Update: bell's palsy, gripitz...

Bells:
So two and half weeks with Bells Palsy now. Some good and some bad so far. I am getting more and more left side facial movement but it is very subtle and does not really warrant a picture. The skull pain has been the real stick in the eye, sleeping has been rough to say the least. Although, in the last couple days it seems the pain is calming down a little. The weirdest part is the burning on the top of my ear. I have heard from a number of people who have been through the same thing which is kind of nice, some of it encouraging and some of it not. A common theme seems to be general fatigue, eye irritation, pain, and difficulty eating. Everyone has stressed how important it is to rest and I have noticed the pain and the improvement are worse when I get tired. I have tried a couple mellow rides including commuting to work but it does not seem to be helping my cause right now. So, any kind of physical activity above and beyond walking has been put on hold. At the rate I am improving it seems another couple weeks and I should be able to start some easy exercise, that's encouraging for sure. The Doc does not seem to think it is related to the EBV from last Summer but I am not so sure, patience is needed on my part.

At the moment my plan is to start some base type training beginning in April. Normally I rely on a fairly solid supply of fitness to get me going into the cycling season. This year with nearly 2 months off from any real exercise and no real cycling, I am going to try a more structured approach much like I did in my build up to last years cross season. I also plan to record it all here as I really struggle with any kind of training log. My hope is by starting from scratch I can continue to build right on into the summer. Writing this out here is helping me stay positive, which is half the battle!

Gripitz:
After two of my working prototypes were stolen I got working on a some new ones with a couple small changes. I really like how the new design is coming together. It is more comfortable and ergonomic and will be easier to build. For now I am not going to use a CNC in an attempt to keep cost down and make it easy to make changes, most importantly the inside diameter of the tubing so it can be used on all different poles. Once I have the final design down some templates will be made to help in the production process. Excited to get these out into the field...

If I have not heard from you and you want the Gripitz, let me know.

I am finding the Bell's Palsy and grinding aluminum don't mix but full ski goggles make it possible.