Cyclists

[Viscount Charles]

Peter Sagan fitted a bell to his race bike a couple of years ago. The UCI made him take it off as it wasn't approved equipment!

[gumboot]

Any pro tips for resuming cycling after a herniated disc diagnosis? Doctor says "no way in hell" to any of that typical racer bending over forwards posture, so I'm wondering about some kind of compromise (perhaps later in recovery if not right away) by ... changing the seat configuration or something?

[defsdoor]

How about a recumbent bike ?

[venusian]

http://adulttricyclespro.com/explorer-e ... le-review/

[gumboot]

Recumbent is probably ideal, actually; but it feels a little drastic. Mostly in that I already own a bike (a normal one) and I would prefer to tweak it to make it less of a threat to my spinal health. Doc would have been perfectly happy with what they call, here, a cruiser, or I suppose a dutch-style bike in the UK. I have straight bars so I'm already some of the way there, but seat and bars are still at approximately the same level.

Wondered if maybe pitching my seat forward, or using one of those split saddles that rock back and forth would make it feasible to ride with a straighter back without having to shitcan the whole bike.

[zip accident]

http://adulttricyclespro.com/explorer-e ... le-review/

I love how their "see our price on Amazon" link takes you to the page for this:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HAL ... GLVAVMU7TG

[sack]

dutch-styled bikes seem to enforce a more upright posture, but I get the feeling that's possibly not what you're after - I think they're more for general commuting and errands than long rides

[Jimaroid]

I only know two people who rode recumbent bikes and both of them subsequently stopped riding them due to the back pain they developed. Try before you buy I guess.

[gravy]

Any pro tips for resuming cycling after a herniated disc diagnosis? Doctor says "no way in hell" to any of that typical racer bending over forwards posture, so I'm wondering about some kind of compromise (perhaps later in recovery if not right away) by ... changing the seat configuration or something?

[(o)(o)]

I suppose that might build up some core strength.. and this a cheaper form of chiropractice..


That's gotta be tough to get rolling !

[Geenius]

Any pro tips for resuming cycling after a herniated disc diagnosis? Doctor says "no way in hell" to any of that typical racer bending over forwards posture...

Just curious which disc?

My L4/L5 went back in 09/10 (offered surgery but turned it down, thankfully) and other than 1 ride early on where I had to lie down afterwards to straighten up, cycling has been great for me. Teaching spin classes actually helped me a lot at the time too. Since then I've strengthened it with lots of core work and heavy strength training and have since been able to do pretty much anything I want to.

Maybe if you're a member of a gym (if not get a free pass for one) try the exercise bikes and try different set-ups and see what position best suits you.

[gumboot]

L5-S1, textbook sciatica. Loss of strength in the calf, pins and needles in the toes, on-and-off recently-kicked-in-the-left-bollock sensation, and, of course, shooting pains down the arse and knee. Doc's wary that any further aggravation could have permanent consequences, and top priority is to keep me away from such stressors as the bike... So I'm trying to figure out how to get my cardio without having to join the geriatric aquacize crowd.

No serious contemplation of surgery at this stage but I'm worryingly close to the warning signs that would suggest emergency surgery, which I suspect is why they want to be so careful about it.


Used to have problems regularly, but never so severe, then I started working out and it became a non-issue, then I fell back to just cardio for a couple of years and now this.

[gravy]

Is there any chance the docs assessment of permanent risk could be affected by it being a fairly litigous environment?

There's no down side to him having you not ride any more. In fact more of than upside if it means you're going to be less healthy

[gumboot]

It's an HMO (don't know what it stands for), which means the company which pays (and motivates) the doctors is the same company as has to pay for the drugs they prescribe. The healthier and more resilient they make me now, the less they pay to patch up a broken-down old man in the future. Unless they kill me. Then they save lots of money in the long run, but they stop getting paid. It's a delicate balance.

By the sounds of what several doctors have said on the matter, the fact that I am currently partially crippled is a sign that this could turn out to be very serious and potentially irreversible.

In terms staying off the bike, that's just short term (say three or four weeks), but full recovery is in the order of several months.

If I tried to ride a bike now I'd have to do it with my heel on the pedal; so I guess it's lucky I don't have cleats.

[sack]

I suppose that might build up some core strength.. and this a cheaper form of chiropractice..


That's gotta be tough to get rolling !

But if software patent logic applied to bikes we'd probably all be riding one