b88

How many bike fanatics out there practically sleep in your cycle gear. Weather couldn’t stop me. The nastier the weather the better, an excuse to test out all this ridiculous gear I acquired.

Then the unspeakable illness hit me. Over a year off the bikes and no gym. Tried a couple 20 min rides and sent me into a crash. Last summer nearly killed me mentally. Seeing all the cyclists out while even a short walk would have me reaching for an inhaler. Even got rid of my wahoo kickr because I hit a wall every time after.

You ever been kicked off your bikes for extended period of time.

Steve B.

Been off the bike fr a period of 3 mos. with hand surgery. Another time about 2 mos. with rotator cuff surgery. Another time I was doing a chemo regime, fell on the road bike and cracked a knee cap. The oncology nurses reamed me a new one, telling me if I missed a session due to an injury, I would have needed to restart the whole thing. I stayed off the bike for 4 mos. that time. In the end, I always just waited it out and didn’t complain, then got back out when the Doc. said it was OK. Is there any other choice ?

alcjphil

I spent last summer off the bike due to a C2 vertebra fracture. It will take a few months to regain fitness this summer

3alarmer 

.
...I lost about 5 years once, from age 50-55, to a mysterious illness. Mine eventually cleared up, if that is any encouragement. I, too, use exercise as a mood management tool. I think a lot of people do. 20 minute ride and an exercise induced collapse afterward sounds like some sort of CFIDS or other similar condition. The research is mixed on these syndromes. But maybe you have something else going on. It's important to avoid those crashes, and endure the waiting using other mental management tools for depression.

There are a ton of books out there on dealing with something like this. Most of them are useless. This one, Full Catastrophe Living, I found moderately helpful.

rsbob 

Really sorry to hear about your health challenge and how it is driving you crazy. Being addicted to an outdoor passion and being denied is a cruel form of torture. Hang in there and hope your condition improves.

BillyD

I’ve been there, yes it’s tough. Lyme disease banged me around for years, I couldn’t take a 20 mile ride without needing 3 or 4 days to recover, just wasn’t worth it. After a few years I just got used to it.

Mostly.

b88

So you just power through these days?

I think suffering a bit in the aftermath is better than physically declining due to inactivity.

Desert Ryder

Removal of 3 cervical disc, C-4 through C-7 fusion.
Getting diagnosed, testing, surgery all set be back 3 years. Two years, two different neurologists, one spine surgeon, one year PT and I'm finally back to easy riding.

plumberroy

Started having issues in 2018 figured out that my feet were the issue. Pain came on slowly until you realize you can't do much of anything other than work. Right foot surgery in late 2020. Had issues and another surgery in 2022 . Finally was able to ride some last year . Only 250 miles over the summer but it is a start. Left foot started giving me fits this winter. Back to the podiatrist. I'm scheduled for surgery Thursday morning on the left foot will be July before I can think about riding again 🥴

b88

What kind of foot issues require surgery on both. 🤔

b88

Good grief. That’s sounds like some painful riding. Best of luck, glad to hear you’re back on the bike.

plumberroy

Bunions complicated by bones build up from arthritis. 40 years of construction and maintenance work. Joint between the big toe and foot will be broke grind the bone down and put back together with plates and screws this time they are going to do similar to the little toe side. In 2020 they did same thing to the right foot. Put titanium rod in the toe next to the big toe. Then in May of 22 they removed the sesamoid bones on the right foot because of constant inflammation.. I was doing okay on the left side until January of this year. Got with my Doctor and am getting it taken of. The doctor is concerned that if not taken care of. Because it causes me to change the way I walk it could damage my knee

Camilo

I was off my two wheelers for a few months post rotator cuff surgery. I bought (and then sold) a tadpole recumbent and it was a satisfactory substitute. I lost a few hundred dollars in the transactions, but it was worth it having wheels for a few months. Actually a fun change of pace and I'm very glad I tried it. Not fun enough to keep in the long run - too large to store and a hassle to transport (I used a small utility trailer). I'll definitely do that again if I can't ride a two wheeler,

Might also be worth thinking about for those with neck, back, shoulder or even foot issues. A decent one is not cheap - i.e. you can get a $500 three wheeler but it is an POS overgrown kid's trike. But $2-3,000 new will get you something you'd be happy with, half that used if you can find it. From what I've seen, the used market will recoup you a decent percentage of what you spend.

Arrowana

Hands and wrists developed intense pain, which forced me to only ride bikes set up to be upright enough that there was no weight on the hands. Then a few months later intense back pain appeared, and made riding seemingly impossible. That was quite the dark period. After a few months decided to try and make a full-suspension MTB as upright as possible, and found I could ride again. The pain has gotten more manageable as time goes on, but still can't ride a rigid bike for anything more than a short test ride.

b88

I had to park my flat bar bikes after finding out the pressure due to wrist angle was causing strain. I switched to drop bars which keep my wrists more straight. At least there’s more choices on where to hold.

50PlusCycling

Stuff happens. I don’t often get put off by illness or injury, but I often have to travel on short notice, and for extended periods. These trips usually come when I have just gotten into good shape, and when I return I have to start all over again. It’s all good.

indyfabz

What is the unspeakable illness you speak of?

tempocyclist

Okay so I get annoyed if I miss a training session or two due to other life commitments, or I am ill for a week. The posts in this thread have really put that into perspective for me!

Camilo

I also think drop bar bikes - on the hoods especially - hold the wrists in a natural position. Look at your hands hanging at your sides. Hoods and drops on a handlebar are closer to that than a flat bar handlebar.

datlas 

Guessing it’s Covid/long covid.

mschwett 

yes. it’s difficult. almost all of my fully discretionary time revolved around cycling, planning rides, reading, buying bikes or parts or working on bikes. the actual riding, 150+ miles a week, was obviously the best part but i did pretty quickly get to a point where if I didn’t get four rides in a week in including a 60+ miler on the weekend, or if my average speed dropped a lot, or no big climbs, I felt like I wasn’t pushing hard enough. having to stop anything resembling high intensity completely has been very hard to adjust to, as well as the knowledge that short of a heart transplant, this is it for the rest of my life.

on the plus side, more time for other things, and the personal challenge of finding satisfaction in something without going “all the way.” it’s a process that takes a mindful strategy, I think, you can’t just wing it. I decided against cold turkey even though it has been very tempting. so far I’ve only sold one bike.

Russ Roth

t really sucks, wife and I picked up a cold before getting covid and finishing it off with the flue over the course of 3 weeks in Dec. I had a lot of tiredness after but needing to lose weight and worried about what this season would look like I joined a gym just before the new year and have been trying to power through. The result is that I'm physically in better shape but get more exhausted in the evenings and while I'm riding slightly faster, I'm having a persistent issue where I can't breathe deeply enough and feel constantly short of breath while riding.

indyfabz

As I’ve explained more times than I really cared to, this time last year I was learning how to walk again after more than two months off my feet. When I was lifted from the bed via a Hoyer in January so an aide could change my sheets, I looked at my emaciated legs and didn’t thought that would never be possible. I was finally able to ride a total of 44 miles during two rides in October.

This was the view from my rehab bed for two months.

Chuck M 

Covid took half marathons away from me but the cycling was pretty much OK. Six months later got Covid again. After the third case of Covid, cycling has gotten harder, but what the hell, I'll keep going. And there is a relationship between exercise and mental health. I'm a grumpy SOB when I can't get out and exercise.

Chuck M 

Again, the relationship between exercise and happy is real. That was a piss poor view to look at. Hopefully things are better.