BACK on the BIKE!

"dgk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My surgeon (tennis elbow surgery) has given me the ok to resume
cycling after a six week hiatus. I biked in to work today.

Woo-hoo!

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article <[email hidden]>,

dgk said:

My surgeon (tennis elbow surgery) has given me the ok to resume
cycling after a six week hiatus. I biked in to work today. Elbow feels
ok.

That's great, I'm glad things are looking up for you again.

Was your first ride after the 6 weeks stronger than you expected?

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 16:16:56 -0700, [email hidden] (Tom Keats)

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

dgk said:

My surgeon (tennis elbow surgery) has given me the ok to resume
cycling after a six week hiatus. I biked in to work today. Elbow feels
ok.

That's great, I'm glad things are looking up for you again.

Was your first ride after the 6 weeks stronger than you expected?

cheers,
Tom

I did it Monday and Wednesday. And I'll do it Friday. The elbow
actually hurt a bit but in a different place. More up the tendon than
right on the elbow. Not while biking, afterwards. Nothing much, I
think it is a bit tired.

My legs felt a little heavy after the ride but nothing bad. All in
all, pretty good. I don't really tear along normally but did make it
into work in just under an hour (30 seconds under) on Wednesday. That
is faster than many morning rides.

Unfortunately I was just a few blocks from home yesterday when I
stumbled upon a new little Sweet Shoppe on a side road. I never would
have seen it if I hadn't been biking. No chocolate yet (thank God) but
plenty of excellent looking little pastries. I ended up with a small
carrot cake. That way I can fool myself into thinking that it must be
healthy. There go all the benefits of bike commuting. I'll have to try
another route.

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

dgk said:

My surgeon (tennis elbow surgery) has given me the ok to resume
cycling after a six week hiatus. I biked in to work today. Elbow feels
ok.

That's great, I'm glad things are looking up for you again.

Was your first ride after the 6 weeks stronger than you expected?

Went through that the year before last [eye surgery]. And laid off for a
few months this winter. It took me about 20 minutes to get back into it.

--
'They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.' -joni mitchell

In article <[email hidden]>,

dgk said:

Quoted message said:

Was your first ride after the 6 weeks stronger than you expected?

cheers,
Tom

I did it Monday and Wednesday. And I'll do it Friday. The elbow
actually hurt a bit but in a different place. More up the tendon than
right on the elbow. Not while biking, afterwards. Nothing much, I
think it is a bit tired.

My legs felt a little heavy after the ride but nothing bad. All in
all, pretty good. I don't really tear along normally but did make it
into work in just under an hour (30 seconds under) on Wednesday. That
is faster than many morning rides.

Sounds like you've still got a lot of base fitness then,
which is good. The longest I've been off the bike for the
last two or three years was two or three weeks. I was scared
witless I'd lost a lot of cycling fitness, but my fears were
unfounded. What little I did lose quickly came back over the
course of a week.

Quoted message said:

Unfortunately I was just a few blocks from home yesterday when I
stumbled upon a new little Sweet Shoppe on a side road. I never would
have seen it if I hadn't been biking.

Destiny rears its ugly head again :-)

Quoted message said:

No chocolate yet (thank God) but
plenty of excellent looking little pastries. I ended up with a small
carrot cake. That way I can fool myself into thinking that it must be
healthy. There go all the benefits of bike commuting. I'll have to try
another route.

Aw, a little moderate indulgence now and then
is good for the soul. Although lately I've
been getting an on-again/off-again hankering -
not for decadent confections, but for a nice,
juicy pomegranate. And the spare time to savour it.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>,

1oki said:

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

dgk said:

My surgeon (tennis elbow surgery) has given me the ok to resume
cycling after a six week hiatus. I biked in to work today. Elbow feels
ok.

That's great, I'm glad things are looking up for you again.

Was your first ride after the 6 weeks stronger than you expected?

Went through that the year before last [eye surgery]. And laid off for a
few months this winter. It took me about 20 minutes to get back into it.

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness,
to the point where the first ride afterward results in
spaghetti legs? I imagine a couple of years, at least.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness,
to the point where the first ride afterward results in
spaghetti legs? I imagine a couple of years, at least.

Well I did have a sore butt after a layoff. Otherwise the muscles seemed
non-atrophied.

--
'Do you really think any part of this
should come to the attention of the authorities?'
-hal

Tom Keats said:

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness,
to the point where the first ride afterward results in
spaghetti legs? I imagine a couple of years, at least.

I had heard that you started losing fitness after only a couple of
weeks, so I was a bit freaked out this winter when I got a perforated
colon and couldn't really do anything for a couple of months. I just
did my first sorta-hard ride with the usual weekly group. I was pretty
surprised that I could still hang with them. I think losing 15 lb
helped with the climbs. I did a little indoor trainer riding, but way
less than once a week, so I thought I'd be toast. I'm pleasantly
surprised, it doesn't seem to go away that fast.

Tom Keats said:

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness, to the point
where the first ride afterward results in spaghetti legs? I imagine
a couple of years, at least.

That depends on how old you are and what else you do that keeps your
aerobic capacity alive. On the other hand it also depends on the
definition of fitness. There are time in winter when I readily sense
that I cannot go on a ride over to the coast and back (120mi and
6000ft) in the Santa Cruz mountains. It takes a stretch of good
weather to build up to that again. In contrast, I recall when I was
"young and beautiful" that this never occurred and that without
thinking about it and with little riding I would undertake such rides.

Time tells.

[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Tom Keats said:

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness, to the

point

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

where the first ride afterward results in spaghetti legs? I

imagine

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a couple of years, at least.

That depends on how old you are and what else you do that keeps your
aerobic capacity alive. On the other hand it also depends on the
definition of fitness. There are time in winter when I readily sense
that I cannot go on a ride over to the coast and back (120mi and
6000ft) in the Santa Cruz mountains. It takes a stretch of good
weather to build up to that again. In contrast, I recall when I was
"young and beautiful" that this never occurred and that without
thinking about it and with little riding I would undertake such

rides.

You don't give your age or the amount of time you lay off or what else
you do during the lay off, so there's not much to calibrate by.

In the winter, I ride once a week, only 30 miles, but at a brisk pace,
that's about it for exercise. This maintains enough fitness to do a
ride each spring of 125 mi/6,000' (virtually identical to your coastal
loop) without any other preparation. It's not a breeze, but not
unpleasant. I'm 55.

Quoted message said:

Time tells.

Perhaps, but not as much as most people seem to think.

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

In the winter, I ride once a week, only 30 miles, but at a

brisk pace,

Quoted message said:

that's about it for exercise. This maintains enough fitness

to do a

Quoted message said:

ride each spring of 125 mi/6,000' (virtually identical to

your coastal

Quoted message said:

loop) without any other preparation. It's not a breeze, but

not

Quoted message said:

unpleasant. I'm 55.

I'm 55 as well, but have been doing enough in the winter to
stay in shape enough to start doing flat centuries (this is
Chicago) without further preparation in the spring. However,
in March I got a lung infection which pretty much sidelined me
completely for 5 weeks; I was exercising using a HR monitor,
and at very low levels of effort my HR would get high, so I
didn't push it. I lost a lot of conditioning.

Last Saturday I did my first century of the year -- the last
half with my daughter, and 50 miles was to be her longest-ever
ride. I was really hurting at the end, while my daughter was
still in good shape. I averaged 11.3 m.p.h. and my heart rate
was still near 120 2 hours later and I couldn't eat. Walking
wasn't much fun, either. I felt stupid for having
over-extended myself, for really no reason other than
stubborness.

Beginning Sunday evening, though, I started to feel stronger
than I have since February and I feel GREAT! I guess it
really is true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
(and perhaps vice-versa).

"Mike Kruger" wrote
<snip>

Quoted message said:

I guess it
really is true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
(and perhaps vice-versa).

Huh?

Mike Kruger said:

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

In the winter, I ride once a week, only 30 miles, but at a

brisk pace,

Quoted message said:

that's about it for exercise. This maintains enough fitness

to do a

Quoted message said:

ride each spring of 125 mi/6,000' (virtually identical to

your coastal

Quoted message said:

loop) without any other preparation. It's not a breeze, but

not

Quoted message said:

unpleasant. I'm 55.

I'm 55 as well, but have been doing enough in the winter to
stay in shape enough to start doing flat centuries (this is
Chicago) without further preparation in the spring. However,
in March I got a lung infection which pretty much sidelined me
completely for 5 weeks; I was exercising using a HR monitor,
and at very low levels of effort my HR would get high, so I
didn't push it. I lost a lot of conditioning.

Last Saturday I did my first century of the year -- the last
half with my daughter, and 50 miles was to be her longest-ever
ride. I was really hurting at the end, while my daughter was
still in good shape. I averaged 11.3 m.p.h. and my heart rate
was still near 120 2 hours later and I couldn't eat. Walking
wasn't much fun, either. I felt stupid for having
over-extended myself, for really no reason other than
stubborness.

With a heart rate of 120 after 2 hours I would see a doctor and see if
there isn't something going on that you should know about. I am 56 and
my heart rate goes below 100 within 5 to 10 minutes after riding hard
and fast. After two hours I am down to about 72-76, then two more hours
and I am down to my usual 62-64 daytime rate. Then again it could just
be we have different metabolisms, but I would think that 120 after 2
hours would justify an official doctor checkup.
Be safe, not sorry.

Quoted message said:

Beginning Sunday evening, though, I started to feel stronger
than I have since February and I feel GREAT! I guess it
really is true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
(and perhaps vice-versa).

Let's hope it does make you stronger. I just have memories of Jim Fixx
stuck in my head and what happened to him by thinking he was in tip top
shape.
Happy riding, summer is coming soon.
Bill Baka

Tom Keats said:

I wonder how long it takes to lose all cycling fitness,
to the point where the first ride afterward results in
spaghetti legs? I imagine a couple of years, at least.

After getting back into cycling last year, but then not doing much
during the winter, I am pleasantly surprised by my performance
on the first few rides of the season. None of that horrible lung-
burning feeling that means you are really out of shape, just a bit
less pep in my legs toward the end of a ride. It would be really
depressing to have to start from scratch each time you laid off for
a while.

Jeff T

In article <1114053708.8939d8fe9ed0eae261dcdb199d8a28f0@teranews>,

Mike Kruger said:

Beginning Sunday evening, though, I started to feel stronger
than I have since February and I feel GREAT! I guess it
really is true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
(and perhaps vice-versa).

It's truly marvellous, the way the cyclist's body can
rebound after a long stint of not riding. So, riders
who are forced to lay off the bike for awhile -- take
heart! Of course, taking care not to overstress
injuries in the process of healing is called-for, too.

When I've given riding a rest for a week or so, I've
always felt stronger when resuming. But maybe part
of that is just the invigourating joy of being
awheel again.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

boy u sound soft, the hell with overgoing it, biking is about intensity
not softness.