Yesterday was the IFSA meetup, and to get there I biked down to the commons for the first time. It wasn’t too bad a ride down, really- it took me 20 minutes, and most of that was braking down the big hills. It was a really nice day, so about umpteen gajillion people also thought it would be a good idea to bike down there, hence it was a bit crowded. Ironically, I was still able to meet up with Marty, who had biked down a few hours earlier, just by chance.
Despite the crowdedness, when I popped over to Comics for Collectors for Free Comic Book Day, the place was no more busy than normal. Philistines!
About the time the meeting (which had a rather small turnout, probably on account of the nice weather) was supposed to start my stomach started aching. Again. For the past week my stomach has been aching, seemingly randomly, on and off (and within the past few days all-over itchiness has also started, randomly- so I’ve been more uncomfortable than not, recently). So for the first half of the meeting I was pretty quiet and miserable, which the others noticed. When I told them what was up, they suggested it may be a reaction to the hair dye (I redyed it shortly before the achy/itchiness started happening), which is entirely possible (though Beth suggested another possibility, which I will mention later). Anyway, after a half hour or so I got to feeling better so I was able to sit back and enjoy the debates :)
After about half of the meeting disbanded, the rest of us went over to Gino’s for pizza. Once we were done, Mitch kindly offered me and my bike a ride back home (on account of my earlier stomach achiness), but as there were three bikes that needed transferring (Mitch‘s, Marty‘s, and mine) and two slots on his bike rack I declined. At that point happicow offered my money to buy a hitch-mount bike rack for his jeep so all three bikes could get up the hill. So we tried to go to the various bike shoppes in the commons only to have no love (one store only had clip-on type racks, which I don’t trust at all, and the other store was closed). So we gave up on that venture and Marty and I decided to bike up the hill.
We attempted to bike up University Ave, which had been suggested to be easier/possible on account of it going diagonally up the mountain instead of straight up. Marty didn’t seem to have any trouble, but I had to stop and walk my bike once we got to the hills on campus, which are slightly steeper (I had already spent myself on the easier bit down below). Not only that, but I also had to stop enitrely to rest for a few minutes at a time to allow my legs to stop hurting on occassion. Marty took all of my out-of-shapeness in good humor and waited around with me. Eventually we made it back over to East Ave, which is about as high as the mountain gets in that area and rested yet again (sitting down this time) so I could let the strange and unfamiliar pain I had developed in my back go away. After a few minutes of that, and enjoying the general niceness of the weather we biked the rest of the way back. Total time: 36 minutes. Average speed: 6.6 mph :(
After getting home I was surprised to see my Nashbar order had arrived, so I spent the rest of the night struggling to attach everything to my bike (the front fender could only affix to one side of the frame, as my frame only has holes to attach it on the one side; and my rack ended up a bit slanty, but it’s as good as I can get it, I think).
At some point Marty told Beth about my achy/itchiness, and she looked up some nutrient deficiency that I think they decided I have wherein the subject doesn’t get enough protein and niacin, gets stomach cramps, itchy flaky skin, dementia, other things, and eventually dies. As a vegetarian, I have the unfortunate situation of not liking any vegetarian sources of protein save eggs, so this is entirely possible. Marty told me that if I want to be a vegetarian, maybe I should start eating meat :(
I’m gonna try not to do that. I’ll try to eat more beans and cheeses instead, and I’ll buy vegetarian multi-vitamins (the Centrum I have is not vegetarian, which I found out after taking it for the past few days :/) today at GreenStar. Unfortunately one of the best vegetarian sources of most nutrients seems to be nuts, which I am allergic to.
A protein deficiency would explain a lot- like why I don’t seem to be getting much stronger or gaining any endurance (really) despite biking so consistantly for the past few months… Even if I don’t have one now, with the junk I eat (e.g., yesterday I had: 2 eggs, 2 pcs. toast, 2 slices pizza; and that was a particulary healthy day, usually I just eat pasta) I’m bound to get some deficiency.
