John_V 

Denver,

I was wondering what happened to you as I haven't seen your posts here recently. Glad to hear that you and the wife are doing well and working on getting your son's problems resolved. I can't imagine what it's like to have to go through that at an age when your focus should be with your own health issues. Keep on doing what you are doing and keep us all posted as to your progress. I miss seeing your posts on the 50+.

flan48

Denver, a BIG +1 from me.
I wish you and your family all best, and the strength to be your best, with your challenges.

Best regards

jppe

Good to hear Acupuncture has "hit the spot". I'll have to let my wife know.....

miss kenton

I am glad to hear from you, DF. I miss your presence on this forum. Good wishes to you, Nora, and your sons.

DnvrFox

The acupuncture was used specifically to increase blood flow to the Achilles tendon, which has almost no blood flow. Therefore, the increased blood flow assisted in the healing. The acupuncturist could tell the increase in quality of the tissue by the greater ease of the entry of the needle as we progressed.

zonatandem

Denver, give Nora and your kids an extra hug.
We are ages 80/78 and still pedalin' TWOgether.
Sure, we've got a few issues (several cancers, etc.) but we keep smiling and having a good time whenever we can.
Growin' old is not for sissies and at our ages, we've seen both the best and worst.
So keep smilin' and folks will wonder what you're up to!
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

oldster

good to see you back DENVER,,,,,,,Bud (in DENVER)

Rltot

Even though I don't think I have replied directly to you Denver, I have gained much wisdom! I was saddened when I read that you were leaveing the forum, but understood the reasoning behind it. I am happy to see you and your family are doing well. Please keep us updated as much as possible. I always love to hear your accomplishements.

bjjoondo 

Denver, wishing you and Nora the best, hope things work out down the road!

skilsaw

First sign on in a couple of weeks and I come accross two of the most profound threads I have read here.

Why do the Wildflower Century, And this post from Mr. Fox.
I use the "Mister" out of respect for such a humble, yet accomplished person.

I will work towards having half your depth of character and physical fitness at your age.
Thanks,

DnvrFox

You are very kind. Thank you.

nmichell

Hi Denver, it good to hear from you. You'll always be the Chairman of this Board, even if it's more like Chairman Emeritus now. Wishing you and Nora the best.

DnvrFox

I can't resist and had to share -

1. The weather here has been such that I have not been able to get out on the Lemond RB much. Today, after an intense resistance exercise session, I did my "training ride" which includes a loop starting with 8.5 miles of "up" - some just a little "up" and some a lot "up" - especially the last mile. I am pleased that this 73.5 yo guy made it up just fine - first "training ride" of the season. Of course, the fun part was the 8.5 miles down - I saw 14 deer in a herd, and then almost ran into 3 more on the trail. Also, one 3 foot long snake on the trail.

2. I am trying out a brand new, more radical design, saddle. A Selle SMP Extra. So far, so good. I drastically needed some perineal relief - almost killed me last year with my old, original saddle. $120 at the LBS. Some reviews here.

https://www.amazon.com/Selle-SMP-Extr...ews/B001K0Z50Y

Jim from Boston

Allow me to add my tribute to Dnvr Fox on this thread. I stumbled on to Bikeforums in 2008, and routinely read about a dozen sub-forums at the beginning. Over the years I gradually whittled down to this one as the most regularly (daily) read. It was readily apparent that the Chairman of the Board set the tone for this sub-forum, and “introduced” me to the various interesting subscribers.

DF and I have exchanged some gracious correspondence here on Fifty Plus. In particular though, I want to thank you for starting and fostering the Annual Fifty Plus Rides. I have participated in the Second and Third Rides and look forward to the Fifth. They have been highlights of my Thirty Plus cycling lifestyle, and training for them defines my cycling seasons.

DnvrFox

Thanks, Jim and Gnosis.

I greatly enjoyed most of the first annual ride. I hope they continue, and that they can find their way around the country (and world?).

HiYoSilver

Dnvr,

Great to hear from you. I'm also not as active in the forum as no longer commuting and since the move haven't got back into cycling.

The saddle looks good. There are also kind of similar models with no nose at all, in case the fall away is still too much.

For the foot circulation, take a look at a tens unit. My wife has had 2 knee replacements and was having an issue with circulation in the feet also with some pain. The tens unit has totally relieved that.

The tens is like a small 9volt powered electric stimulator and is used for therapy.

Whenever you feel a need to chat, you still have friends here...

John E

I don't know if you and Nora still visit the San Diego area, Denver, but next time you're in town, let's hit Fish House Vera Cruz again.

At your convenience, I need to discuss the Achilles tendinitis thing with you, since mine has gone chronic. Mine has not progressed as far as yours did, but I would like to regain the ability to run or jog. I am particularly interested in all three prongs of your treatment: PT, which my younger son wants to pursue as a career; acupuncture, which my 2 June discussion Forum (encinitaschurch.com) guest speaker will cover; and "hard work," which has never scared me.

Great to hear from you!

DnvrFox

John -


Sure - I would love to discuss this further. Actually, I probably had tendinosis, not tendinitis (or some combination). My Achilles tendon was about 60% gone.

"Tendinosis, sometimes called chronic tendinitis, tendinosus, chronic tendinopathy, or chronic tendon injury, is damage to a tendon at a cellular level (the suffix "osis" implies a pathology of chronic degeneration without inflammation). It is thought to be caused by microtears in the connective tissue in and around the tendon, leading to an increase in tendon repair cells. This may lead to reducedtensile strength, thus increasing the chance of tendon rupture. Tendinosis is often misdiagnosed as tendinitis due to the limited understanding of tendinopathies by the medical community.[SUP][1][/SUP] Classical characteristics of "tendinosis" include degenerative changes in the collagenous matrix, hypercellularity, hypervascularity, and a lack of inflammatory cells which has challenged the original misnomer "tendinitis".[SUP][2][/SUP]"

Would you like to chat on the phone?

PM me a phone number and I will call you.

My mom died, and we have not been to SD in a long time, although it is not out of the realm of possibility. If so, we would love to meet and eat.

Denver

DnvrFox

I have excellent foot circulation, but the Achilles tendon is notoriously lacking in blood flow. Thanks for the tip. We have a tens unit, but it wasn't appropriate for my condition.

So, it must be warmer a bit in Sacramento??

Right now we have a winter storm warning for almost all of the mountains - up to a foot forecast. We have a hail storm headed our way, according to the radar.

https://www.wunderground.com/radar/ra...=9999&smooth=0

DnvrFox

John, I also did a LOT of this type of stretching

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendinosis

Eccentric loading

[h=3]Eccentric loading [edit][/h]Perhaps the most promising avenue of therapy is indicated in a line of research finding dramatic rates of recovery including complete remodeling of chronically damaged tendon tissue with eccentric loading.[SUP][16][/SUP][SUP][17][/SUP][SUP][18][/SUP][SUP][19][/SUP][SUP][20][/SUP][SUP][21][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][22][/SUP]

CHAS

Thanks for the update. Always good to see your posts.

David Bierbaum

That looks good. They need to make a Star Wars themed saddle of this type! They could call it the... Perineum Falcon!

Why do wild animals feel this perverse need to cross in front of rapidly moving objects. You'd think fear of being chased would cause them to run AWAY from said objects...

cyclinfool

Denver,

As you know I took a long break as well. I was glad to see your posts when I returned - an old friend was still around.
Let me steal your thread for a sec. Over the past year I discovered a few things;
1) I have only one thing on my bucket list and I suspect it is what you learned a long time ago - my bucket list now just consists of making sure my family is well taken care of and has every opportunity to go further in life than I have. If I get to experience a few new things along the way - that's just gravy.
2) My joys are actually quite few and simple, a ride on the bike, a walk in the woods, or the total enjoyment of winter - god I love snow.
3) Work should be play and play should not be work. As long as I am still playing there is not need to retire because I am not working anyway.

So - glad to see you are still here (or back again). Hope to "electronically" sit and chat with you from time to time.

Retro Grouch 

Dave, that's terrible. So naturally I like it.

DnvrFox

My wife and I have lived a sort of backwards life.

For the first 32 years of our marriage, we were so occupied with the necessary and required 24/7 line-of-sight care required for Andy, along with numerous and never ending hospitals and MD's and PT's - he almost died 5 times before the age of 5. We had only one night of respite all those years and we did not know what a "night out" or a "date" was. We were traveling to Philadelphia and back for special therapy for Andy, living on donations and a prayer. There were no governmental services, I worked 3 jobs to try and make ends meet, we were constantly in debt and would not answer the phone as it was always a collector. I started programs just for Andy, fighting the bureaucracy for $$ and services.

Then, along the way, Tim got critically injured and totally paralyzed. I quit my job to spend full-time on his rehab, helping him through college and law school, fighting bureaucracies once again for services and still maintaining a program for Andy while Nora worked to keep food on the table. Somewhere along the way I earned a Master's and a Doctorate - never did figure out how I did that!! Now, Andy has a great "Host Home" and Tim is a very accomplished - paralyzed from the shoulders down - lawyer, and we are finally able to do some things that most folks do in their 20's and 30's and 40's. We are sort of 70 year old teenagers, but, we no longer have the bodies of younger folks.

So, as of today, that is where we are - doing a few things that others have already accomplished along the way.