Understanding limitations.
 

It's been an interesting road back, these past five years.
I'm amazed sometimes with just how far I've come from where I was.

And then there's the other side.

I think of where I thought then that I'd be at now and it never happened.
It gets kind of discouraging but I've had to accept that I have limitations that will never allow me to be rider I'd imagined myself to be (OK, getting down to 185 would help, sure)

There's the asthma and pulmonary restrictions I didn't know I had
There's the hypertention that scared the bejeebers out of my cardiologist on my first visit. At least there's been some mitigation there. He's less freaked than he used to be.

And there's the other thing... I pedal with one leg.
No, no, no, I have both... I just used them unequally. Very unequally.

I had myself a wee, little industrial accident in my twenties.

Knocked off a chuck of bone and shredded the ligaments holding my "first metatarsal of my great toe" together. You know that as the "ball of your foot". Bad spot, as it turns out. Doctor put it back together as best he could but it's never really come together and over the years I've tended to shy away from it.
I started paying attention lately and, sure enough, I push a LOT more with one leg than the other. Well, that can't help anything; I'm only running at half power. So, I've tried to push more with the bad foot and a) it sure does add a lot of power and b) it sure does hurt more when I do that.

But, hey, I figure I'll just keep at it... I sure ain't gonna quit now.

But I do wonder what I'll find next Grrrrrrrrr.

Inspirational! Good for you, keep on riding!

You have THE ANSWER

Just about everyone has limitations; some minor and some major. Whether minor or major depends a lot on mental attitude. The more we use realistic optimism the better we do and the better everyone else does too.

I see cycling performance a bit like the Biblical story of the poor woman whose tiny contribution was scorned by the wealthy until it was pointed out that she was giving a much higher percentage of what she had than they were. Measure your performance against what you have, not what Alberto Contador has.

For example, today I went for a nice 110 mile ride in the coast hills. I had a great time and was truly exhausted at the end. When I walked to the store this evening I saw a man with no right arm or leg pedaling his home-made three-wheeler at about 7 mph. His efforts put me to shame. He was using a lot more of what he had than I ever have. He's my new inspiration.

When I am fit I can do anything. Limits are there to be broken and I often can--Or could.

But get something like an organised ride for the Masses. There will be the 25MPH pace line addicts that go up the mountains in big ring- because they can. But the majority are doing this ride for someone else. They have a charity they are sponsoring and they do not have the fitness to do the ride comfortably. Some of them know they will not be able to do the ride at all but they are going to finish- even if they have to drag that bike over the line. The ride is nothing to experienced riders but the strugglers are y=the ones to congragulate.

I have done rides where I know I can do it so why do it? Cos I can. And there have been rides where I am wondering whether I will walk up the first or the second slope with still another 10 to go. I think I have got as much out of the rides where I have struggled in comparison to the easy ones. By the end I know I have achieved something.

Mr SKT

You wished me well when I had a little hiccup

So, back at you!

(A marathon champion whom I admire had a little self-talk mantra "Am I loose, am I enjoying?" - if the answer wasn't affirmative she'd ease off and go faster.)

Very slow in N Cal. Yup

(!)

Good for you! Keep at it. And like I have "problems"? I have none.

Everyone has limitations. Not allowing them to control your life is a major victory. I think you should allow yourself about 30 seconds to feel down. Then celebrate the hell out of being able to ride at all.

And I do... I celebrate every minute that I ride!

But are you having fun?

Most days, yes.

The other weird thing is that, as a result of the damage or the surgery, I have no feeling in most of my big toe or the one next to it, going on up into my instep. Believe me, it's very odd to push down on a pedal and not feel it. Until it hurts. Oh sure, *that* I feel.

I have a left ankle that used to be stiff as a 2x4 from a sprain I got in the early eighties. I went at it pretty hard trying to loosen it up about three years ago. Spent about a year and a half at it. Works well enough no one can see me limp and it doesn't slow me down much on the bike. Good enough for me. And I enjoy the hard parts of the next MS 150. The rollers remind me that my friends with MS have it way tougher than I do just to get out of bed and do other things that I take for granted each day. God Bless you Lillie, Jerry, Danno, Ron, and all the rest.

I see I'm in with a group I can relate to here. A couple of years ago I was in a bad motorcycle crash. Think "Thelma and Louise" If you saw the ending of that movie, or any Road runner cartoon you will have a good idea of what I did. Doctors thought I would never walk again. I didn't give up hope until artificial hip had problems and there was talk of amputating. Turned out they didn't have to after all.This was late November last year. In January 2011, I WALKED! I still have my wheelchair in back of my van, I can walk for short distances but weight on hips gets to be a bit much. In June of this year I found a used Trek Mountain bike. Bought it for myself for my 70th birthday. COOL! The guy had bought the bike for his kid. Kid treated it pretty badly, then got his drivers licence and just left the bike sitting. I bought, fixed it, learning how to true wheels, etc in the process. I'm now up to riding 5 miles a day. I try to go just a little further each week. I have great plans for touring next summer. Glad to meet you guys! :)

Welcome, and thanks for sharing your story.