RR First Ride Post Op

In article <uHHdc.3228$VE5.2392@lakeread01>,

tcmedara said:

My shoulder surgery was almost two months ago, but the doc
told me no riding off road for now because it takes
upwards of 8-12 weeks for the tendon to heal down to the
bone where he reattached it. The guy's a sports medicine
surgeon and a cyclist, so I am inclined to do what he
tells me most of the time. He did say riding on the road
was okay, but to avoid anything too rough on the shoulder.

Well today was just too damn nice to be a psuedo-roadie.
72 deg F, sunny, dry trails, I couldn't pass it up. I
figured I'd drag the boy wonder with me and that would
force me to keep the speed down and just take it easy. We
went to the local trails and started with the first little
one mile loop of single track. The BW actually mastered
all the bridges without incident and his confidence level
shot through the roof.

The bumps and roots on the single track were a bit much on
the wounded wing, even with the fork set as soft as I
could get it. So I decided we'd better stick to the fire
roads. We rode for a little over an hour and the sun was
starting to go down and BW was starting to complain about
being hungry. We "raced" back to the parking lot and I dug
out the last of the granola bars in my camelbak to feed
the starving child. He looked so cool -- mud flecked legs,
gloves still on, helmet hair, and bar hanging out his
mouth and a big grin on his face. Wish I'd had a camera to
capture it. A perfect example of pure mountain bike joy.
The absolute essence of what's so great about this sport.
We didn't ride all that fast, or all that crazy. But the
boy rode hard and he didn't want to stop because it was
just too much damn fun. I was just happy to be there.

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the arm. Whatever the cause,
all things are made better through chemicals. Either way,
it was well worth it to see the expression on a 9 year old
kid who just rode himself to exhaustion and loved every
minute of it.

Tom

Sweet, I cant wait to have kids so I can take them out
riding. 🙂 Pain is nothing when you look at the face of
your kid. 🙂

M. Prindle

tcmedara said:

My shoulder surgery was almost two months ago, but the doc
told me no riding off road for now because it takes
upwards of 8-12 weeks for the tendon to heal down to the
bone where he reattached it. The guy's a sports medicine
surgeon and a cyclist, so I am inclined to do what he
tells me most of the time. He did say riding on the road
was okay, but to avoid anything too rough on the shoulder.

Well today was just too damn nice to be a psuedo-roadie.
72 deg F, sunny, dry trails, I couldn't pass it up. I
figured I'd drag the boy wonder with me and that would
force me to keep the speed down and just take it easy. We
went to the local trails and started with the first little
one mile loop of single track. The BW actually mastered
all the bridges without incident and his confidence level
shot through the roof.

The bumps and roots on the single track were a bit much on
the wounded wing, even with the fork set as soft as I
could get it. So I decided we'd better stick to the fire
roads. We rode for a little over an hour and the sun was
starting to go down and BW was starting to complain about
being hungry. We "raced" back to the parking lot and I dug
out the last of the granola bars in my camelbak to feed
the starving child. He looked so cool -- mud flecked legs,
gloves still on, helmet hair, and bar hanging out his
mouth and a big grin on his face. Wish I'd had a camera to
capture it. A perfect example of pure mountain bike joy.
The absolute essence of what's so great about this sport.
We didn't ride all that fast, or all that crazy. But the
boy rode hard and he didn't want to stop because it was
just too much damn fun. I was just happy to be there.

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the arm. Whatever the cause,
all things are made better through chemicals. Either way,
it was well worth it to see the expression on a 9 year old
kid who just rode himself to exhaustion and loved every
minute of it.

Sounds like the big kid did, too 🙂

I remember my first ride 6 weeks to day after surgery --
didn't own a road bike back then, so it felt really foreign
to be back on two wheels. Only did a little 45-minute toodle
down hill from house; few days later I was back riding with
the pack out at Anderson Truck Trail (*way* too soon, but
got away w/it)...

What was really scary was first crash; felt a twinge in
shoulder but no bad damage. (Mine still gets sore sometimes
after riding, but just sort of achy.) Knock on Styrofoam.

What sucks is that the strength has never really come back,
so I can't pull up on bar effectively (or evenly). Also
still flinch a little at certain technical sections, and
once you hesitate...

Glad you got back out there, Tom -- don't tell your doc, but
DO be careful! I know you don't want to get scoped 'n sewed
any more...

Bill "off the 'cuff' remarks" S.

S o r n i said:

Sounds like the big kid did, too 🙂

Yep! An hour at low speed on fire road was about right.
Anything faster, longer, or harder would have hurt.

Quoted message said:

I remember my first ride 6 weeks to day after surgery --
didn't own a road bike back then, so it felt really
foreign to be back on two wheels. Only did a little 45-
minute toodle down hill from house; few days later I was
back riding with the pack out at Anderson Truck Trail
(*way* too soon, but got away w/it)...

Came home the other day and asked the wife what she thought
of me dropping some cash on a road bike as long as I kept it
under $2K. I managed to get out of the kitchen before she
reached the knife block. So it was an "outright"
refusal..... Probably better off, I'd have to stop busting
on roadies.

Quoted message said:

What was really scary was first crash; felt a twinge in
shoulder but no bad damage. (Mine still gets sore
sometimes after riding, but just sort of achy.) Knock on
Styrofoam.

I was in total denial about the prospect of a crash. I
figured I was taking it easy so the risk was low. 'Course
now I recall the thread a few weeks back about the low speed
crash on the sidewalk or something to that effect. And I was
riding the hardtail with slicks mounted as the FS is down
for maintenance!

Quoted message said:

What sucks is that the strength has never really come
back, so I can't pull up on bar effectively (or evenly).
Also still flinch a little at certain technical sections,
and once you hesitate...

Hope that doesn't happen. Pain gets less every day and
they've started me on the strengthening regime now. I never
had big arms anyway, but the left one is looking remarkably
scrawny at this stage.

Quoted message said:

Glad you got back out there, Tom -- don't tell your doc,
but DO be careful! I know you don't want to get scoped 'n
sewed any more...

Thanks. I'm looking forward to a real ride, but I figure
that's still a few weeks a way. Ran into some biking buddies
in the parking lot and they were all raving about the new
trail the local club just finished. It was killin' me, but
I'm planning to hold out on the real riding until the doc
gives me the thumbs up. 'Course I think I caused the
original problem about 10 years ago from a silly OTB
incident, so the risk is always present. Surgery once a
decade ain't bad though, as long as I get to keep riding!

Tom

tcmedara said:

in my camelbak to feed the starving child. He looked so
cool -- mud flecked legs, gloves still on, helmet hair,
and bar hanging out his mouth and a big grin on his face.
Wish I'd had a camera to capture it. A perfect example of
pure mountain bike joy. The absolute essence of what's so
great about this sport. We didn't ride all that fast, or
all that crazy. But the boy rode hard and he didn't want
to stop because it was just too much damn fun. I was just
happy to be there.

Shoulda "smoked" the little dude. ;-)

Just kidding. Very cool - I never could get my daughter into
it, and I'm a little jealous of those who can. Some days its
fun to be a family man.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail
address, at least)

"tcmedara" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the

arm.

Quoted message said:

Whatever the cause, all things are made better through
chemicals. Either way, it was well worth it to see the
expression on a 9 year old kid who

just

Quoted message said:

rode himself to exhaustion and loved every minute of it.

Tom

Coolness. Which trail?

Pete

Pete said:

"tcmedara" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the arm. Whatever the cause,
all things are made better through chemicals. Either way,
it was well worth it to see the expression on a 9 year
old kid who just rode himself to exhaustion and loved
every minute of it.

Tom

Coolness. Which trail?

Pete

The first loop at Harwood and then up around the fire roads
past the model airplane field and back. We'll have to meet
up out there sometime, with or without kids. I'm still 4-6
weeks from real riding, but I'll probably end up pushing the
envelope despite my best intentions. BTW, have you tried the
new trail up at New Quarter Park yet?

Tom

"tcmedara" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The first loop at Harwood and then up around the fire
roads past the model airplane field and back. We'll have
to meet up out there sometime, with

or

Quoted message said:

without kids. I'm still 4-6 weeks from real riding, but
I'll probably end up pushing the envelope despite my best
intentions. BTW, have you tried the new trail up at New
Quarter Park yet?

Hadn't heard of it New Quarter Park. But...may take the BW
out and try it this week.

Pete

tcmedara wrote: <snip>

Quoted message said:

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the arm. Whatever the cause,
all things are made better through chemicals. Either way,
it was well worth it to see the expression on a 9 year old
kid who just rode himself to exhaustion and loved every
minute of it.

Tom

Nice. Welcome back! Don't push too hard, but stay on it as
you can. You'll bounce back quickly, I'm sure!

Matt (shoulder still gets sore, but not too much to ride)

tcmedara said:

My shoulder surgery was almost two months ago, but the doc
told me no riding off road for now because it takes upwards
of 8-12 weeks for the tendon to heal down to the bone where
he reattached it. The guy's a sports medicine surgeon and a
cyclist, so I am inclined to do what he tells me most of
the time. He did say riding on the road was okay, but to
avoid anything too rough on the shoulder.

Well today was just too damn nice to be a psuedo-roadie. 72
deg F, sunny, dry trails, I couldn't pass it up. I figured
I'd drag the boy wonder with me and that would force me to
keep the speed down and just take it easy. We went to the
local trails and started with the first little one mile
loop of single track. The BW actually mastered all the
bridges without incident and his confidence level shot
through the roof.

The bumps and roots on the single track were a bit much on
the wounded wing, even with the fork set as soft as I could
get it. So I decided we'd better stick to the fire roads.
We rode for a little over an hour and the sun was starting
to go down and BW was starting to complain about being
hungry. We "raced" back to the parking lot and I dug out
the last of the granola bars in my camelbak to feed the
starving child. He looked so cool -- mud flecked legs,
gloves still on, helmet hair, and bar hanging out his mouth
and a big grin on his face.

Quoted message said:

Wish I'd had a camera to capture it. A perfect example of
pure mountain bike joy. The absolute essence of what's so
great about this sport. We didn't ride all that fast, or
all that crazy. But the boy rode hard and he didn't want to
stop because it was just too much damn fun. I was just
happy to be there.

sweet!

Quoted message said:

Shoulder hurt like hell, despite sticking to the fire
roads. I'm sure it was just the tiny little bumps and the
absolute lack of strenght in the arm. Whatever the cause,
all things are made better through chemicals. Either way,
it was well worth it to see the expression on a 9 year old
kid who just rode himself to exhaustion and loved every
minute of it.

Tom

nice rr, Bill The mind serves properly as a window glass
rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind should give an
immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world.
:-]