Fifty Plus (50+) - New record - 20 miles yesterday - 64 days after new hip

It doesn't sound like much, but to me it was a milestone. On day 64 (after hip replacement surgery), I completed 20 miles yesterday. Only 7mph average for speed, but I did enjoy myself.

I was hoping to do it again today, and my hip felt OK, but both knees are killing me, so I did nothing today (left knee replaced 11/09).

I am trying to tell myself to go repeat it tomorrow, but how I am feeling right now, I am not sure about tomorrow. I feel like if I don't ride tomorrow it means I rode too much yesterday, so then it doesn't have as much value - bleh. Before yesterday, my record was 13 miles. Guess we'll see what the morning brings?

Keep enjoying and don't overdo it. Good for you getting out there.

Awesome!

Don't rush it but keep going!

64 days off and parts of your body will have gone downhill without you realising. You have to bring those up to strength aswell so do it slowly.

:thumb:

Had mine done last November and now I'm riding pretty much pain free. Luckily for me is was winter so I was able to put the bike on a trainer and slowly get my range of motion back. Keep it up but remember to lay off if it starts bothering you too much.
Which joint did you get? I got the Zimmer Mini Incision, titanium with plastic wear joints.

:thumb:

Excellent. :beer:

I wanted matching parts, and since the knee is a 'Biomet', we went with Biomet for the hip. Seriously, what do I know, my Ortho chose the parts, since he was doing the work...

Like with the knee, there were bone issues, so another 9" scar - yay me

Well, so much for riding early today. Still creaky, trying to decide do I go creaky, or take yet another day off - yuck

Just do a few miles to loosen up, if you feel ok at that point, keep going, if not, rest. Listen to your body.

Way to go Peter. Slow and steady wins the race buddy. Follow Tim's advice above.

Very cool! I was on crutches for four months after my hip, but I was also very, very deconditioned before surgery. I say the sooner the better, as long as there is no pain the next day, but I would definitely ask the physical therapist if you are doing too much. Sounds like you have having a wonderful rehab. My main problem pre and post surgery has been abduction (leg away from the midline) and can't throw my leg over the bike, but it sure feels good to be riding once I get on the bike.
Way to go!

Four months? Ouch :( I thought I was doing poorly, not getting of my cane til the 7th week.

I understand how exciting it is to accomplish something. My doc says, if you hurt the next day you've overdone. My knees are 9 and 10 months old and I'm racing in our State Senior Games tomorrow. I have personal goals for me, to finish! My knees remind me when they've had enough, but my head says more. :) Good luck and keep up the good work.

I understand how exciting it is to accomplish something. My doc says, if you hurt the next day you've overdone. My knees are 9 and 10 months old and I'm racing in our State Senior Games tomorrow. I have personal goals for me, to finish! My knees remind me when they've had enough, but my head says more. :) Good luck and keep up the good work.

Welcome and check out this thread which should be of great interest to you

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/704193-50-Racing-training-for-racing-Thread

Great work Peter! My wife and I celebrated her 28 mile ride a few weeks ago. She has two hip replacements of which one had undergone a complete reconstruction prior to the replacement. She is training for a 50K charity ride next month and I have all the confidence in the world that she is going to breeze through it. Keep up the good work but take it easy and don't over exert yourself. You are doing great!

That's fantastic! Did your dr. okay the bike riding a month after your surgery?

It's been three weeks since I broke my rib and I'm getting antsy...

Yep - I learned years back to not do stuff before allowed.

I am actually done with "PT" now. And since the hip doesn't 'close' past 90 degrees on my trike, I was OK'ed to ride 3 weeks after surgery. Course, those first rides were only 1-3 miles at a time, but it helped to ride, as walking was so painful.

Four months? Ouch :( I thought I was doing poorly, not getting of my cane til the 7th week.

Nine weeks on a walker, with "Touch weight only" orders for me... My femur cracked when the hip was being installed, plus I needed a bone graph. Six more weeks on a cane after that. Five years out from the surgery now, and I'm back on the cane again, but it's because the knee below the hip is now needing replaced. Looking back through the clarity of time, it was likely the knee that caused the hip problems in the first place. It's alright though, my Mixte has a couple of places to mount my cane when I go out for a ride. :D

Wow! Thanks for the inspiration! My turn comes this Wednesday 8/17, when i get my new, store-bought hip (minimally invasive anterior approach, DK what 'brand'). i'm circling October 20 on the calendar as First Day Back On the Bike (Not On the Trainer in the Basement)! What helped you the most to get back in cycling shape?

For me, it was stair-work, and just getting around and starting to use the leg. While mine was not like what 'Bionicycle' went through, my knee replacement was sort of similar - I had been bone-on-bone for so many years, they had to do a 'rescission' when they put the new knee in.

The Ortho told my wife that the hip was a bit more than he expected (whatever that means) which is why my incision is as long as it is. Personally, since RoM (Range of Motion) was not an issue like it is for a knee, I *felt* like I was behind the curve - I still can not step up a stair with my right leg yet, and when I do something slightly weird like getting on the lawn-tractor I can really make my hip painful, granted, it is only 67 days today.

Congratulations Peter!

by the time I had my hip replaced, all of the cartilage and most of the bone was gone. I was completely unable to walk. I was on crutches during the day and on narcotics at night. After surgery, I was on crutches for the first couple of months, and on one crutch for another month or two, so not exactly "crutchES" maybe "crutch", and a lot of it was for balance, not really for support. After that I had a cane for a few weeks until I started forgetting it and decided that if I could forget it, I probably didn't need it. Anyway, I was very slow rehabbing from the total because I had lost most of the muscle surrounding the hip in the months before surgery because I was not able to use them. I had to rehab for a few months just to get back to zero, and then start improving. Lesson learned: if you need an operation, GET THE DANGED OPERATION! Denial does NOT fix hip arthritis, although I am counting on it for the other hip. (not!)

by the time I had my hip replaced, all of the cartilage and most of the bone was gone. I was completely unable to walk. I was on crutches during the day and on narcotics at night. After surgery, I was on crutches for the first couple of months, and on one crutch for another month or two, so not exactly "crutchES" maybe "crutch", and a lot of it was for balance, not really for support. After that I had a cane for a few weeks until I started forgetting it and decided that if I could forget it, I probably didn't need it. Anyway, I was very slow rehabbing from the total because I had lost most of the muscle surrounding the hip in the months before surgery because I was not able to use them. I had to rehab for a few months just to get back to zero, and then start improving. Lesson learned: if you need an operation, GET THE DANGED OPERATION! Denial does NOT fix hip arthritis, although I am counting on it for the other hip. (not!)

That sounds so like my left knee. They want you to be under 200lbs and over 55yrs before they replace it. I had had two major knee surgeries, and 5 'scope surgeries since 1979, and was bone-on-bone for 3-4yrs prior to the TKR, and 18 months in Pain MGNT - then they finally decided to do the knee, I had one unresponsive muscle group - took 2 months of muscle stim before it started working, since the TKR 11-09, I have had 3 shots below the knee (forget the name of the area) - needed due to use - it was so unused to being used that it complained rather badly for 7-8 months. Now, the left knee is the stronger/better knee.

I too agree, putting off replacement once the joint impacts your daily life badly is just not a good idea.

:thumb: :thumb:

Well, today is the first day since I did the 20 mile ride that my knees are working reasonably well. Of course, it's rained most of the day today - of course.

I do not think it realistic to say that I pushed too far, or too hard, though that is what the knees hurting tells me. My perfect daily ride on the 'towpath' would be 28 miles, and that is what I am pushing towards, it makes for a great turn-around point, and it boosts my ego way more than thinking (or saying) I rode 10 miles today.

I am not overly concerned about how fast I do it, as that will increase wit repetition. But I wish to get to that point. I was doing it routinely on my DF prior to the last two surgeries.

So, is it the time off, or the switching to a trike (same weight as the DF), or a combo of the two, that is doing all this? The new hip (while limiting in other ways) is not an issue here - tis only the knees - both the 19 month old one, and the 49.5 yr old one.

Thoughts?