therh

Hello all,

I have been off the bike for almost five months after a brain surgery and learning to walk again.

I would like to hear your tips for getting back to riding. I have a trainer and 90% of my coordination and 100% of the strength if not more than before everything happened.

All and any advice is welcome.

Thanks,
RH

Inpd

I like your perseverance. I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions are, but I'm guessing your therapist is the best person to help you out here.

therh

Thank you IMPD, my therapist , neurologist and most of all neurosurgeon want me to get back into cycling, and who am I to argue with a neurosurgeon.

FBinNY 

It all depends on how much you lost. From you post, I'll assume you need to start from ground zero, just like you did for walking. So, beg or borrow a bike with a step through frame, small enough that you can put both feet on the ground while seated. Remove the pedals and ride it as a balance bike. Once you have it where you have a sense of steering and balance, put the pedals back on and raise the seat only as high as will still allow you to put a toe on the ground.

Then a few laps of an empty parking lot, and head off to an MUP or wherever you feel safe. Odds are it'll all come back pretty fast once you break the ice.

10 Wheels

I went to a Trike after my Brain Surgery. Sold my 5 / 2 wheeler's

Never wanted to crash again on my head.

Now have 3800 miles on it.

therh

Most of what I would say I have lost is confidence, and that is a pretty big. I was thinking that I could start on my trainer and get the fundinmentsls back; getting on the bike, shifting, clipping in, and after than get on the road. And I want to get on two not three wheels.

I have been ridding since 2011, and being a roadie was and is a pretty big part of my life, heck I watch GCN on all the time.

RH

10 Wheels

So you are willing to crash on your head?

popeye

I'll take that before hitting my head on the bumper of a parked car/truck. Happens way too often.

10 Wheels

So You also had Brain Surgery?

popeye

The ad hominum was not necessary.

gregf83 

What kind of a question is that? No one is willing to crash on their head regardless of whether they've had brain surgery. If his physicians are recommending getting back on the bike I think it's safe to assume they think the risks are manageable.

FBinNY 

Guys, the OP asked for help getting back on two wheels. Suggesting a trike once is fair game, but once the OP rejects it that line should be closed to further debate. Either offer suggestions relating to the request, or give your fingers a rest.

To the OP, if it's just a confidence thing, start out in a wide open area like a corporate parking lot on the weekend. Remove clips and straps, and focus on basic control first. Then move on to an uncrowded MUP, and finally when you feel that handling isn't an issue for you, add the clips or clipless pedals as the last step in getting back to normal.

therh

Not sure if 10 Wheels is trolling or what, but I want to get back on two wheels. At any rate I like your advice start small and "re-group" mentally. Do think starting on a trainer would help as well?

FBinNY 

A trainer will help your legs and heart, but won't do anything for your confidence, road awareness and skill. Those only come from actually riding that way. Start easy where they'll be less distractions or worries, and expand as you regain confidence and skill, much the same way as when you first took up bicycling.

BTW - 10 Wheels has been here on BF a long time and is anything but a troll. It's more like he's a true believer, on a plane with reformed drinkers etc. I expect that his initial response was in good faith, then as so often happens on BF things went downhill from there.

EDIT - my credit of good faith is withdrawn after reading the following post

10 Wheels

My Brain Surgery..Guess you have never Fully Recovered from yours, if you really had one.

Good Luck to You.

Campag4life

RH,
May I ask what was the root cause necessitating your brain surgery?

No doubt everybody on the forum joins me in wishing you the very best.

No good advice to offer other than to take it incrementally. No doctor can deduce your balance, coordination or confidence level. Maybe start on a trainer indoors to increase strength and get a feel for it. I wouldn't clip in for he first month or two depending on how you feel. Maybe even start on a mountain bike.

What kind of cyclist were you before your operation?

Best of luck...we are pulling for you.

10 Wheels

Not me, but I had this Clamp on my head..

Dr drilled two hole into my skull.

https://vimeo.com/100941247#embed

Will always have the clamp mount scars in my head.

therh

First and foremost, I am not going to start a pissing match, but "So you are willing to crash on your head?" is just silly for anyone to say.

Moving on, I had to have corrective surgery due to having two blood vessels rupture on the outside of my brain.

My balance is almost 100% and sounds like starting with the trainer will be the best thing to get the mechanics down, And then I will ease into riding on the road.

As far as what I was doing, I was riding 150 miles a week at a 18-221 mph pace, and I know I can not just start with that again, I want to get close to that by years end.

And thanks for the encouragement.

therh

Post surgery scaring, I was in Methodist Downtown Houston for 28 days.

goenrdoug

How about videos to go along with some trainer hours? trainer-road, sufferfest, zwift?

Sort of like playing some grand theft auto to get in the right mindset before going on a crime spree?

Seriously, though, I'd set up the trainer and do some spinning, then, as previously suggested, go out for some easy-does-it rides looping through your neighborhood, an empty business park parking lot (on the weekend) or similar. You'll be pace-lining with the A/B group again in a month.

Congrats on your recovery!

Dan333SP

Hey, good luck on the recovery! I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to have to relearn things that were 2nd nature before your operation.

That said, maybe once you're comfortable with the muscle movements on a traditional fixed trainer you can get a set of rollers to work on your balance? If you set them up in a narrow hallway you don't really have much risk of falling off, and it would help you work on the balance you'll need to ride outside again.

Definitely an investment if you don't already have a set, but IMO that's safer than going back outside before you're 100% comfortable with it.

Inpd

@"10 Wheels" that's one of the saddest photos I've seen in a long time and I'm happy to hear your riding again.

But the OP has asked to get back on 2 wheels again and he was riding 150 miles per week at 18-21 mph.

OP, I guess there are two main challenges the physical and the mental.

For the physical I would just ride on a trainer and practice all those things you could do before.

For the mental perhaps you can ride with a buddy the first few rides to calm any anxiety.

If you buddy has one of those head mounted cameras (or can record with his phone whilst riding) he could record you whilst riding. That could help you understand what to improve on as well.

Good luck, your braver than most!

10 Wheels

I still have a average of 7500 miles a year.

I don't think to OP is braver to get back on a 2 wheeler.
He has way too much positive thinking.

I wish him the Best of everything.

Maybe we can get together for a ride.

topslop1

I'd like to ask or mention here that:

both of you guys could have had two different types of surgery altogether that are not the same. and with that you could be prone to different things.

e.g. one person could take a hit to the head and be out of it for good - the other be OK to take some trauma to the head.

ya'll are acting like you've been sitting in on one another's surgeries and doctors appointments.

I understand where you're coming from but I don't think all things equal with whatever either of you had or your histories, etc.

I personally don't give a **** one way or another about 2 wheels versus 3 wheels versus I'm a man because I ride upright blah blah blah.

Yer two different people with two different lives. Ain't going to look at either of you any differently if you pass me on the MUP.

Damn.

79pmooney

RH, I had brain trauma 40 years ago when I was a bike racer. I could "walk" from the start but did not have the right side balance and motor skills and could not walk a straight line. (Being an engineer and having no frame of reference as what was normal, I just made it a point to walk down left sides of corridors, veering gently left. With my broken collarbone, bumping right-side walls was very painful.)

I never did lose bike riding skills. Getting on the exercycle at PT was my first moment of doing something familiar to my core. 3 months later I was riding rollers at a friend's house. He and his brother had taken on looking after me to see that my return to biking, training and eventually racing was done safely. When I could ride an hour on the rollers without issue, I was allowed to get back on the road.

Rollers are a very safe way to build up riding and balancing skills to road worthy. The challenge for you is that the entry threshold is high, ie a lot of skill is required just to simply ride on rollers. If you can do it, you will never regret it.

(Some rollers I found first try on Google. Not recommending them or any others. I have never bought them and haven't ridden them since then. Tacx Antares Rollers T1000 | TotalCycling.com )

Feel free to message me. Sounds like we share a love of two wheels. (I don't know how many posts are required to get messaging privileges. If you are not there yet, reply to this post so I get the E-mail alert and I will come back here and we can talk.)

I wish you the best. ! know all too well the journey and the inability of most to have any concept of how hard it is.

Edit: FB's advice above is as always, solid. IF rollers are a no-go that's the next approach.

Ben