Only 4 more biking days until surgery... - Page 2

02-18-2005, 02:49 PM

: Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
: commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
: 28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.

: No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
: membership is still paid up.

When I had my surgery, I arranged for the 24 Hour Fitness Club to put my
membership into medical suspension. Why don't you try that? They didn't
charge me while I was recuperating. I needed a doctor's note, but I took it
to them after the fact and they were really nice about it. I just alerted
them before the surgery that it was upcoming, and they put a notation in my
file--and just said, "Please bring us the note for our files".

If you have an opportunity to get one of those electrically-powered ice
thermos arrangements, by all means get one! My insurance paid for it 100%.
It is a square, gallon sized thermos box that you put ice and water into.
Then, a cuff fits around your arm with Velcro. The pump is plugged in and
it pumps ice water around the joint continuously. Not only does it help
tremendously with the pain, but it actually speeds up your recuperation by
keeping the ice water circulating around the surgery site. I don't remember
the name of it, but I'll bet the people at the surgery center know exactly
what I am talking about. Polar Care 300 is its name.

May the whole experience be as minimal as possible and may you recuperate
rapidly.

Pat in TX

02-18-2005, 05:04 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:02:16 -0500, "David L. Johnson"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:50:25 -0800, Maggie wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Imagine riding through NYC with 50,000 of your closest friends. Some
>> of
>>> your friends can ride 25mph others can't maintain 10mph. Some of your
>>> friends will be able to ride a straight line while others can't keep
>> a
>>> straight line on a railroad track. Some of your friends are mountain
>>> goats while others will only be able to walk the ascent up the
>>> Queensborough Bridge. All in all Bike NY will make you wish for the
>>> pleasantries of riding in NYC traffic.
>>>
>>> I'd say the MS ride will probably be a better first ride for you.
>
>>
>> Gee you make it sound like a nightmare.
>
>I've never done it, but everyone I talk to who has done it agrees that it
>is a nightmare. An experience, but also a nightmare. There is something
>cool about the city closing down traffic on bridges so that the ride can
>use them, but the number of riders (and the variety of skill levels) is
>unmanageable.

I have to disagree. I've done it the last six years or so. The start
is chaos, no doubt about it, as the order starts to make itself clear.
A friend and I just head toward the front as fast as we can. It stays
pretty clogged until halfway through Central Park and then it opens up
and you can really start moving. There really isn't a whole lot of
reason that you can't just start in Central Park after the main
speeders go by.

By the time we cross the little bridge into the Bronx we've pretty
much caught the back of the faster ones and the rest is fine. Last
year we were at the festival before noon. We head straight to the
massage tent.

If you're new and fairly slow, just don't line up early and end up
near the front. Take your time getting there and start near the back.
That way the faster folks don't have to work their way past you and
it's better for everyone.

If you are falling too far behind you will be diverted back into
Manhattan over one of the bridges. The great part about biking in New
York is that you are never far from a subway entrance. That's the
reason that it is pretty easy to commute by bike. If something breaks
or the weather turns really ugly, just head for a subway.

A surprisingly nice ride for newcomers is the Tour De Bronx in
October. That splits the tour into a fast group and a slow group. The
slow group is escorted in a bubble so you can't get lost or too far
off the pace. Little kids manage to do the slow one.

Plus, it's free.

02-18-2005, 05:04 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:02:16 -0500, "David L. Johnson"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:50:25 -0800, Maggie wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Imagine riding through NYC with 50,000 of your closest friends. Some
>> of
>>> your friends can ride 25mph others can't maintain 10mph. Some of your
>>> friends will be able to ride a straight line while others can't keep
>> a
>>> straight line on a railroad track. Some of your friends are mountain
>>> goats while others will only be able to walk the ascent up the
>>> Queensborough Bridge. All in all Bike NY will make you wish for the
>>> pleasantries of riding in NYC traffic.
>>>
>>> I'd say the MS ride will probably be a better first ride for you.
>
>>
>> Gee you make it sound like a nightmare.
>
>I've never done it, but everyone I talk to who has done it agrees that it
>is a nightmare. An experience, but also a nightmare. There is something
>cool about the city closing down traffic on bridges so that the ride can
>use them, but the number of riders (and the variety of skill levels) is
>unmanageable.

I have to disagree. I've done it the last six years or so. The start
is chaos, no doubt about it, as the order starts to make itself clear.
A friend and I just head toward the front as fast as we can. It stays
pretty clogged until halfway through Central Park and then it opens up
and you can really start moving. There really isn't a whole lot of
reason that you can't just start in Central Park after the main
speeders go by.

By the time we cross the little bridge into the Bronx we've pretty
much caught the back of the faster ones and the rest is fine. Last
year we were at the festival before noon. We head straight to the
massage tent.

If you're new and fairly slow, just don't line up early and end up
near the front. Take your time getting there and start near the back.
That way the faster folks don't have to work their way past you and
it's better for everyone.

If you are falling too far behind you will be diverted back into
Manhattan over one of the bridges. The great part about biking in New
York is that you are never far from a subway entrance. That's the
reason that it is pretty easy to commute by bike. If something breaks
or the weather turns really ugly, just head for a subway.

A surprisingly nice ride for newcomers is the Tour De Bronx in
October. That splits the tour into a fast group and a slow group. The
slow group is escorted in a bubble so you can't get lost or too far
off the pace. Little kids manage to do the slow one.

Plus, it's free.

02-18-2005, 05:17 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 17:49:50 -0600, "Pat" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>
>: Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
>: commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
>: 28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
>: No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
>: membership is still paid up.
>
>When I had my surgery, I arranged for the 24 Hour Fitness Club to put my
>membership into medical suspension. Why don't you try that? They didn't
>charge me while I was recuperating. I needed a doctor's note, but I took it
>to them after the fact and they were really nice about it. I just alerted
>them before the surgery that it was upcoming, and they put a notation in my
>file--and just said, "Please bring us the note for our files".
>
>If you have an opportunity to get one of those electrically-powered ice
>thermos arrangements, by all means get one! My insurance paid for it 100%.
>It is a square, gallon sized thermos box that you put ice and water into.
>Then, a cuff fits around your arm with Velcro. The pump is plugged in and
>it pumps ice water around the joint continuously. Not only does it help
>tremendously with the pain, but it actually speeds up your recuperation by
>keeping the ice water circulating around the surgery site. I don't remember
>the name of it, but I'll bet the people at the surgery center know exactly
>what I am talking about. Polar Care 300 is its name.
>
>May the whole experience be as minimal as possible and may you recuperate
>rapidly.
>
>Pat in TX

Wow, great advice. I'll look up that thermos. As for the gym, well, I
usually suspend the membership for the three months of the summer. I
spend all my time playing tennis (not this year), biking, or at the
beach swimming. But I've been paying for the whole time from September
through now and went once. I keep thinking that I'll go but since I
took up bike commuting, well, who needs to go when I bike 25 miles a
day? I never really expected to keep it up through the winter so I
kept the membership going.

Now I think that I'll need it. After a week or so I think that I'll be
able to use the stationary bikes and nordic track things. It's only
the elbow that I can't use and I don't want to get all out of shape.

02-18-2005, 05:17 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 17:49:50 -0600, "Pat" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>
>: Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
>: commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
>: 28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
>: No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
>: membership is still paid up.
>
>When I had my surgery, I arranged for the 24 Hour Fitness Club to put my
>membership into medical suspension. Why don't you try that? They didn't
>charge me while I was recuperating. I needed a doctor's note, but I took it
>to them after the fact and they were really nice about it. I just alerted
>them before the surgery that it was upcoming, and they put a notation in my
>file--and just said, "Please bring us the note for our files".
>
>If you have an opportunity to get one of those electrically-powered ice
>thermos arrangements, by all means get one! My insurance paid for it 100%.
>It is a square, gallon sized thermos box that you put ice and water into.
>Then, a cuff fits around your arm with Velcro. The pump is plugged in and
>it pumps ice water around the joint continuously. Not only does it help
>tremendously with the pain, but it actually speeds up your recuperation by
>keeping the ice water circulating around the surgery site. I don't remember
>the name of it, but I'll bet the people at the surgery center know exactly
>what I am talking about. Polar Care 300 is its name.
>
>May the whole experience be as minimal as possible and may you recuperate
>rapidly.
>
>Pat in TX

Wow, great advice. I'll look up that thermos. As for the gym, well, I
usually suspend the membership for the three months of the summer. I
spend all my time playing tennis (not this year), biking, or at the
beach swimming. But I've been paying for the whole time from September
through now and went once. I keep thinking that I'll go but since I
took up bike commuting, well, who needs to go when I bike 25 miles a
day? I never really expected to keep it up through the winter so I
kept the membership going.

Now I think that I'll need it. After a week or so I think that I'll be
able to use the stationary bikes and nordic track things. It's only
the elbow that I can't use and I don't want to get all out of shape.

02-18-2005, 06:10 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:31:41 -0500, dgk
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
>commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
>28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
>I sort of knew that this was coming. A smart person would have
>scheduled it for early January and missed the worst of winter. But I
>was curious to see how well I could commute during the worst of
>winter. Well, that is pretty well passing by now. So, moron that I am,
>I get to miss the winds of March and part of the April showers.
>
>Oh well. It gives me two or three weeks to get back in shape for Bike
>New York, always the first Sunday in May. This year I doubt any kind
>of weather will keep me from doing it. I used to wuss out if it was a
>little cold or wet. Not this year. Not after what I've been going
>through. Today was around 30, a veritable heat wave.
>
>No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
>membership is still paid up.

Well, ood luck with recovery, etc.But yes, I always say if you're
going to have surgery and you can schedule it, do it in the off-season
or the middle of winter!

It was almost a year ago (march 10) that I was operated on for an
intestinal blockage, and it wasn't exactly scheduled. It was
emergency. Around here, cycling season usually gets underway in april
or late march if the weather is decent.

Six weeks from the date of surgery was the 'go-ahead' day given to me
for getting back to normal. My first bike ride was actually seven
weeks because the weather had been crap; I did miss the lousy weather
and early april was crap. I was able to ride the trainer and go to the
gym. So the end of april I did my first ride. It was great!

I realized that's the great thing about cycling. I really couldn't do
lots of other stuff- running wasn't a great idea with all the jouncing
and impact, I couldn't do situps for months after, even yoga was
almost impossible because of all the flexibility it requires. But I
was able to get on a trainer and a bike six weeks later! Obviously
it's because of how you sit. But really, ain't it grand? WHen you
can't do anything else, even situps, you can get on a bike! And even
ride!

Anyways, don't sweat it, you'll be back on the bike soon enough. Good
luck with the surgery and ask for kosher food at the hospital!

02-18-2005, 06:10 PM

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:31:41 -0500, dgk
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
>commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
>28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
>I sort of knew that this was coming. A smart person would have
>scheduled it for early January and missed the worst of winter. But I
>was curious to see how well I could commute during the worst of
>winter. Well, that is pretty well passing by now. So, moron that I am,
>I get to miss the winds of March and part of the April showers.
>
>Oh well. It gives me two or three weeks to get back in shape for Bike
>New York, always the first Sunday in May. This year I doubt any kind
>of weather will keep me from doing it. I used to wuss out if it was a
>little cold or wet. Not this year. Not after what I've been going
>through. Today was around 30, a veritable heat wave.
>
>No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
>membership is still paid up.

Well, ood luck with recovery, etc.But yes, I always say if you're
going to have surgery and you can schedule it, do it in the off-season
or the middle of winter!

It was almost a year ago (march 10) that I was operated on for an
intestinal blockage, and it wasn't exactly scheduled. It was
emergency. Around here, cycling season usually gets underway in april
or late march if the weather is decent.

Six weeks from the date of surgery was the 'go-ahead' day given to me
for getting back to normal. My first bike ride was actually seven
weeks because the weather had been crap; I did miss the lousy weather
and early april was crap. I was able to ride the trainer and go to the
gym. So the end of april I did my first ride. It was great!

I realized that's the great thing about cycling. I really couldn't do
lots of other stuff- running wasn't a great idea with all the jouncing
and impact, I couldn't do situps for months after, even yoga was
almost impossible because of all the flexibility it requires. But I
was able to get on a trainer and a bike six weeks later! Obviously
it's because of how you sit. But really, ain't it grand? WHen you
can't do anything else, even situps, you can get on a bike! And even
ride!

Anyways, don't sweat it, you'll be back on the bike soon enough. Good
luck with the surgery and ask for kosher food at the hospital!

02-19-2005, 06:33 AM

"dgk" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
> commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
> 28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
> I sort of knew that this was coming. A smart person would have
> scheduled it for early January and missed the worst of winter. But I
> was curious to see how well I could commute during the worst of
> winter. Well, that is pretty well passing by now. So, moron that I am,
> I get to miss the winds of March and part of the April showers.
>
> Oh well. It gives me two or three weeks to get back in shape for Bike
> New York, always the first Sunday in May. This year I doubt any kind
> of weather will keep me from doing it. I used to wuss out if it was a
> little cold or wet. Not this year. Not after what I've been going
> through. Today was around 30, a veritable heat wave.
>
> No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
> membership is still paid up.

I've had a couple of serious accidents and surgeries that have put me off
the bike for six weeks and more. My recommendation is that you follow the
docs orders about what you can't do, but get VERY creative about what you
can do. For example, thanks to a broken hip and ankle, I had to be
non-weight-bearing on my left leg for 6 weeks. But I could lay on my back
on the floor and do bicycle spins in the air. I did them for 1/2 hour at a
time, a couple times a day. By the time I was able to get into rehab, I was
weeks ahead of the game because of the flexibility I already had. And I
don't see why elbow surgery should keep you off of a trainer or stationary
bike.

Good luck and be tough!

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

02-19-2005, 06:33 AM

"dgk" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> Monday is a holiday, no work. So Tuesday through Friday are it for
> commuting by bike for me. I have my elbow operated on on Monday the
> 28th. Then, according to the surgeon, no biking for six weeks. Youch.
>
> I sort of knew that this was coming. A smart person would have
> scheduled it for early January and missed the worst of winter. But I
> was curious to see how well I could commute during the worst of
> winter. Well, that is pretty well passing by now. So, moron that I am,
> I get to miss the winds of March and part of the April showers.
>
> Oh well. It gives me two or three weeks to get back in shape for Bike
> New York, always the first Sunday in May. This year I doubt any kind
> of weather will keep me from doing it. I used to wuss out if it was a
> little cold or wet. Not this year. Not after what I've been going
> through. Today was around 30, a veritable heat wave.
>
> No tennis for up to 10 weeks. I'd better make sure that the gym
> membership is still paid up.

I've had a couple of serious accidents and surgeries that have put me off
the bike for six weeks and more. My recommendation is that you follow the
docs orders about what you can't do, but get VERY creative about what you
can do. For example, thanks to a broken hip and ankle, I had to be
non-weight-bearing on my left leg for 6 weeks. But I could lay on my back
on the floor and do bicycle spins in the air. I did them for 1/2 hour at a
time, a couple times a day. By the time I was able to get into rehab, I was
weeks ahead of the game because of the flexibility I already had. And I
don't see why elbow surgery should keep you off of a trainer or stationary
bike.

Good luck and be tough!

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

02-19-2005, 07:56 AM

psycholist <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> time, a couple times a day. By the time I was able to get into rehab, I was
> weeks ahead of the game because of the flexibility I already had. And I
> don't see why elbow surgery should keep you off of a trainer or stationary
> bike.

Especially something like a stationary recumbent bike. I used one of
these for a fairly long time. They don't require you to stabilize
yourself with your arms at all, and are generally more comfortable
than stationary bikes.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"A sportsman is a man who, every now and then, simply
has to go out and kill something." -Stephen Lea****