The LATE Ride and other things going pop in the night.

Last night's LATE Ride was a complete disaster. Our route, which was designed to be fun, made me miserable. Given, I might have been spoiled by the MS Ride. For the MS ride, we had about 1500 cyclists who started the course or rural highways in about 10 minute intervals. For the LATE ride, we had almost 10,000 cyclists leaving in waves of 2,000, crowding the streets of Chicago. Here's what it really boils down to: I paid $41.15 to bike a course that I could bike on any other day of the week, with the added reality of dodging traffic and people, just like I would on any other day. It was dangerous. It was unprotected. The requirements for participating include wearing a helmet at all times and riding with a headlight, but I saw probably about 1/3 of the people riding without one or the other of these things, some with neither.

Last year's route, while not in any way ideal, was much more sensible. We started by biking north on Lake Shore Drive, then making a 7 mile jaunt through city streets(which were all blocked off, exept for some major cross-streets, where we were clearly directed), then we returned to the lakefront to bike down the bike path. Needless to say, the end down the bike path is dangerous, as there's very little lighting, and too many people riding on a narrow path.

It was on this path, just north of Chicago Avenue, where I felt a pop, followed by a warm burning sensation like a water balloon popping. Sadly, this occured in my right knee. Mistakenly, I fought through the pain, and finished the course, maybe about 2 miles. Upon finishing, one of my fellow riders ran to get me an ice pack. When it became obvious that it was time to have it looked at(read: swelling hadn't stoppped). I stopped by the medical tent and had it looked at by a doctor, who told me in not so uncertain words that I had probably dislocated my knee and would need to see a doctor ASAP to get some X-rays, probably followed by some time on crutches, and followed by physical therapy.

This is not news I'm happy to get. I was trying to get scheduled to have my knees evaluated anyways, so I could get them scoped again, but I didn't want the extra pain. No way, no how.

End result: I'm getting too old for this shit.