Day 38 - Off Day

First the good news - I had good internet earlier today, so I loaded some pictures from yesterday’s ride.  Check them out if you already have read the post.  I especially like the one in the swamp.

Now the bad news - the reason I had good internet is because I was in the local ER.  When I woke up this morning, my left ankle was swollen & bruised.

It didn’t hurt & I had full motion with no pain at all, but I decided to consult with my personal nurse practitioner (my daughter Linda).  She had me text a picture of it & based on that said I should probably get an ultrasound of it to be sure there was not a blood clot that could really cause problems.

And the really good news - no blood clot & I can keep riding.

Since I am writing a post even though it's a day off, there are a couple of things about this trip you might find interesting.  We have 43 riders & everyone has multiple electronic devices that need to be charged every night (I have 7 - front light, back light, bike computer, speaker for music, cell phone, iPad, battery pack that I use to charge up the phone during the day).  Bubba sets up a charging station every day to handle it all.  I estimate there is about $75,000 worth of stuff to charge.  Here is what it looks like.

One of the things that Bubba brags about a lot with his tour is that he provides DSL service.  DSL stands for "Dirty Stinking Laundry".  Going into the trip I thought "that's nice, but it can't be that big a deal".  Now I really appreciate it.  Every 4 days or so, some of the staff collects all the DSL and spends most of the day at the local laundromat.  In the evening, everyone has to pick up their stuff.  How do you know what is your stuff?  Everything should be labeled with your rider number.  I am #43.  One of last year's riders suggested taking a picture of what you put in the laundry so you know what to look for.  Anything that isn't picked up is brought to the rider meeting & Bubba has a "walk of shame".  He holds up the item, waiting for its owner to claim it.  This is really one of the more entertaining parts of the rider meeting, especially when the item is someone's designer underwear.  Here is what one of the pictures of my DSL was.

WDYLT - ILT it’s always a good idea to listen to your medical professional’s advice.  The doc in the ER agreed that based on how the ankle looked, it was smart to come in.