So this happened to me last week. Now I'm on antibiotics, resting and recovering. I'm at the point where I can manage short walks outside but my lungs are far from clear and I tire easily. It kills me to think that all the conditioning I built up over the past 6+ months of daily commuting will now be lost. Anyone bounce back from pneumonia? How long did it take before you were back on the bike? How long before you felt normal again?

was it following the flu? That seems to be the most common factor leading up to those who are not elderly.

No. I had my flu shot and was not experiencing symptoms prior to the cough and fever of pneumonia hitting me.

You probably have another couple of weeks to look forward to... I don't think I've ever had pneumonia but the recommendation for oldsters is to get 2 vaccinations, each of which prevents 13 strains of the disease.

Rest and relax. Start riding too fast too soon, and if you don't have a relapse, you may still aggravate your lungs to the point you'll have to take steroids to recover.

Yeah, pneumonia is a bummer.

Prevnar and Pneumovax are recommended for all of us 65+ oldsters. And younger folks, as appropriate. (Talk to healthcare provider.)

Update: had to get back on the bike last Thursday. Subway commute is such a bummer. Successfully rode to work and back... Slowly... The flats were ok but the SLIGHTEST uphill left me winded. Yeesh. Took Friday off. Probably not going to do that again for a while.
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The danger being... worse off than ever--

My experience with pneumonia happened a couple of years ago. Less than 50 yrs old, had been biking/exercising regularly. Did a long ride on Friday, had felt a little "off" over the weekend, but nothing serious, just had managed to do my normal farm chores, but hadn't felt like another ride over the weekend, which was unusual.

Left on the work road trip Monday morning, In fact, had brought a bike with me to try out some trails, etc I had seen would be where I was working. Thought I had a heck of a headache, but figured I'd keep going, see if the coffee would kick it. It didn't. I was relieved I did not have to attend meetings when I arrived at my destination. I went straight to my hotel room and crashed. Worked the next day, albeit, a very tough day. That night, really felt lousy, went to the walk-in. They admitted me. Wouldn't discharge me until Friday, so was in the hospital for 3 full days, and felt lucky to get out when I did, lol.

I'd estimate that it took me a full month to get to feeling "normal." I was not allowed to do normal barn chores for a couple weeks post discharge. Probably because they didn't want me doing the lifting, or breathing the dust that I typically encounter there.After those couple weeks, I was free to do whatever I felt up to, but have to say, I didn't feel like much. I was back on the bike within the month, however, because it was full on winter by then, my rides were much shorter, mostly due to the greatly diminished hours of light, as much as anything else. I didn't find that I had lost much conditioning, or perhaps I had enough base there, that I didn't experience much set back.