Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sorry to hear
Fuck lymes it's been getting the best of our family for way too long.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Finally I had some improvement today. I am much less dizzy for most of the day. I extended my walk to the mailbox by a few hundred feet. It felt so good to stretch my legs and not feel like I would get caught out spinning. I also got some care from the eye doctor to help with my lazy blink from the bells palsy. I am a bit more optimistic today, but I do realize that that the bells palsy could take a few weeks or even months. If I can get out walking more, I will be happy. Not sure when I will be back on a bike or even in the woods, but I am ok with that. I know the deal with Lyme. Get better first, and then go out and play.

Dirty Thursdays and Sunday trail builds are still on for this week. Hope you all have some great rides this week too!

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I am very pleased to say that I am recovering well. No more dizzies. Walking every morning over a mile. My half smile has gone from 😏-😜 -😁 to almost :). Art and I have a quota of trying to have 500 smiles a day. With only half a smile, my facial muscles were getting tired before I even got half way. Now the smiles are coming easier. My eye feels better too. I did some research and it looks like omega 3 could help with nerve and eye regeneration, so I have been eating a lot of salmon and walnuts. I have some supplements coming as well. I have been eating well, and not had any alcohol in weeks because of the meds. I think I have lost 4-5 pounds because I had to go to the tight short pile to find a pair that was not falling down. The shorts on me currently, have not fit in 15 years. I guess my body is working hard to fight this nasty spirochete.

I have not put a date on getting back on the bike or even back in the woods, but it feels like it is not that far around the corner. No pictures today.
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I am very pleased to say that I am recovering well. No more dizzies. Walking every morning over a mile. My half smile has gone from 😏-😜 -😁 to almost :). Art and I have a quota of trying to have 500 smiles a day. With only half a smile, my facial muscles were getting tired before I even got half way. Now the smiles are coming easier. My eye feels better too. I did some research and it looks like omega 3 could help with nerve and eye regeneration, so I have been eating a lot of salmon and walnuts. I have some supplements coming as well. I have been eating well, and not had any alcohol in weeks because of the meds. I think I have lost 4-5 pounds because I had to go to the tight short pile to find a pair that was not falling down. The shorts on me currently, have not fit in 15 years. I guess my body is working hard to fight this nasty spirochete.

I have not put a date on getting back on the bike or even back in the woods, but it feels like it is not that far around the corner. No pictures today.
Glad to hear you're on the mend...but 500 smiles/day ? I don't think I smiled 500 times in 55 years! That's a lot of facial muscle exercise, are you sure it wasn't that making you dizzy!?!?! J/K Hopefully you can get back to do what you love soon.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I was able to get out on my bike today, and had no balance issues. I am no way near 100%, but it sure did feel good to get in the woods. I got up on the new trail work and can not believe how far all the volunteers have gone in my 3 weeks off the bike. It is looking fantastic! I have no big ride plans over the next few weeks, as I need to complete my doxycyline, but if I can get on my bike a few times a week for an hour or so, I will be happy. I finished my prednisone last Friday and have had no issues. I see the doctor tomorrow for a follow up. I noticed that when I was on prednisone, I sang in the car all the time. I still seem to be singing after I have stopped taking it. Not sure what this means. Just an observation. Singing is a good thing, and notice the full smile in the picture!


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
My follow up with the doctor went well. She thinks we caught it in time, as the the dizziness and bells palsy are pretty much completely gone. My eyesight in right eye was a little off for a few days, but has since improved. I still have another 10 days of doxy to complete and must keep up the probiotics and iron afterwards.

I went out for a ride at Sterling on Wednesday, thinking that I could ride up to top of section D from my house and back, but was too tired, and cut it short. Sounds pretty lame, but some days are like that. My energy feels great for light stuff, but has soon as I up the level, I feel it. Today I rode an hour of rolling terrain in Ringwood, and felt great. I really can not complain. After a few days without my balance and half my eyesight, I really feel quite fantastic right now.

So with some extra down time at home, Art and I have started to dive into a bath remodel. We plan to have a contractor replace a few windows and add a skylight in the bathroom. Windows are on order. We had the whole remodel estimated with the option to do some stuff ourselves. Art has the vanity half built and has already installed a new fan and light. Yesterday he was snaking some more wires and boxing in a soffit for recessed lighting. I started chipping away at the tile around the tub. There is always some enjoyment at swinging a hammer and bashing shit. 😜 In girly bashing measures, I did not get that far, but considering the last few weeks with my health, I'll take it. Art will probably go to the sawzall to cut around the tub at some point. It looks like we will get a few rainy days to continue the demo.


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Robin

Well-Known Member
Looks great! we just wrapped up our bathroom remodel - my FIL was the contractor, so done when he had time. Happy to enjoy now!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Today I have one week left to take doxycycline. The stuff still makes me light headed and tired on some days. Not sure how long that will last, but I have felt good enough to do most light stuff. I even got out to the work site yesterday morning for about 2 hours total with commute. I did some small rock gathering, crush work and transferred about a dozen buckets of dirt. Even though it was in the morning, the heat affected me more than usual. Not yet back to my usual self.

We are moving along with the bath. Art framed in a pass through by the toilet stall to let some light in. I love it already. We plan to have a skylight in there too. Art taped the skylight opening on the celing. Recessed lighting and niche shelf installed by vanity. The new vanity doors and faceframes arrived, so next Art will be getting that built and painted. From there, we will gut out old vanity, upper cabinet and tub. So more demo over the next week or so. Most the stuff happening now, Art is doing because of his expertise. I am starting to get a little restless, so will be happy to be able to jump in on some demo for dummies.

I am keeping up with walking, but have not had much energy for riding. I also am beginning to miss adult beverages. ... It has been over a month since I have had any.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
The bathtub is out! Art cut it in 3 pieces with the sawsall. This enabled us to snake wire over to the outside wall for lights. ... and we have lights. Yesterday the vanity and medicine cabinet came out. They are all currently out on the curb getting a good washing while waiting for garbage pickup tomorrow. Art is upstairs right now prepairing the space for the new vanity. Looks like we will have a full rainy day for indoor projects.

Out on the trail, work continues on Cooper Union Trail north. Monday was my first sucessfull day back working on the trail. I felt pretty good and put in a solid 2 hours removing duff. It really helped that temps came down a bit the last few days. Weather permitting, I should be back to work this Thursday like usual.

I have only one more day left of doxycycline. I may just celebrate with a glass of wine on Friday. The past 2 days of riding went really well. I rode for 1:47 at Ringwood and 1:22 at Sterling which has more climbing. It may be too early to tell, but the first few chlorella green smoothies I have had, seem to help. I have done some research, and there are a few supplements that some feel have helped with fighting lyme: chlorella and NAC are a few of them. Chlorella seemed like a good match for my current health. I hope to up my probiotics after tomorrow as well. I will share my results since so many of us in the bike community suffer from lyme. Anything natural that helps, and keeps us from going back on antibiotics, is a help in my opinion.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I worked on trail last Thursday and may have over done it a tad. Here it is Thursday again, and my neck muscles are not feeling ready to dig. If I work today, it will be light work. With all the rain we had last week, I have only ridden a few times. However, I did ride Sterling this past Tuesday and did a whole loop from my house. That is a solid 2 hour ride, so I feel pretty good to have the juice for that.

As for the bathroom, vanity is in and countertop template has been made. Fabricators need a week or two to get that ready. Once the countertop goes in, the upper cabinets can be installed. They actually sit on a granite shelf. I will try to get some pictures with the next update. I went ahead and ordered the tub. I sat in and chose a tub 3 years ago and it ended up being a bit out of our price range. The price went up over the last few years, so I picked another tub that was cheaper, but similar geometry. Just before I ordered the tub, I went to check the specs against the original tub, and found the original on sale. So we went ahead and ordered the original tub chocie. We are still waiting on the windows, and windows go in first before tub, floor tile and wall tile.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Sad to say, but I have not seen a humming bird in four days. I think mine have left for the season. I suppose there may be one or two passing through, but their season here has about ended. I caught this monarch butterfly seemingly motionless for 20 minutes. When looking closer, it was nectaring big time. They too are getting ready for their big journey. I even spotted some red foliage across the pond. Fall is just around the corner.

As for the lyme, I have been feeling pretty good. I did another 2+ hour ride and felt better than the previous time. My trail work days have gone from 1.5 hours to 5 hours. The trail is coming along great. Providing we do not get skunked with a ton of rain days, it is looking like we may get this re-route open before we head out for the season.

Not much to report on the bathroom. Still waiting on countertops and some windows.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Last weekend Art and I traveled south to attend the wedding of Art's niece. She was originally scheduled to marry May 2020 in Italy. Unfortunately, the formal party part of the wedding was postponed due to the covid outbreak, and rescheduled for this past weekend in Georgia at Crane Creek Vinyards. On our way down, we got in a ride at Dupont State Forest just outside of Asheville NC. Weather was great!

We spent a few days in NC to visit Art's Mom and help with wedding stuff at Art's sisters place. Art's sister made all the flower arrangements for the wedding. Much of the greenery was harvested from her yard. During our first night there the dog got sprayed by a skunk and had to be washed in the tub in the main bathroom in the house. We feared that the whole house ( us included ) was poluted, but with fans running all night, it seemed ok in the morning. Every where I went, I asked if we smelled b/c the smell was stuck in my nose. It was a fun and memorable few days and I'm sure the skunk part will be part of the wedding stories for years to come.

The wedding went off perfect. With the bride and groome having a theater background, it was no surprise that they were married by a professional clown. He obviously was not doing his clown act at the time, but he made a perfect officiant. There was both humor and not a dry eye in the house. Art's mom who was under lock down in a care facility was able to watch on facetime. She was thrilled to be able to watch it, and I kept a steady stream of photos texted to her as things happened over the weekend......
There was plenty of wine drinking! The weather was great through the entire event. Rains came in the next morning. Could not ask for a better weekend, but it feels great to be back home.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
No pictures today, mostly b/c these cloudy days leave me uninspired to take any.

I started putting up trail markers on new section of Cooper Union Trail. We had a good group of volunteers on Thursday. Afternoons are done b/c of lack of daylight. Art emailed some peeps about working earlier and ... wow! Three people came. Trail is almost done. Now all we need is for the rain to stop so we can dig again. I have ridden the new loop that this new section creates, and it rides fairly well. I hope you all start using it as an optional connector or loop.

We got our countertop installed in the bathroom. Art went ahead and tiled the backsplash and installed upper cabinets. It looks awesome! We still have some delays with window installation by contractor, but he will go ahead and rip out floor on Tuesday, so he can start with plumbing for tub , electric for floor heat and tile. So, things are moving along.

I have gotten out to ride a few times and I am pretty pleased with my energy levels after Lyme and an iron deficiency diagnosis on Aug 2 . I get retested for iron this week. Hoping things are good.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
While the trail projects have been moving along nicely, the bathroom project has been giving me much stress. Wrong things ordered, waste line planning problems and HOA headaches. Today started with bad news, but ended with good news, so I will leave this conversation with that.

Cooper Union Trail is pretty much done. I worked my ass off yesterday. We were hoping to do a little extra section, and just got that approval today. So good all around! I hope you all will enjoy riding that this winter and into the future!

After having to cancel twice, I finally got out to Port Jervis for a ride with Art and friends today. They were quite kind to encourage me along as I am still a bit slower than most. I think I did pretty good for being on the mend from Lyme. I rode for 2:46. My longest ride since the Lyme set back. I have not been out to PJ for 4 years. It was long overdue. Many new trails since I was there last, and what a beautiful day it was today!

I will rest tomorrow and hopefully take some pictures.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Took some bath update pictures:

Vanity just waiting for faucet install. Windows and skylight in and trimmed out. Floor just about ready for heat mat and tile. Finally the plumber was able to figure out tub faucet and drain. The tub drain is against the wall and too close to get in to work. He did his best head scratching while we started to look for alternate possibilities. We went out for a bike ride to try and forget about it for awhile, and when we got home, he told us the good news. He plans to go in from underneath. He will need to drop a section of ceiling by our front door and squeeze through to get up to the drain. Check out his copper pipes. I guess that is old school. Most plumbers use pex these days. I like the way cooper looks.


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