May Day, May Day!

Yep.....the 2018 Spring Classics are in the history books, and May Day (May 1st) was just a few days ago. And with May Day every year comes THE GIRO! HOORAY for the Grand Tour season! I only wish I could actually WATCH IT. Unlike Le Tour, The Giro isn't broadcast daily on any of my TV (satellite) channels...where-as le Tour is on every day and thankfully my DVR records all the stages that I can watch at my leisure! Ah well...such is the travails of life.

On Monday I fly to Houston to stay with my Mom. My little bro and his family are heading to Oklahoma for their kids speech competition regionals (which both kids qualified for in multiple areas). Mom has taken a downturn in the last week, it seems the ammonia in her bloodstream has returned and the medication that helped with that 2 months ago isn't helping now. Her Dr. says it's just the progression of her cancer. Once the liver is compromised most people only live 4 to 6 months. Her last MRI's (which showed spots on her liver) were back in January, which is when her oncologist stopped her treatment and told her to 'make her final arrangements'.

So...she's not doing so well...and I think my little bro will stay with me (and not go with his family). He thinks we need to get her into a nursing home very soon...as she has very quickly overwhelmed them with her care-needs. And also Houston doesn't have Hospice facilities all over (like Las Vegas where my step mother passed away back on April 2nd). There is only one, and it's "downtown"..which doesn't do us much good...too far away.

So that's my current plan...fly and hang out and help however I can for a week (longer if necessary, but his family is back by the end of next weekend).

Nothing much else to add just now...I'll know more very soon as I will be deep into it.

Later gaters!

Cheers!

OK...so I'm IN Houston at my brothers...and boy, what a difference 2 months makes! What this disease is doing to her is just evil...right now (starting less than a week ago) the ammonia in the bloodstream is back up, and the medication that WAS keeping it under control isnt working anymore. Her mind is way clouded and slow..and she is lethargic and uncoordinated. Her Dr. says sadly this is just the natural progression of the cancer. Her liver is under attack and thats what's SUPPOSED to be filtering all the ammonia and other toxins from her system...and it's not doing very well all of a sudden. We will be visiting some places to find her a home over the next few days where she can get better care than my bro and his family can provide...suddenly they are getting overwhelmed. I know I feel overwhelmed...she is BARELY able to even do her basics by herself (by barely I mean sometimes yes and sometimes no)...and she is confused. She hung up her blouse last night with the hanger poking out the arm hole...and this morning when she was trying to get dressed she had a pair of underwear on as a bra (with her head poking out one of the leg holes) and was confused as it obviously wasn't right....really hurts to see such a proud and smart woman affected like this. My bro said her Dr. said way back in Jan when the first liver spots showed up on the scans (which is why she cancelled the chemo) that most people only go about 6 months after the liver is attacked. Mom is now in her 5th month (and we don't know when the liver attack started...she was only getting the full scans every 3 months..it was the 9 month checkup when they showed up).

So Hospice has started up helping her full time now...there will be a nurses aid coming over every day to bath/help her dress and such...today was her first  day and was quite welcome as my brother and I are still a bit tenative over all this...though we are quickly getting better.

And so...here we go

And HEY! On an entirely different note, how about Kileuae Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii? Isn't that CRAZY??? I'm still floored by it...those poor people who built in that subdivision (volcano zone 1...meaning there is no insurance available cuz it's a high probability of losing it due to volcanic action) might end up all losing their homes before this is over...it might be flowing/erupting out of this new area for days, weeks or even years. Very sad for them but very exciting for the world to be witnessing volcanic activity on an inhabited island...

OK...all for now....hope ya'll are doing fine. And Rae...WOW! Getting CLOSE NOW,,,LESS than a week! OMG!!! I'm SO JEALOUS!!!

And also thought I"d add this link (interviews with the Devil, aka Lance). Read it this morning and really thought it was pretty good. Food for thought anyway....

Lance interview

Tour de Los Padres

Every year for the past 5 years there is a little known 'local' bikepacking event called the "Tour de Los Padres". It's a beautiful little 'Tour' of the Los Padres National Forest. I've ridden much of the "Proper"route (roughly 275 miles) doing day-rides of sections, but I've never quite ridden all of it. Typically I go out on the route and ride on Saturday, allowing me to cross paths with the front-runners. (remember 3 years ago when I got hit by the BULL? That happened on the route a week before the race).

I've never been bikepacking (yet) but it's something I'm truly interested in! I just don't really have a bike capable of such a thing (my Cannondale Scalpel would NOT be a good bikepacking rig, and my ancient Santa Cruz Blur lives here in Colorado full time). One day I hope to have some reasonable steed to ride such an event in. The "Tour" route is shorter, roughly 150 miles, and is recommended for those who've never gone over 200 miles or don't have much experience bikepacking..

Anyway...the race (Tour) starts TOMORROW MORNING (Friday) in Frazier Park CA, and the route takes them right thru what I consider my backyard of Mt biking! Here is a link to the Trackleaders page where you can follow the riders by their SPOT (Satellite POsition Tracker) units (I carry one when I ride).:

2018 Tour de Los Padres trackleaders

I have met a few of the riders from previous editions. Maybe NEXT year I can do this? (I am in Colorado Springs AGAIN..so won't even be able to go out on route as usual). The FAST riders will finish the "Proper" route in around 3 days (HOLY COW!!!). A week would be fast IMO...and this is totally self supported btw.

Anyway...just thought I'd toss out the link...I'll be watching it after work seeing how it goes...looks to be a fast course this year...but we will see. Good luck racers!

Cheers!