It looks like I’m gonna have to liquidate my IRA
If I have surgery to patch my shattered shoulder, it will take me off the bicycle for 4-6 months. Having a functional shoulder would be a nice award after this 4-6 months were over, but as of right now I’m using bicycling as one of the crutches that keeps me away from a terminal black despair, and if I end up not being able to ride for six months the results are likely not to be pretty.
I could probably use an appropriately modified (to put all of the controls and steering on the left side so I could put my right arm into a sling when riding) tadpole trike to keep myself away from the edge in that period of time, but I’d need to build up a suitably fast trike so I could avoid unfortunate encounters while I’m wandering around. And that would take money, of which I have none (one of the side effects of the deep depression I’m in is that I find it impossible to work – I am struggling to get an iPad project done that should be trivial even including having to familiarize myself with Objective C – without falling into despair over anything that involves more than one step.)
I suppose I could always just leave my right shoulder crippled, but I’m getting more than slightly tired of it hurting all the time and would love to have that stupid clavicle tied down instead of trying to burst, Alien-style, out through the skin on my shoulder.
So, to get a tadpole and retrofit it I’ll need money, and the only money I’ve got is the remains of my retirement account (and this has the bonus that it might be enough so, if I decide I want to ride any organized brevets, I’ll be able to afford trainfare down to the Bay Area to do SF Rando events, which I think are far enough away to ensure that I will not run into anyone from the PNW rando community.)
So goodbye retirement, hello some strategically placed purchases that will hopefully keep me going while I’m laid up for the first half of next year.
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Gotta get through tomorrow for next year to be a meaningful question, so that sounds like a good plan.
So does getting rid of a source of chronic pain.
I’ve encountered two guys on recumbent trikes with neuro damage so they had only one really functional side (a stroke and head trauma, respectively) and they were managing a respectable rate of advance all the same. So it sounds like an effective plan, and I’m looking forward to finding out about trike mechanics via blog post. :)
(the one guy was having pump trouble, but, well, he’d changed the tube OK already and I couldn’t get that pump to work with both hands, so I don’t think that should be held against him. The other one was headed toward Port Colborne when we were headed away, apparently having a fine day, and found the combination of Zingerella and the TPB an irresistible chat magnet.)