<- Real tough recuperation I'm having, huh?
If I had to have an accident, I couldn't have picked a better place to have it. Eric & Wanda have been wonderful hosts, attending to whatever I need, and today, Eric took me into Rochester to visit the nearby Mayo Clinic's Emergency Room.
I got an OK to continue on. The knee is sprained, but structurally sound. The doctor had me push, pull, twist, turn and walk against force and and I was able to perform every task with the same strength in the right knee as the left. They didn't even bother with X-rays. I do have a rather large hematoma on my right buttocks, but its basically a big bruise, and not a show stopper.
After the doctor's explanations about hematomas et al, I asked "Are there *any* restrictions or problems with continuing my ride?" I asked. "No," he answered. "Except for expecting pain?" I replied. "Oh, yeah," he said, "It's gonna hurt."
So, I'm going to lay low for another day, maybe two, and then continue on, albeit more slowly at first. I think I'm going to abandon the cooking idea, send all that extra weight back home, and eat out for the rest of the trip. That will both lighten my load, and give me more time during the daylight hours for riding. Just one less thing to worry about, too.
After flying down passes in the rockies at 45+ mph and dodging Montana's truck drivers, RVs in Wyoming, South Dakota's tourists, and farm machinery in Minnesota, it's a bit ironic to me that I was brought down in a slow speed solo manuever. I was going about 11 or 12 mph when Jake & Bob conspired with whatever pavement defect it was that caught their attention and tire to ungraciously throw me like a rider from a bronco bull. At least those guys are expecting it.
So stay tuned. I'll probably try to leave here Wednesday morning, only a day off schedule. In the meantime I'll try to post some other observations from the road that I haven't had time to write up.