weather sucks, so riding outside is not a lot of fun either.

However, even though I actually got on the treadmill a couple of times, I mainly bought Steamroller, the Machine and Revolver for Paula. This may seem like an awful thing to do and it probably is – at the very least, it cannot be qualified as an act of love, but then again, misery loves company.

And since she picked up (outdoor) cycling again – she does like the shiny new bike – I also got her the novice and intermediate training plans. I’ll even let her use my iGenius to follow those this winter.

MUHAHAHA!

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*Actually, they called 112, which is the EU equivalent of that…