Newbie from Cavan.
04-27-14, 06:07 AM
#1
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Location: Cavan, Ireland.
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Newbie from Cavan.
Hi all,
I'm Ronan, I'm 36, married with one kid, a little girl called Erin and I'm from a small town in County Cavan in Ireland. I decided at Christmas that I had to get in shape, I'm only 5' 6" and I was 13 stone. I bought a new bike, a good pair of runners/trainers and was all set to go. The day I picked up my bike I got hurt at work, I ended up with a pinched sciatic nerve, that put my plans on hold.
I have a Trek 1.2, it's only an introductory level bike as far as I know but it should do me a few years. Because of injury I was told to stay away from the bike and concentrate on running or walking instead. I was given the all clear last month but have only taken the bike out 5 times since then. Last week I decided to give it a good test and did what I consider to be a good spin but others on here probably see as a warm-up, 61 km. I'm just in from a 42km cycle 10 minutes ago. I injured my calf running last week and again this week so it'll all cycling for a while.
I cycled a lot as a kid but hadn't spent much time on a bike in the last 19 years, I count myself as a complete novice (I'm only averaging 20km/h but it's quite hilly around here) so I hope to make good use of this site to help me along.
I'm Ronan, I'm 36, married with one kid, a little girl called Erin and I'm from a small town in County Cavan in Ireland. I decided at Christmas that I had to get in shape, I'm only 5' 6" and I was 13 stone. I bought a new bike, a good pair of runners/trainers and was all set to go. The day I picked up my bike I got hurt at work, I ended up with a pinched sciatic nerve, that put my plans on hold.
I have a Trek 1.2, it's only an introductory level bike as far as I know but it should do me a few years. Because of injury I was told to stay away from the bike and concentrate on running or walking instead. I was given the all clear last month but have only taken the bike out 5 times since then. Last week I decided to give it a good test and did what I consider to be a good spin but others on here probably see as a warm-up, 61 km. I'm just in from a 42km cycle 10 minutes ago. I injured my calf running last week and again this week so it'll all cycling for a while.
I cycled a lot as a kid but hadn't spent much time on a bike in the last 19 years, I count myself as a complete novice (I'm only averaging 20km/h but it's quite hilly around here) so I hope to make good use of this site to help me along.
04-27-14, 06:22 AM
#2
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Welcome to BF and best of luck with your back problem! I’m not a MD, but I’m older than dirt and I’ve spent enough time with and money on MD’s that I should qualify as an honorary one. I’m also a classic bad back/bad knees/bad hips old fart who’s had a total of 10 orthopedic surgeries including one THR, so I’m not ignorant about this kind of stuff. That having been said...
I really have to wonder about the quality of the advice you’re getting. When you get your Bad Back Club membership card, the first thing the orthopedic surgeons in my area usually tell you is NO MORE RUNNING. I put that in caps because they usually raise their voices a lot when they say it. The second thing they usually tell you is to stop doing anything that involves impacting---like all the “contact sports”, etc. The third thing is to get into non-impacting activity---meaning easy-going road cycling, swimming and walking.
I can’t imagine why any medical biz production line worker would tell a bad back patient to get into running and not cycling. That sounds like a direct, high-speed path to the operating room.
Good luck with your back situation, but I’d suggest getting some clarification on the reasoning behind that “run but don’t ride a bike” advice you’ve been given.
I really have to wonder about the quality of the advice you’re getting. When you get your Bad Back Club membership card, the first thing the orthopedic surgeons in my area usually tell you is NO MORE RUNNING. I put that in caps because they usually raise their voices a lot when they say it. The second thing they usually tell you is to stop doing anything that involves impacting---like all the “contact sports”, etc. The third thing is to get into non-impacting activity---meaning easy-going road cycling, swimming and walking.
I can’t imagine why any medical biz production line worker would tell a bad back patient to get into running and not cycling. That sounds like a direct, high-speed path to the operating room.
Good luck with your back situation, but I’d suggest getting some clarification on the reasoning behind that “run but don’t ride a bike” advice you’ve been given.
04-27-14, 06:23 AM
#3
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Welcome aboard 
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04-27-14, 07:06 AM
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The physio said she didn't want me cycling because of the way I'd be bending over the handlebars and she said there'd be too much pressure on my lower back. I wasn't allowed to sit down at all for weeks really, either stand up or lie down. I have to make up for lost time now, I have a 200km (124 mile) cycle to get ready for in about 3 months.
