The Rootbeer Run, Chasing the Sun, and other misadventures

Sweet to hear the update rust
Al just called yesterday and told me how things were coming along gooood and sounded happy as a Pig in Shit! That he's heading out to do some Baja chasing then back East for some surgery. Thanx for taking the FN in for a spell!

I hope to catch up with him when he gets back here lata in the Fall/Winter.

Peace,
Jim

Not wanting to clutter this thread up or derail it any further, here's a link for your enjoyment.

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843744

Wow... Just finished reading all 55 pages! I'm impressed!

THANK YOU for a good inspiring read. And please keep the updates coming!

Fawk! What a read!
If you find your self in Central Oregon and need a shop, bed, beer or bowl give me a holler.

I hope this guy is still alive. I'd heard that after the surgery, they removed the wrong hardware, and he's now in some kind of therapy support group for PTSD. And chronic masterbation. But since he lost his penis, he's taken to prostate massage as a form of release, which has lead to the inevitable.......

cant say im surprised and i dont think anyone else is either

hope hes good i feel like im waiting on a new season of a real addicting tv show...
good luck to you with whatever you're doing brotha!
and if by some miracle you make it to hawaii do not hesitate to crash out for free and raid my fridge i feel like i owe you that much!
-DQ

......graphic

Everyone has been saying that. Most of my family laughs when I mentioned a 6-week recovery. They don't think I can wait that long. I tried to defend myself, but was simply reminded of installing a transmission in my truck in my driveway with a broken leg the first time around. They may have a point...

Gotta show off the trophies, I suppose...


Had surgery towards the tail end of January. It was a six hour procedure that ended up being much more involved that initially thought. Bone had grown around the surgical wire, similar to a tree around a fence, and the rod had become completely encased in bone. Some of the hardware was stripped, and the entire procedure required having my knee cap flipped up and out of the way. My femur is now hollow and my hip looks like swiss cheese.

Physically, I'm doing good. The crutches lasted a week, then I was using the cane for nearly another week. I've got some cramping, but very little pain. I was off any sort of hard core pain meds, short of Ibuprofen, by the second week. My sleep schedule is all sorts of fucked up, however.

Psychologically, I'm losing my fucking mind. An absolute train wreck. It's times like this that I realize how frail my psyche truly is. I'm not gonna unload it all here because.... well.... that's just not something that I do. Just be aware that I'm not where I want to be right now, in every meaning of the phrase.

Thanks for checkin in on me, fellas. And for keeping this thread alive. There's so much I've been meaning to get down and post. I've got plans, lots of plans, but just as many excuses (what else is new). Now that I find myself with a fair amount of free time, I've gone in and taken a whack here and there at adding some new content, and getting my old stuff more organized. Nothing feels right. The words don't flow, and my train of thought is shot. There WILL be more. I've said it before, and you can hold me to it. I'm a man of my word, if nothing else.

AWESOME TO HEAR YOU ARE DOING BETTER MAN!

on a side note... where on the bike is that rod going to go.... and im sure it has crossed your mind more than once :)
one day at a time man!
-DQ

It's like you know me.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=861354

I haven't figure it out yet. If I can make something useful out of it without mangling it, that's the route I'll go. Otherwise, it'll just be another piece of flare. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Maybe I'll turn it into a fender brace...

Wow. :eek1 That's some cache of hardware.

I know you don't want to, but take it easy for a bit, Alex. A little investment now will pay off X100 when continue your riding and entertaining the world with motorcycle fetish bathing pics.

Been outta town and outta touch brother, and figured you may have been down this road, I'm glad to see the stuff is OUT!!! On Wed I'd decided to head up your way, see how you were dooooooo'n... so get your shit together!
Be txt'n ya this a.m.







Peace...

Smack that man in the back of the head for me JJ...

It's good to see an update! Good luck with the recovery!

Alex,
After reading your ride report, meeting up with you on the road and subsequently hanging w/ you for the better part of the week, I knew you could handle the pain but like we talked about, the down time that was going to be the hard road. You are a really tough young man, much more than a lot of people I know. You fragility lays in you lack of motion, lack of purpose, and lack of travel. You'll get back to it soon. Hang in there for the short time, it's a long road, this is just another speed bump along the way! A really shitty one albeit!
I know I speak for a lot of people as we are all on your side, as we ride along you in your travels! Now got get some real root beer, fire one up for me, get in shape, and get back out on the road brother. I know you'll get back out there and provide us with some new misadventures and treat all of us with your ramblings and travels.
A piece is easy to find, peace is way more elusive!

That's what everyone keeps telling me. Even in physical therapy, while the therapist is impressed with my recovery so far, he keeps telling me to take it easy. I'm amazed how difficult that is for me. I either straight up don't do the exercises, or I do them twice as hard, twice as long. Right now I'm just trying to get my range of motion back. I've got a knee you can hear from across the room.

Hey man. I'm looking forward to hanging out if we can get something organized. If you're expecting me to be anywhere near conscious at any time in the "a.m.", then you're truly an optimist. I'm not even sure I know where my phone is at the moment. I haven't seen it in a few days...

What happened to "Tell him I said 'Hi'"?

Thanks! How's that arm doing?

Yeah, the physical pain really hasn't been all that bad. I can deal with that. After all, pain is all in the mind, right? The anxiety, however, has begun to manifest itself in some... interesting... ways. The morphine drip the first couple of days induced a lot of hallucinations and shallow sleeping. The following week left me battling night terrors and overall exhaustion. Now I'm constantly on edge, I'm itching all over, my attention span is shot, and I bounce between sleeping only a few hours a nigh to sleeping 18+ hours at a time. Never a dull moment, I tell you what.

Thanks for all the posts, and even a few PMs from some lurkers. It all put a much needed smirk on my face. I'm looking forward to getting back on the road.

Seems to be healed, tho it's still a bit weaker than it was originally and I can't stretch my hand as far back as it could before (pushups, for example, still give it trouble). Rack's fixed, box is fixed, did a test run up to 70mph and it seems to be stable so far with the tank panniers. Should be good to go! I'm probably leaving on Monday. Need to get some final shit in order. I'm probably heading east, to visit a friend in Florida and meet up with Esther along the way.

When do you think you'll be on the road again if you keep to your recovery schedule? And where are you heading?

It's hard to say. I'm flat broke at the moment, so as soon as I'm clear I need to find some work for a few weeks. Janis is staying with some good friends in Phoenix, so that'd be my first stop. Then back towards California where I, hopefully, have some work waiting for me. I'll either be working construction or for my good buddy over at Racetech Electric. I've no idea WHEN this is all going to happen, though. As far as I'm concerned, it can't happen soon enough.

Thanks! I like to think that Jim and I are equally capable at getting each other into trouble. I've still got to make it down to Watkins Glen before all the ice melts off. Shenanigans a-plenty.

SASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASASA South America...