Body parts

Today a post about different body parts. Like feet, knees, fingers and head. Let me begin at the beginning. Yesterday we should be rowing, but because of the ice on parts of the canal that wasn't possible. That's why we 'enjoyed' some 40 minutes of time on the ergometer. Because of this I was home early that day because I also could not coach because of the weather. The chain on Ocho, my velomobile was making a bit more noise lately, so I decided to lubricate it after a bit more than 2600 kilometers. That also gave me the opportunity to slide the pedals a bit forward. Once in a while my knees (body part 1) touched the top of the bike. And that's not nice. By sliding the pedals a bit forward my feet (body part 2) are more forward and my knees get less high. After doing a test ride through my village it turned out I liked the new setting.

After that it was time to lube the chain. I'd taken a box and two plastic old first aid kits, stacked them and placed them under the back side of my bike so the rear wheel was clear of the ground. Then it was a matter of spinning the back wheel with one hand and applying lubricant on the chain with the other hand. To get the oil in all the nooks and crannies of the chain I spun the back wheel a few good times. Until the back side of the bike slided of the stacked boxes and my right ring finger (body part 3) got stuck between the rear wheel and the ground. Auch, that really hurt! A bit shook up I take a look at my finger and see a piece of skin (and some flesh) about half a square centimeter hanging. Shit! I quickly went inside, put my finger on the the water and wrapped it in a paper towel to stop the bleeding. Afterwards I went downstairs again to clean up. Next I showered (I was still sticky from erg'ing) and cleaned the wound thorough while holding open the flap of skin of my finger. Weird, it didn't really hurt, but I almost blacked out. Let's sit down and breath it off. After getting out of the shower I held my finger under some warm water and used a cue tip to clean out the remaining dirt. Place the flap of skin back and put a piece of cloth on it.

The next day the finger looked quite okay (see picture above). Okay, it was a little blue and purple and a bit swollen, but I'd be if I was treated like that. There also emerged some transparent fluid out of the wound, but that was about it. It's going to be alright I though. And it seemed the flap of skin was attaching quite okay to my finger. Time to go to the rowingclub, because today we could go out on the water. The ice was gone. When I came down to where my bike was parked I noticed that it was parked a bit further back that usual. Now it is only five centimeters from a brick wall. Hmm, strange. I get to the other side and notice the foam cover is only half in place. That's weird, I could have sworn I attached it correctly yesterday? Must be because of my 'condition, I thought. But when I took the bike out to leave I notice the front derailleur was in the lowest setting. Now I knew for sure. Someone touched my bike. Oh, that get's me so mad! Luckily the madness went away because I could ride my bike, I was a bit late getting to the club. And now we get to the head (body part 4). I had found my Ekoi helmet with visor again. Using it in combination with my Buff on my head, kept it warm. That makes me a happy cyclist.

After rowing and the team meeting about the next few rowing competitions (the Heineken Roeivierkamp and the Head of the River Amstel) I went home. There I spoke to my neighbor who lives below my apartment and I told that 'kids hanging around' probably had touched my bike. He said it was to cold for those kids and told me the neighbors right around the corner where my bike was parked had something to do with it. Last night they had a party and the the guests were smoking right outside their door (and close to my bike). Alcohol and irresistible objects (like Ocho) are a bad combination. So I rang my neighbors doorbell and asked them. She didn't know and explicitly told the guests not to touch my bike. Ah well, men and their alcohol... She would ask the guest about it. We'll see. Nothing was damaged, but it could have. And of course it's not nice to touch other people their stuff.

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