John E.

Getting older has it's downside, primarily with physical challenges I could not have imagined ten or twenty years ago. Specifically, my knees were showing the decades of wear & tear (as well as being 20-30 lbs/9-13kgs overweight) when the meniscus (left knee) finally tore in August 2005, which was repaired by gifted ortho Dr. Luis Urrea II. After a few months recuperation & rehab, I was back to pedaling my Doublevision as always, journeying farther & farther, ultimately taking an extra-lengthy 2011 biketour to HoustonTX-USA & AustinTX-USA (where my son & daughter lived, respectively) which is recorded in my 4th book, "Dry'd, Fry'd, and Sky'd by Headwinds and Heat: My 1300mile/2100kilometer Trans-Texas Bicycle Odyssey". It was during this exhausting journey that the Subway restaurant chain became my certain link to healthy revitalization. Consistently, Subway has made the difference in my being able to keep pushing one foot over the next on my pedals. Anyway, I recently had a relapse with my knee, collapsing in my office, and, fearful of greater complications, ceased pedaling until more analysis by Dr. Urrea. Without elaboration, he gave me the simple truth, that the unavoidable equalizer of age was showing itself, that I could delay the inevitable with additional interventions of drugs. Unfortunately, that could mean deferral from my being able to donate at United Blood Services, so I'll R(est) I(ce) C(ompresion) E(levation) instead. But the real test came on Saturday (one of my two days off as a teacher) when I went for my longest biketour in 4 months, what had previously been a half-day tour to the San Elizario historic district in the Lower Valley. I felt good starting out, and continued to do so by the time (noon) of my arrival 22miles/37kms later at Cafe Galeria. I pushed on, propelling myself West on Glorietta Road to Socorro Road/FM258/Mission Trail. Knowing that I couldn't go much further without ingesting nutrition, my body physically reacted to the sight of a rather recently opened Subway, my saviour of so often before, and before knowing it, my Doublevision was neatly parked in a space. I was inside talking with sandwich woman Kim, constructing a healthy toasted sub that will allow me to continue the rest of my 43mile/70kms journey. Sitting there watching my Doublevision with my leg/knee elevated, slowly sucking down ice-choked water (I had just finished escorting my 84-year old mother overseas for 53 days 07JUN-29JUL2014; drinking water our of the tap was rare, much less having such a plentiful supply of ICE!), I luxuriated in the A/C, savored the sub, and recharged for that final push back into El Paso. As always, this was the best meal i've ever had, and what made it even better was that my knee held up. Now, back to overnighting my biketours, which I believe will go just as well as this--especially when SUBWAY is available!