On the tire swing

As a kid, I loved the tire swing. 

[Nerdy side note: Was the tire swing the brainchild of an idealistic urban planner who wanted to figure out a way to take a few of tires out of the junkyard, or just an evil  operation for which sprinkler-like child vomiting was the only goal? I'll google that and let you know later]. 

Tire swings only inhabited a few parks where I grew up in Boise, Idaho (swings of all varieties were deemed dangerous and were not found on any public school grounds). As a limited resource, tire swings.

But beyond the origin and scarcity of the tire swing – neither of which were in my consciousness at the age of 6 – I simply loved swinging. My dad had a way of whipping the swing around that made me squeal with delight and fear at the same time. Would I walk away from the swing unscathed and laughing or would I be thrown from it and scrape my little kneecaps? I had no way of knowing.

The last month has been a little like my childhood tire swing experience. The crux of my year fell on me with deadlines and social activities; with a solid grip, all I could do was hang on and enjoy the ride. I spent a weekend in Bend, filling the days with live music, bicycling, and experiencing the great brews. I also worked my butt of to close a couple of streets down town for our annual Bike Music Festival and for the first time, wrote a grant for federal funds to improve campus for bicycling and walking. Oh yeah, and with a lot of help and support from family and friends I also reached my fund raising goal! Whew!

As fun as the tire swing always was, I there was always a lingering feeling of nausea. I haven’t been able to avoid that either. Don’t worry, I won’t go into details. The gist of it is that I’ve been sick for about a month but unclear what the cause of my sickness was. After a couple of visits to the doctor’s office, a few tests, and some bloodwork, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. 

Celiac is one form of gluten intolerance (one of the more severe), impacting one’s ability to digest food properly and absorb nutrients. I said goodbye this week to all the glorious brews I love in Eugene and those I tasted in Bend. I also had my first grocery shopping experience and was dismayed with the limitations of this new diet and how expensive the few items were that I biked home with.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not bad. It’s just an inconvenience and above all, more timing for a bicycle trip in which would normally inspire carbo-loading of pasta and breads. I have a feeling there will be a learning curve here, so by the time I get to Wisconsin and North Dakota, I hope to have a gluten-free system down.

I’m back on the tire swing waiting for a push. I’m giddy but a little nervous about the next 10 weeks of my life. I anticipate to be met with many physical, nutritional, and emotional challenges. I might walk away laughing, I might get thrown and scraped up a bit, but I expect to have the best summer of my life, nothing less!

Stay tuned for more gluten-free cross-country bicycling and building posts!