Hi Gang,

Progress! That’s what the world is about! Mike has moved to the Spinal ward which is a half-way home before heading to Royal Talbot for rehabilitation. In reality, it’s a pretty frustrating place to be- because it’s a place where the staff try and ascertain whether there are any road blocks preventing Mike graduating to full rehab, plus where there might be some waiting time for a bed at Royal Talbot (near Kew Bvde), while Mike says, “Let me gooooo tooo Rehhhhaaabbb!

Physical

Not too much to report at this stage. His biceps are curling nicely, which might allow him to have enough control to scratch his nose, shoo a fly or feed himself. Being able to raise your own hands to your face is very important for self esteem and independence, so great for him to have these muscle groups still functioning.There was a slight hiccup on Wednesday with his lung function, after he had an absolute gab-fest with anyone who was willing to listen. The reduced capacity of his respiratory system, especially in the context of lying flat for much of the day, plus the effort of weaning from the respirator, meant that he required some time listen and not talk! Funny how they make you have a rest when you’re running on 50% capacity!

Mental

Mike’s slowly coming to terms with the implications of the coming months, and is especially worried about not being able to use his hands. That said, he’s already laterally thinking about how he’ll be able to cope with his usual clarity. He is an impressive individual and seems very composed. He’s going to have bad days where it gets him down, but having visits/rehab goals/family to distract him is vital. He’s also getting some sleep on the ward, as opposed to ICU, so that helps keep spirits high.

The accident is something that Mike does not want to talk about at the minute…and maybe he never will. It’s probably best not to discuss the accident in detail, as it’s an upsetting event for him in his current situation. It’s just not a team building issue for Mike at the minute, and he’ll bring it up (in his own good time) if he needs to put details to rest.

Visiting

Monica has mentioned the narrower hours of visiting, so I just want to explain the situation here: 11am til 8pm. It’s still two people at a time, but that’s good for everyone, considering there’s still lip reading to be done at times. It gets a bit rowdy on a ward with four patients if there’s 1 people in the room! The trach is scheduled for removal early next week, which will mean he’s able to talk/sing/whistle 24/7 (if he wants). There is a heck of a lot of work to be done by Mike and the staff each day. Included in the routine is washing, shaving, toilet, teeth, feeding, sheet changing, positioning, physio, occupational therapy, nursing observations, not to mention the odd doctors visit. Most of this happens before you see Mike, and it probably takes twice as long as you’d expect (shower=45min). He’ll be tuckered out from this for a bit in the short term, but I’m sure you understand.

He is loving seeing people and hearing stories from beyond the hospital- indeed, he’s keen to talk Tour de France day or night. Thanks to everyone sending through words of encouragement- this support is vital, so keep it up. Write a story about how you know Mike, or a tale of his exploits that others might not know and send it through to the site if you get the urge.

Check all the updates on www.michaelforbes.org, we’ll try and get some more smiling piccies of Mike and family on there soon.

Best

Mitch

Kowalski Tour Report 2008:

Canberra - don’t you just love it? There’s hardly any traffic, you’re allowed fireworks and access to other adult entertainment, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get a golden shower in a makeshift tent under the shadow of Mt Stromlo. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Landlink team (women over 30 with some employment only need apply)travelled up to the capital on Thursday to race 4 stages over 3 daysas part of the Kowaslki Women’s and Junior Tour.

There were little tackers of 10 on restricted gears, up to U19 gals(on their way to South Africa for the Junior World Champs) and senior women, racing over the roads near Mt Stromlo, Uriarra and CoppinsCrossing. And just in case you didn’t get to see enough of the sameroads, we pretty much just cut laps of those surrounds all weekend.There were supposedly complete road closures though, which supposedlymade it safer.

Suzanne Alway, Jenny MacPherson and I were a small but formidable team. JMac has had plenty of racing experience, and even though she’snow a member of the real community, with a job contributing to society(more than I can say for myself), she knows how to wield a sprint inanger and has plenty of stamina to control the bunch. Suze is lessexperienced, but did a fine job defending our lead all weekend.

In Stage 1, I won the 16km TT by 2 minutes over 2nd place, which meantthat I only had to finish in the front bunch for the remaining 3stages, and the tour was won.Stage 2 was brief (39km hilly road stage) but there were young’unstrying to grab QOM (Queen of the Mountain) points and show us theperks of weighing less than 55kg, so my climbing legs were tested anddid not disappoint.

Stage 3 was a crit around the superfast Stromlocircuit, and JMac ended up 2nd behind the local hero (which was quite uncoincidentally PC of her). We attempted a canny lead out trick, but the youngster isn’t junior National champ on the road and track fornothing! Stage 4 was sort of 2 x laps of Stage 2, and Jen and Suze dida great job for me, controlling the bunch and responding to attacks. I finished 3rd in the stage, and so won the tour overall by 1.25, after they had given time bonuses a-plenty to anyone from Canberra.Despite coming out of a heavy training block, I am holding some promising power with 11 weeks til World Championships. All that climbing in North QLD and Goto Island (while on chief cheerleader duty for Mitch racing Ironman Japan 2 weeks ago) has been a good start, andnow I’ll get a little more domestic racing in before leaving for Italyin late August.

A year ago in this tour, I was 2nd in the opening TT,but then lost valuable time over the following 2 days’ hilly roadstages, and finished 8th overall. Compared to racing tour of Flandersor Drenthe world cup, I had ample room on the road, far better positioning, and greater confidence going into these National series races. I then repeated my dominant performance at ASADA’s anti-doping, a tentconstructed by the sheltered workshop some distance over bushland fromthe start/finish area. Feeling no fear of the nightmarish Suisseepisode (remember - dry as a chip?), I had ample fluid and even passed plenty of ml unnoticed onto the AIS trackkies. Hey, you try peeing infront of a stranger in a tilted portaloo in 4 deg weather! Then mock me.

A yellow leader’s jersey was passed my way, millions of dollars of prizemoney was divided by the team, and we then packed up our bikes,wheels, Mt Stromlo observatory post cards, and we headed home. A bigthanks to Landlink, ACTAS, CycleEdge, Oakley, Shotz, CBD Cycles, Zippand AIS. I raced for the first time on my new Teschner road frame, and it held up a treat.

Next on the calendar are plenty of local racing, with no excessbaggage or airport runs required. On the 19th July is the Melbourne toBallarat, followed the next day by the Victorian Club Teams Time Trial (where I am controversially trying to get start in the men’s team forBrunswick Cycling Club - I’ll compare notes with golfer Michelle Wieon how to handle the heckling on that one), and then the VictorianChampionships in Ballarat in August.

Ciao!

Bridie