I was fairly skeptical that I was going to return to "normal", but after about 6 weeks I was already getting there. By now I seem to be 100% again, and only very rarely feeling any differently than I did before the herniated disk...except psychologically, because it's on my mind that I'll always be at risk for another herniated disk.

I finally got it together early enough this morning to bike into the office for the first time in over 2 years. Everything went just like I remember. I made the usual time in both directions, though I'm riding the much more quiet and leisurely route I developed in later years rather than the steep direct and dangerous routes I did in earlier years. I tried to keep my back relaxed the whole time, though it was difficult in the middle of the longest climb. I felt fine when I arrived home, so it seems like I did OK.