I had an arthroscopic meniscus debridement along with an open-incision removal of 1.5 cm of my fibular head. I was back on my bike in less than 2 weeks, seriously training around 1.5 months post-op, and won a state champ road race 7 months post-op. The knee that had surgery is better off than the knee that hasn't had anything done to it.
The biggest advantage I had was going into the surgery in shape. It made recovery way easier and faster.