mom

"It looks like we found the problem.  Your tonsils are the size of golf balls."

They feel more like tennis balls.  I hadn't eaten anything more than soup in days and even that was hard to swallow.  I started feeling sick with a sore throat on Monday.  By Wednesday things started getting worse and as I got home from work, the shivering started.  My temperature was starting to rise and by that evening my fever was 102.5F!  I've never felt so sick - or at least, don't remember ever feeling so sick.  As the fever rose and my throat became more sore, I grabbed my cell phone and called Jeremy who was on the couch downstairs.  I couldn't imagine getting out of bed.

He came upstairs begrudgingly.  "When have you ever known me to not take care of myself when I'm sick?", I asked him.  "Help me".  He didn't know what to do.  I don't know what I expected.  My mom would have known, but I'd have to settle for my husband.

 "What do you want me to do?" he asks.
"Make me feel better", I replied.

Eventually this conversation turned into him going to Hardwood to race the Wednesday Night Championships.  I wasn't going to die, we decided, but my climbing fever was making me feel worse and worse.

Fast forward to Saturday, I finally called my mom to tell her I had Strep Throat.  She asked if I'd been eating and I said 'not much'.  She got right in her car and came down, despite my pleas for her not to.  The house is a disaster and I'm pretty sure there were things growing in the kitchen sink, it had been so long since I'd felt well enough to clean.

That's the great thing about moms.  She didn't care and when she arrived she set about making me feel better.  Four hours later, in a now clean kitchen, she'd made my favorite German dish... roladen - a yummy stew with thin slices of beef wrapped around pickles.  It was somehow perfect to make me feel better.

I don't know what her secret is, but my mom always knows what will make me feel better when I'm sick - all of it is psychological for sure as the only cure for me right now is the bottle of Amoxicillin on my kitchen counter.  Not to knock my husband's efforts, but he just isn't mom.

making the best of it

So, this illness, or whatever it is has been dragging its heels.  Just when I thought I was better, WHAM, GI started acting up again.  I'll spare you the gory details... but, thank you so much to those who have listened to them.  It's nice to not suffer alone.

Last week we had 2 Trek Women events planned.  I really didn't have the energy for either of them, but dragged my butt to both of them.  I guess it shouldn't be surprising how grumpy not being able to keep food in long enough for your body to get the goodness out of it makes you.  Getting out with the Ladies was awesome to make me forget how crappy I've been feeling.  They are all so excited to ride and watching them learn new skills and be excited about it was enough to erode my new-found grumpy disposition.

I had some great pictures of the rides, but they got lost.  Instead, here is a picture of tonight's dinner.  Not to show off my culinary skills, but to display my returning appetite.  I finished the whole dinner and half of the bowl of fruit AND my stomach did not rebel!  Trust me, that is pretty exciting.

Keep your eyes on the road

"OH SHIT, TAM!!!'

It's just after 4pm on Sunday and Jeremy and I are heading home from a great afternoon at Albion.  I had another fun day cheering on friends and yelling at my husband from the Feed Zone.

I am in the passenger seat gazing out the window.  I look around to see what has Jeremy so freaked out and see a white car flying through the air into the opposite ditch.  Thankfully, we are a few cars back from the accident and our involvement is only as bystanders.  Jeremy pulls the car over and calls 911, while I get out of the car to see if anyone needs help.

My first aid hasn't been recertified in years, but it all came back to me.  Assessing the scene, I walked by a couple of cars whose occupants are okay, but are trapped in their cars.  Unfortunately, a motorcyclist was involved and hit a car head on.  She flew off her bike into the ditch.  Her friend, who was unhurt was standing over her in shock when I arrived.  "I know some first aid", I told him.

I spent 45 minutes in the ditch with her until the paramedics were able to get a back board on her and carry her out to a helicopter.  In that time, she went from minimally breathing to needing CPR.

While stabilizing her at the side of the road, her friend tells me through tears that they were driving home from a charity ride when a car had swayed into oncoming traffic.  None of us knew why, perhaps the driver had a medical emergency of his own that caused the accident, but more than likely it was due to falling asleep, being on a cell phone, or playing with the radio.

We spend so much of our lives driving, that it is easy to forget that we not only hold our lives in our hands, but also of other people out there on the road.  This tragedy has reminded me how important it is to give the task at hand 100% focus.

I just learned that the motorcyclist did not make it.  My love goes out to her family and friends.

Saturday

It's Saturday morning and I'm trying to harness my inner chi when the Yoga Intructor walks into the class.  She is small, but powerful looking - almost in a cute way with short blonde hair and a friendly looking smile.  Or, cute is what I thought until she starts talking about a race she's entering that involves jumping through hoops of fire.  Today's class won't be easy.

I should be out at Hardwood preriding the Canada Cup course, but my GI system seems to have different plans for me this month.  I woke up on Saturday and decided this weekend needed to be about fun off the bike and trying to find some positives in my forced time off. I also needed to get away from the computer and stop googling all of my symptoms, because nothing good comes out of that except waking up in the night worrying about the worst.

The instructor clasps her hands together in glee, 'aren't Saturday's the best'?  I smile in agreement.  Who could disagree?  I woke up this morning early - I'm not very good at sleeping in, enjoyed coffee out of a real mug, hung out with my husband and now here I am about to enjoy some yoga on a stormy morning with a beautiful view of Kempenfelt Bay.

Sunday, I woke up feeling pretty good after an interesting session Saturday afternoon with a doctor of Chinese Medicine.  I also woke up starving - the first sign of any sort of appetite in about two weeks.  After a good breakfast, Jer and I headed out to the auto show at Burl's Creek.  Not usually my thing, but it was super fun and I definitely got pretty excited about seeing some of the old cars.  I tried to convince Jer that we needed to buy a '77 Corvette, but I think he has other plans.

From there we headed off to Hardwood as Super Spectators.  I had a blast cheering on the riders with Meaghan, Eden, Charlotte and Jeremy, got to catch up with Hannah who has defected to the Nation of Quebec and truly enjoy the afternoon without the usual prerace jitters.

While I had a blast this weekend - I am really looking forward to getting back out there on the bike.  I just haven't found anything I find more fun.  But, it really doesn't matter what you're getting up to, you've gotta just love Saturday :)

Trek Women at the 8 Hour

Great day on Saturday with the Trek Women plus some Trek Men at the 8 Hour.  Huge thanks to Charlotte and Eden for doing far more than their share of laps to cover for myself and Erica.

I got to try out a Woman's Specific 29er... best part of the 29er was rocking a rooty uphill after a dude who was walking told me 'good luck' in a sarcastic, there's no way you're gonna make it tone.  The wheels just roll over everything and traction was superb.  Funniest moment was eating s**t after taking my first corner.  Good tool for learning to lean the bike more - those big wheels really turn when you turn the handlebar!

The Trek Women with our fancy new t-shirts... Thanks Ross!

photo courtesy CBatty

a few exciting things...

1.  Learned to bunny hop a log - thanks P. Glassford!

above picture is not of me bunny hopping... pic by J. Bailey

2.  Was interviewed for Muscle and Fitness Hers Magazine back in February.  I made it into the May/June issue! Check out part of the article below...

looks like I got a new position at the shop too - haha

That's NOT the line!

Dave looks over his shoulder, "You in?".
"Yeah, I'm in."

It's summer, 1999 and we were enjoying a blue bird day at Whistler.  It had snowed 4 inches overnight, which meant rain and mud in the village where we had planned on riding our mountain bikes.  I happily switched gears that morning when Dave suggested we go skiing instead, especially as back then, riding mountain bikes was not a skill I possessed.

I turned right to follow Dave down a benign looking cat track, the fresh powder spraying up behind us.  He turned left towards the pitch of the mountain and I blindly followed at the same speed.  I had no idea what I'd agreed to be in on, but the competitive side of me had kicked in full force.  Of course I was in.

The next thing I know my skis are no longer in touch with the snow and I'm sailing over a cornice.  My first cornice and I'm launching it at a good speed.  Then my skis are back on the ground and I'm straight lining a pretty steep pitch.  I'm so excited with the rush of adrenaline and accomplishment from flying through the air that I forget to continue skiing.  I roll to a stop at the bottom of the pitch in a pile of Tammy, skis and poles.  I get up and look back at what I'd skied.  Stoked.  The explative that comes out of my mouth is for accomplishment.

A good amount of time after this, Dave and my friendship turned to a relationship.  I can guarantee that if we were dating at the time of the cornice incidence, the F-word would have been directed quite differently.

As a kayak, ski and now bike instructor I have seen many relationships sour when one tries to teach the other.  So, it is with great pleasure that I now teach for Trek's Women Who Ride program.  This past Saturday, one of our new members, Kate decided that her fiancee, who is quite a talented rider and instructor was not  the one that should be teaching her to ride.  It was great to get out with her and others, pushing them to try new things and ride stuff a little faster, without the emotional attachment that can often end in arguments.

And the next day, Jeremy and I rode Buckwallow.  I stopped at a rooty and rocky line I couldn't figure out.  After trying it for a few minutes, I called to Jeremy who was fairly far down the trail.  I was a little pissed, because what if I was hurt?  didn't he care?  he's such a jerk!  He comes back, unhappy because I'm uphill of where he was and he had to climb up to me.

"I can't figure out the line"!

Jeremy waits as I try out the line he suggests, but I still don't get it after a few tries.  He goes back and rides it.  It turns out the line is completely different from what he told me.  I try it one last time, but I'm now too frustrated to be successful.  I take a deep breath so as not to get mad and ruin our day out.  I decide to take a lesson from Kate and leave the rocky corner for another time when I'm either alone or with someone who I won't direct my frustrations at.

Riding with Charlotte Batty, I was stoked to have ridden Boneshaker from the top for the first time!

aren't we cute with our matching bikes and kit??