Ow, Damn It!

So, yesterday I was working on my old bike, giving it a tune up so I can transfer it to my brother, who will use it as a bridge bike as he finds a way to get in shape that doesn't hurt his knees (the knee is the O'Brien curse). I came inside dirty, greasy (I should have cleaned that cassette a long time ago) and sweaty.

At this point I should say that nothing happened when working on the bike. That is an important piece of the puzzle. Why? Because ten minutes later, my left foot, the fifth metatarsal to be exact, hurt like a son of a bitch. Why, I wanted to know? Yet, I still cannot figure out why. My best guess is that I had broken that bone years ago and maybe it's just a residual thing, kind of like arthritis. Or something.

My point is this: it hurt all night long, but felt better this morning. I got up, drank my cup of Haitian Performance Enhancing Blend (now with more testosterone!), ate my usual breakfast and started to get ready for my morning ride. I stepped on the little latch thing that pops open the top of our kitchen trash can and, crap it made my metatarsal hurt.

No big deal, I thought. I've actually had this pain before. It's nothing, usually goes away after a day or two. It's probably an irritated bundle of nerves. So I decided to try and ride. Grabbed my shorts and jersey and went to change.

But, maybe, I thought, I should try one of my cycling shoes and see how it felt with that one. The soles are stiff, so there's not as much bending of the foot, but the pressure of the downward pedal stroke would be right along the perpendicular plane of my pain. I put my shoe on, pointed out my toe and pressed downward, like I was pedaling.

And now I'm writing this. I don't think it's a cycling injury, since the pain started while sitting about 12 hours after I had gotten off my bike. I do think it is related to that broken bone several years ago. Just one of those things, as they say.

But here's what makes me mad. This morning it's 71 outside. It's the first day it's been below 80. And there's no wind! It would have been a nice ride. Secondly, I would have eaten something different for breakfast if I knew I wasn't going to ride. Now I feel culinarily disappointed. Third, and finally, I was mentally ready to ride. Now I'll probably be aggressive all day. I'll see a flight of stairs and I'll mumble to myself, "push a little harder, keep the pace, you can make it to the top." As I get close to the top, I'll see someone about to get to the top first and I'll rush to get to the top before him. I'll probably shout to people as I walk past them.