Wow, glad to hear that your recovery went so well. Definitely diligence pays off. I've talked to several orthopods and they don't even want to think about touching the knee, even for a knee replacement. So, I went with a drop pedal system which a machinist friend helped me put together. It looks like crap but once I installed it on my Gary Fisher Utopia, I believe I can fly. I affectionately refer to it as my "frankencrank" and I use it with some spd clipless and I can really motor. If you want to see what it looks like, here's a quick page I threw together with a couple of pictures.
http://www.moebiusadvancements.com/frankencrank.html.
Oh, and enjoy the new bike. Sorry the old one got stolen, but you know, every silver lining has a cloud.