riding after arthroscopic surgery

I just had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. I’m on crutches for 4 to 6
weeks. If I want the best result I shouldn’t walk or run. However,
the Doc said I can ride, in fact he encourages me to ride but I can’t
figure out do my normal commute without walking to get on and off the
bike. I was in pretty good shape before the surgery (14 flat miles @
21.5 mph) and would like to preserve as much aerobic fitness and
muscle strength as possible. Any thoughts? I’m thinking of buying a
bicycle trainer or a set of rollers. What should I be looking for? How
much do I need to spend. Seems to me that any trainer will not have
the feel of riding on the road. It certainly won’t be as much fun and
the scenery doesn’t change much.


Thanks
Steve

On Jul 23, 4:24*pm, steve wrote:
I just had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. I’m on crutches for 4 to 6
weeks. If I want the best result I shouldn’t walk or run. *However,
the Doc said I can ride, in fact he encourages me to ride but I can’t
figure out do my normal commute without walking to get on and off the
bike. I was in pretty good shape before the surgery (14 flat miles @
21.5 mph) and would like to preserve as much aerobic fitness and
muscle strength as possible. Any thoughts? I’m thinking of buying a
bicycle trainer or a set of rollers. What should I be looking for? How
much do I need to spend. Seems to me that any trainer will not have
the feel of riding on the road. It certainly won’t be as much fun and
the scenery doesn’t change much.

Get a trainer since it is a little sketchy getting on and off rollers
when you are incapacitated. Trainers do not feel like road riding --
nothing does, but you can get a decent trainer for $100 or less. I
would start with a search of this NG to see what people are liking
and then look for it on Craigslist.

I spiralled my tibia and fibula skiing this year and got rods and
plates and screws and was on crutches for a couple of months and off
the road for three months -- but I was on a trainer in an ortho boot
at three weeks after surgery (long enough for the knee and anke
incisions to toughen up). I have a cheap Performance trainer that did
the trick. A trainer will help with your aerobic fitness and may
maintain the muscle bulk in your non-injured leg, but you will not
(and should not) be able to exert much effort with your injured leg
and should be looking to the prescribed OT to rebuild your lost muscle
mass later. I am having a slow union and just quit wearing a gel
splint and am back in my cleats. My right let looks like a twig, but
oddly enough my speed over 30 or 40 hilly miles is not that much
slower than pre-injury because I lost 20 lbs during my recovery
(burning up calories on crutches and doing upper body exercise as well
as the trainer). Going more than 30 or 40 miles is a chore since I
have no mileage base. So, the moral of the story is watch your intake
and burn calories with added upper body work. -- Jay Beattie.

steve writes:

I just had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. I’m on crutches for 4 to
6 weeks. If I want the best result I shouldn’t walk or run.
However, the Doc said I can ride, in fact he encourages me to ride
but I can’t figure out do my normal commute without walking to get
on and off the bike. I was in pretty good shape before the surgery
(14 flat miles @ 21.5 mph) and would like to preserve as much
aerobic fitness and muscle strength as possible. Any thoughts? I’m
thinking of buying a bicycle trainer or a set of rollers. What
should I be looking for? How much do I need to spend. Seems to me
that any trainer will not have the feel of riding on the road. It
certainly won’t be as much fun and the scenery doesn’t change much.

Relax. Take it easy. Let the knee heal. Do the exercises they gave
you to do. If you push too fast you'll set yourself back. It would
be at least two weeks before it would be advisable to ride, I would
think- at least, that was what my knee surgeon told me. Then, low
gears and no hills for six more weeks. And he was right.

You won't lose that much fitness and what fitness you do lose will
come back quickly. Taking care of your knee now is an investment in a
long future of happy riding.