recumelectric

I was grounded from my bike a couple of weeks ago by a Dr. and the physical therapist he referred me to. Knees were acting up, so I'm supposed to let them rest, while building up supporting muscles. Today, the PT told me that I was allowed to do up to 5 miles each day over the weekend. Not enough for me to commute again (20 miles round trip), but it's something. ...Now I just have to come up with a commuting errand that will be about 5 miles round trip.

ban guzzi

groceries?

hope your knees feel better soon.

recumelectric

I've got 2 stores that I like. One is 1/2 mile away (not enough). The other is 5 miles away, so 10 miles round trip (too much). I really like riding to the second one and getting a basketfull of groceries, but it's not in my destiny this week-end.

I do need to deposit a check, and the bank is 1 1/2 miles away, so maybe I could do a slightly longer route and stop there. That's Saturday. Any Sunday ideas?

markhr

Yay - that you're un-grounded

Boo - that it's only partial

Good luck out there and take it easy with the knees, i.e., don't make the mistakes I did by trying too much too soon.

Lizzylou

Wouldn't cycling build up the supporting muscles for your knees?

What type of excersizes did they have you doing?

Try a trip to the library.

recumelectric

I've got the endurance, but not the muscular stability/ strength. Some thngs they have me doing are stabilizing my back of leg and butt and back muscles by doing reverse sit-ups on a yoga ball, balancing on unstable surfaces for a periods of time, and lifting leg weights by putting pressure on the bottom of my heel. It's kind of hard to describe, except for the fact that they are targeting the weakest and least stable muscles. There are a few more things that resemble yoga poses. Plus they do a thing with electrodes that really clears out the congestion in my knees. (I'll really miss that part when it's over because it makes me feel really good.)

If I just cycle, I will abuse the muscles that have already been over-abused in the act of overcompensating for ones that aren't developed. That's what's causing the knee swelling.

At this moment, I am having back pain because I worked it too hard on the back and back of leg exercises. They felt good when I was doing them, but I've got the twinge thing going on now.

...I'm thinking that I might have to take up yoga to support my cycling... and the reason I cycle is to make exercise easy.

kk4df

I had problems with my knees when I stressed them during a long (200km) ride. The RICE method (rest, ice, compression, elevation) worked well for me. Plus, I started back on glucosamine and also fish oil for the next few months. It took about six to eight weeks to fully recover, and during that time, I did have to back off the mileage and certainly the hammering a little bit. I also rode with a compression bandage around my sore knee. Then a few minutes of ice when I returned from the ride to reduce swelling. Also, I was taking ibuprofen at 2x the normal OTC dosage, or 800 mg per dose, on the days when my knee was hurting.

Good luck with your recovery. It takes knees a long time to heal, and you can do things that injure the knee again during recovery. Just take it easy and increase the exercise slowly. You won't know until the next day if you pushed too hard the previous day. Good luck with your recovery.

noteon 

My own knee issue when remounting the bike for the first time after a hiatus is my iliotibial band. I've learned to pay close attention, and if I can tell I even have an iliotibial band, I'm not spinning enough.

About a week of spinning generally gets me to where I can start having fun with the big gears without fear of injury.

one_beatnik

I know that tree down there has to be changing colors!!

recumelectric

Are you talking about that tree I wanted to trim? It's about 5 miles from here, so 10 miles round trip. Also, I broke some branches off in frustration about 3 weeks ago. It could still use a little more, so maybe I could ride throttle with the electric on the way down and pedal back. Hmmm.