had a heart attack in 1990; did 3 stents then, then in 1997 had several more stents put in (only then did i quit smoking). had the final 3 put in in 2001 (i think the residual carry over from the quit smoking overeating syndrome). they never really slowed me down other than waiting about 2 - 3 weeks after the procedure to ride or carry on the normal activity. i don't think i will ever need another one due to good lifestyle changes.
obviously check with your dr. but in my case my doc says do as much as i want (riding, loving, etc..). when they put me on the treadmill for a yearly testing, i am in the top 95% performance of my age group.
gw