Getting back into cycling help

[lgbran]

 Hi folks,
6 month mark and easing back into cycling. It's a bit of a hot and miss affair. Managed 70 ks yesterday at a slow pace and pulled up,ok today. I am trying to shed so,e of the unwanted kilos gained post surgery and plan to ramp it up a bit. Feel good on the bike going up hills and feeling strong. Interested in some feedback from other cyclists here and how theft went post surgery. I don't race or anything like that. But  am keen to get back to 300 + ks week I was doing when the going was good
Cheers
Len 11/11/13 RBHR  Stephen McMahon Melbourne Australia

[Boomer]

Len - I am coming upon two years for my second hip and yet still have difficult days on the bike. I live in Colorado and ride road and trails for distance every other day. Some days the hips are not an issue, but most days one of my hips nags me as I ride. The only thing that makes it easier is to use the smaller rings as much as possible. Pulling the big rings and climbing mountains always sets my right hip to nagging, pulling and pinching. Not enough to take the smile from my face, but a reminder that I need to be gentle with my hips, so back off the big rings and take it easy. Colorado is a pretty place, so I slow down and take it all in when I ride.

I have learned by listening to the Hippy on this site that whenever an activity becomes uncomfortable, back off a bit until things calm down. I'm not competing anymore, so  there is no point fighting through the pain and discomfort.

Enjoy your riding.

Boomer

[whyme]

Hi Len,

I'm 8.5 months post surgery, started cycling outdoors at 6 months, but I'm getting back to it slower than you. I only cycle once a week (in the last 2-3 weeks sometimes 2), now around 40km per session, and avoiding hills for the most part.
Generally not having any issues, and the hip is not sore during or after exercise, although for the first 5-6 weeks since I got back to it I had a bit of ITB (Iliotibial Band) irritation it seems, so I've been careful. Lately no more ITB issues.
I'm going clearly harder than 2 months ago, but still try to limit the session to under 2h, I tell to myself there is plenty of time to increase duration and intensity.

I'm pretty sure I can do 60+ km in one session already, but will build up gradually to it.

[lgbran]

Thanks Boomer and Whyme,
Just back from a gentle 50ks and will ride gently on my spin bike tomorow.I might need to throw caution into the wind and stick to the small rings.Reside by the coast and should take in sites a bit
More. If I can manage 3-4 rides a week with some consistancy will be happy.cant wait for the 12 month mark when restrictions are lifted.thanks for the feedback.happy cycling
Cheers

[einreb]

I'm at a little over three years now, but have been cycling a good bit since 5-6 months post op.

A few things that I wish I had done differently... I think I favored the non-surgery leg a lot early on, so try to make sure that the resurfaced leg is doing good 'work', but don't overdo it (find that balance).

Also... adding back in some good core work and stretching is important if you bike a lot.  I think that has helped me immensely.

My fit has changed a good bit over the last few years.  Make sure you are comfortable. I'm now able to get to a much more aggressive position, but there is no need to push that early in recovery.... 6 months is still early in the grand scheme of things.

[Sandspinner]

Hey Len,

Good to hear your back in the saddle.  I had my right resurfaced in 2009 and just had my left done this past January.  I'm now back to riding 100 plus miles per week with no issues.  No racing but I like a brisk pace.  I was interested to read whyme had ITB issues which I have had on both sides post op.  I use the foam roller everyday just to try and stay on top of it. einreb makes a good point to do core work and stretch.  Lots of luck and enjoy the rides!

[whyme]

Hey Sandspinner, just on the ITB issue I eventually went to my physiotherapist to check it out just over a month ago. She thought it was probably a combination of two things: 1) The gluteus is strong, but not yet as strong as it could be, 2) the psoas is weak. As a consequence, the ITB gets tighter as it takes in more than the fair share.
So she recommended to keep doing the hip exercises to strengthen both muscles. I'm cautious with the psoas / hip flexion exercises, avoiding high angles.

[lgbran]

Pulled up ok today but funnily enough legs are tired doer from having to stand on my feet at work for 6 hours.Need to do some work with the foam roller.had a bike fit about a month ago shortened my reach abit and will revisit next year.its great to be cycling again pain free and in time my form and progress will improve. All good and will keep you posted. Just been watching the frills and spills from the giro di Italy . Those guys can certainly ride
Cheers  and great to hear from some fellow cycling hippies. Keep in toch

[ronjoe]

I took a different approach.

I had been an avid and fairly strong cyclist.  A 7 hour century (100 mile) ride SEP 2012 was my last ride before my right BHR Dr F Boettner, HSS 28 FEB 2014.

Dr Boettner mentioned at my 24 March follow up that I could begin riding, so I did.  At the time I still wasn't walking all that well. It was easier to ride. I began on my mountain bike with short easy 2-4 miles (.62 miles/ K ) rides and by week 6-7 with the road bike was up to a gentle sloping 6-9 miles out and back.

I can not give enough credit to my physical therapist.  Cycling is not a total body exercise and does little for most other movements and functions.  That said I do one leg interval sprints on the bicycle taking advantage of the gears and reduced resistance load.

Now at about 18 weeks my longest ride was 40 miles, 3+ hours 2 weeks ago.  And while I have not increased distance and duration; my intensity, speed, climbing, aggressiveness are getting stronger and feeling right, natural.

Did have a knee ache problem, limping Sunday pm and Monday am after that day's ride.

Surprisingly, curiously felt better after inversion table stretching.  Was not my expectation.  The hanging by my heels apparatus is new to me.  I like the stretching sensation from inversion in addition to all the other stretches I do.  And, the knee's all better!

[Kiwi Hippie]

My surgeon (Hugh Blackley in New Zealand) is of the belief (like more and more it seems) that if it isn't uncomfortable it isn't doing any harm.  I was an active road cyclist prior to my BHR and after 3 weeks carefully climbed onto my wind trainer for a 10 minute easy spin.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was no pain - no doubt helped by the muscles not having forgotten what to do.  A couple of weeks after that I ventured onto the road.  An hour on the WT or road is not a problem, but I avoid steep hills.

As with other comments, the secret is to keep the gears easy.  I had recently changed to a bike with compact gears to ease the pain I was getting prior to the operation - wish I had done it 10 years ago!

This may well differ wildly from what some surgeons say - but its my penny worth.

Enjoy the ride.

[shoraztri]

Hi Kiwi Hippie,
Your post was great , and like me I am a KIWI to. Dr. Hugh Blackley also performed my BHR surgery , Left Hip on Monday 7th July 2014, so I am just off the OP. table so to speak- Day 7 now.
I look forward to " getting my leg over " !!! and dusting off the cobwebs from an ancient Cateye wind Trainer.
Cheers ,
Kiwi Boy from Down Under.
[ Also see separate post as well].

[kleary12]

Just repeating my boring old post on padded shorts. (another poster, mountain biker, recommended G-Form).

While I did cycle some during recovery, I have started real road riding again (left BHR Sept 2013) and had concerns about falling on my hip. I read in one of these posts about POC VPD shorts and got some for peace of mind (there may be other brands, but the VPD technology sounded serious, so I went with them).  I wear them over my normal bike sorts because I don't want to interfere with the padding.  It looks mildly funky, but after the indignities of hip surgeries and crutches and all, who cares.

Now here's the thing--in 8 years of riding, I had never fallen--seriously, never, always successfully caught myself in time.  But this past weekend, I went straight over, smack onto my left hip (and apparently fell perfectly because I never let go of my handlebar grip; was avoiding very fast motorcycles that appeared out of nowhere while crossing a street; had a partly clipped in, strongly breaking thing occur so fast I didn't know what happened).  And, I had ZERO pain, none at all.  It was like nothing happened!  Well, actually, my left hand became really sore, but is now clearing up after some icing.  I was so relieved and I LOVE my VPD shorts. I highly recommend them.