I've had meniscal snips in both knees, and in 2018 had a skiing accident that caused a tibial platform compression fracture. I needed surgery for that too, but recovered quickly ... 3 months or so and just in time to do the RAAM on a team.
Do the PT thing, but don't fear the meniscal surgery. Recovery should be pretty quick.
As for weight and riding ... yea ... with all kinds of health issues and COVID last year erasing my usual bike commuting, I gained 20 flippin pounds. I know that is not huge, but I'm not a big guy in the first place, so it was big enough to slow me down quite a bit, and especially with the concomitant lack of conditioning.
My advice is to forget how slow or fast you are going. I now go out with the goal of just riding at ANY speed and ANY distance. My only goal is to ride a certain amount of time. What happens for me is that once I get off my arse and start riding, the joy of it overtakes me and I find myself pushing harder and staying out longer than I planned. I am actually starting to remember why I liked climbing.
I don't do Strava. I don't even have an odometer on one of my bikes, and the other has a simple speedometer/altimeter that I rarely use.
Just ride and let things take care of themselves.
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Proud parent of a happy inner child ...
Last edited by Biker395; 07-22-21 at 12:16 PM.