August BMWCCA Driving Events

While work kept me for attending any of the the motorsport weekend activities, I find myself able to join the BMW club's High Performance Driver's Education program as an instructor for their Advanced Datacoaching at Laguna Seca Raceway this Thursday and Friday.

It's a great course. We use the Aim Solo data logger to collect extensive vehicle dynamics information while the student is out on track and analyze the data when the run in over and the student has time to process the information effectively.

Given my current condition, this is going to be a real test of my fitness.

Thursday  - Up at 5am
Drive to Laguna Seca - Arrive 7am
Instruction begins, 4-5 laps with each student (2) to asses level of driving skill
Class Room Instruction until lunch at Noon,
After Lunch, Class Room Instruction and maybe on-track drills depending on student skill level
Class ends at 5pm and I drive back to San Jose

Friday  - Up at 5am
Drive to Laguna Seca - Arrive 7am
Instruction begins, data analysis, application
Class Room Instruction until lunch at Noon,
After Lunch, Class Room Instruction and on-track drills with students
Class ends at 5pm, hand out certificates and I drive back to San Jose

That's a lot of time in car which wears me out the most. Not as much as a traditional Driving Instructor, but still a bunch. On the other hand I get a few free laps on Saturday and Sunday afternoon so It's a trade I reliably make.

Watch Repair

My TAG Heuer Senna Chronograph fully disassembled

I've been wearing the same TAG Heuer mechanical watch for nearly 10 years. I've take it SCUBA diving, shooting, rock climbing and a number of other non-watch-friendly places and it's held up pretty well for a mechanical watch. Over the last couple of years it's lost a little accuracy - finally requiring a reset every couple of weeks to maintain accuracy.

After a long search and a bit of clandestine testing I decided to trust World Time, a local certified watchmaker to adjust the timing of my watch. They tested it prior to adjustment and it was pretty far out of adjustment. On the watchmaker's advice I opted for a complete disassembly, cleaning and reassembly. It took a few months and I just got the watch back today.

It looks nearly new. He re-brushed the case and band so it looks and feels new again. He fully disassembled

After reassembly it looks almost new - but carries nearly 10 years of memories. 

it, cleaned and lubricated all the moving parts are reassembled it. Along the way he replaced a cracked jewell and the cap and tube (the second time for this repair).

He then measured the performance and adjusted it in six different positions. It took a few months but I'm pretty happy with the results. Time will tell (pun intended) if it's as accurate as indicated.

2 Year Anniversary

It’s been 2 years now since I got sick. For reasons nobody can explain the Mitral valve in my heart failed – I spent 2 months in the ICU and 5 months in the hospital in total.  For some reason this year’s anniversary has been incredibly difficult emotionally.

I’m still pretty fucked up – my kidneys are working at about 50% of normal yielding a Creatinine level of 2.0-2.2. I struggle every day with pain in my feet, sometimes so bad I struggle to walk and I’m still taking Percocet nearly every day to deal with it.

I can’t believe recovery is still such a major part of my life. When this happened Doctors warned that recovery would take a long time but this now seems endless.

 Here are a series of photos the tell some of the story

Training?

Lexington Reservoir still looking pretty empty. The water should be up to about where I was standing when I took this.

So, I'm back on the bike with some regularity after the last surgery. Not fast and not far but out there trying. Today was my longest and hardest ride so far. 18.8 mile taking nearly 2 hours. I climbed over 700 ft which is also a record. I rode from home to Lexington reservoir, a ride I used to treat as a rest day or recovery ride. Today it took all I had to finish - and I walked most of the last climb. I'm surely going to feel this one tomorrow.

It's still really humbling out there. I'm pretty slow (sub 10 MPH average for this ride), regularly getting passed by just about every one. But I have to keep the ego in check and let them all go - trying to keep up quickly drives my heart-rate to the max and beyond. It's going to take a while to achieve any real level of fitness.

Slowly healing

Surgery was 8 weeks ago and the stitches were removed 6 weeks ago. The toes look great, pink and healthy, no signs of infection and getting better every day. The pain however has not relented. Even the missing ones seem to hurt - though they are not there anymore. Sometimes they feel like their on fire and sometimes like they are getting poked with an icepick. Painkillers help but bring significant risk of dependence. I'm probably going to try Lyrica - a new drug developed to reduce diabetic nerve pain. I'm not diabetic but the damage to my feet is basically the same so it may offer an alternative to opioid-based painkillers. We shall see.

I've been back on my bike each weekend for short (60-90 Min/15-20 mile) rides but the foot pain is still limiting the time/distance. It's also really hard to stay below my Cardiologists recommended maximum heart rate of 155 BPM. I use a Heart Rate Monitor and have an audible alarm at 156. I find myself using that as a speed limiter - pedal hard till it beeps, back off a notch and hold it right at 155. I don't think this is what the Dr. was thinking when he set the maximum rate. Looking at Strava from before the valve failed I used to regularly log 60-90 Minutes of a 2-3 hour ride at nearly 190 BPM

Now that all the surgery is complete (knock on wood) and my feet are about their final size I finally got a couple of new pairs of new shoes. I chose the stiffest shoes I could find to provide as much support for all the lost toes as possible. I ended up with one pair of low-cut leather hiking boots and a pair of Giro cycling shoes. Both are really stiff and have been more then a little difficult to break in. I'm doing regular physical therapy to improve the strength of my remaining toes so that I can ultimately wear "normal" shoes with out injuring anything.

With just 2 toes remaining I need all the support
I can get. The stuffy is Staph bacteria -
the cause of my amputations