Daspydyr 

Tomorrow I get a new lens in my left eye. I'm looking forward to seeing better. I know that I need to follow the Doctors advice. That is a given.

I wanted to lean on you all who have had the surgery to see about the return to riding. I have been told already that a week without exertion is normal. What have any of you experienced?

Whiteknight

I had both eyes done several years ago. One eye at a time. I was not given any restrictions on not riding. I was simply told not to get any dirt in the eye. I normally wear eye glasses anyway. So over my regular glasses I slipped my shooting glasses that seal almost all the way around. Shooting flintlock and percussion muzzle loading rifles require good eye protection so those glasses worked just fine for the bicycle rides.

Daspydyr 

Do you use the yellow lens in your shooting glasses? I have heard that they make vision "crisper." With my "declining" vision, sunglasses and shadowy trails have been "frustrating."

waldowales

I have a friend who was riding the next day. He is not at all fast or competitive, though.

maddmaxx 

I had both eyes done 3 weeks apart. I am so nearsighted that it was akward to have one eye become so good while the other still had a single lensed eye glass over it. The two images were slightly different sizes so I had double vision. I rode in a week but left the glasses off and was blind in one eye. With very little depth perception, I just made a short ride and waited for the other eye to be completed. Everything went so well that I was riding in less than a week.

Follow your Dr's directions. He will probably check out the incision in the eye the day after the operation and again in about a week. If you are on a strict regimin of eye drops for the week, you may find that the wind dries your eye out quickly.

Your going to love it.

Ken Brown

I had three years between surgeries and stopped wearing glasses during that period except when driving at night. The brain otherwise compensated quite well for the different signals.

I was on my bike 2 days following one surgery, 4 days the other, but they was short easy rides.

gpelpel

I had both cataracts done about 5 years ago, I was only 48 at the time. I have been near-sighted and wearing glasses since 5th grade. The surgeon offered me to set one eye (right) to normal vision and the other to short focus (for reading or working on the computer). It's called monovision. I went for it and never regretted it.
I have not worn any glasses since the surgery except for some dark situations such as TV, movies, and night driving. But even in these conditions I almost never wear them. The brain adjust amazingly quickly to the situation.

Although you can technically ride the day following the surgery I wouldn't recommend it. Your eye has been cut opened so the stitching has to be strong enough to sustain any possible shock (fall) and you need to prevent infections or irritations due to dust or other objects.

I would wait a full week before riding.

Daspydyr 

My Surgeon said 7-10 days. I made the mistake of taking my wife with me to the post op visit. She hid my chain and I don't have a spare. The boredom is killing me. Well, at least I now have an excuse for not competing at Leadville, again. HA, like I can compete for anything but making my way to Starbucks.

Thanks all for responding.

Whiteknight

I have the yellow and darker brown. Two pairs.
The yellow are not as yellow as most shooting glasses. A bit of brown with the yellow. Polarized. I use them for driving except after dark. The cut through glare and haze. They do make things "crisper" or "sharper". Very good in fog as long as it is no too dark.

I use them on the bicycle rides until it gets dark. My only problem with them is when I am pedaling into the setting sun where the sun is low on the horizon and nearly directly in front of me. But even with my normal corrective lenses I have glare problems. Part of that is due to the plastic impact resistant lenses with the scratch proof coating. The interface between the lens and the scratch proof coating gives a bit of light scattering since they are two different materials. With low sun directly in my face I simply ride without the corrective lenses while wearing the shooting glasses.

When I had the cataract surgery one eye ended up a little off requiring continued use of corrective lenses. But since I had worn glasses from 6 years old I don't mind. Then in my 37 years of industrial work safety glasses were a must. Now if I don't wear glasses I feel that I am risking eye problems with dirt, grit, etc., blowing up in my face and into my eyes. A few of the road bikers we know commented on eye problems with little bits of road grit.

Monkey Face

Potholes are not fast or competitive either... take it easy for a week, your eyes are precious.

Daspydyr 

Eight days in and I only got released for light recreational riding for the next 10 days. Still have some swelling. No lifting over 25 pounds, no situps. I'll be a bowl of much in another week.

bobthib

I never do ANY kind of surgery when I'm riding a bike! No exceptions!