The discussion/suggestions in this thread along with the article has provided some interesting and timely food for thought for me. A couple of days ago I decided that it was probably time for me to make an appointment with the back doc, so I will see him in about 10 days. I’m 52 and over the last year or so, my back issues have seemed to get progressively worse. Not horrible, but noticeable. I have scoliosis that was diagnosed in childhood, not enough for surgery during my younger years, but I suspect that is the root cause of the degeneration I have been experiencing during the last few years. I have been very active my entire life and my back issues really haven’t impacted me much but things seem to have changed recently. Like many of you, the bike seems to provide relief. Last summer I did several relatively long rides including one of about 10 hour, 150+ miles, with lots of climbing and had virtually no issues except a little stiffness. In contrast, I can take a short walk with my wife and find my left leg going numb very quickly. Sometimes I can’t stand still for more than about 15 minutes before I start to feel numbness down my leg. Do a deep knee bend and it will fade away. The back pain is something that I can and have dealt with, but the numbness and accompanying weakness is something that is concerning. I pretty much know what to expect from the doc that I am going to see … MRI first, recommendation for injections/surgery next. The guy is an excellent surgeon but before I do anything radical, I plan on continuing to work hard on improving core strength and flexibility, and maybe get a hold of an inversion table and try some simple spinal decompression. I have never spent a day in the hospital my entire life so I am very reluctant to undergo anything major but I am thinking the MRI might be a good idea since it might better identify what is going on. I guess we will see. Despite the issues, I feel fortunate that I can still do what I enjoy doing and ride without major problems.