a different kind of pain

right about now, i should be on top of cherohala, or perhaps suffering on my way to the top.  115 miles, 9000' of gain. we had worried about the rain; as i look at the weather radar, it looks it be absolutely a picture perfect day. 

right?  NOT.

as soon as my head hit the pillow last night, the throbbing began.  a few hours later, having perhaps nodded off for a few minutes, i finally get up after tossing & turning. 2:50am. the culprit? a tooth. (somewhere between # 12 & 15). i google various home remedies, finally setting on gargling a shot of whisky, which acts as a topical anesthetic. it worked for a little while, but i decided not to keep this up as i'd be drunk pretty quick. jeramie finally gives me my wake up call at 4:30am. i break the bad news: there is no way i can go do cherohala today.

i finally fell asleep about an hour later (probably due to pure exhaustion) for a bit. and now i'm up, dealing with the pain again. one of scv's sponsors (and avid mtn biker- he was out doing trail maintenance when i called him) is calling me in some pain meds to hopefully get me through the weekend and avoid an emergency after-hours dental visit (read that as: super mega expensive, esp when you don't have dental insurance. ah, the joys of being self-employed...)

hopefully the pain will subside soon and i can actually get something done today. but depending on how it affects me, i may or may not be able to get a ride in. which sucks, as this was an important day for leadville training. 

oh, and the worst part??  

blue skies outside. (damnit weatherman!!)

here are some pics from last year's challenge. i'm sorry i won't be able to add to the collection with this year's shots. (unless anyone wants to join me on a future ride......)