Dudelsack 

Great responses and thank you!

1. TBH right now I wish I had just gotten the scope and was done with it. PT has helped in my conditioning but not really with the pain.
2. I’ve sworn off Strava and I don’t monitor time, just mileage and then to keep from overdoing it.
3. I snowbird in South Florida and was pleasantly surprised by how many people hit the roads there, in spite of the substantial risks. I’m taking my bike the next time.
4. My goal is to get into smiles per miles. What ever happened to Dvrfox, BTW?

Maelochs

Intermittent fasting did not work for me .... but it works really well for others. I am always willing to experiment when I am not getting the results I want anyway.

As for "Coming back," I haven't had any serious injuries---a broken collarbone, but that wasn't that big a deal .... it was a mix of mental and physical issues interacting which dropped my riding from several thousand miles a year to a few hundred.

Now that I am getting back into riding, I find that all my old "goals": farther, faster, more! are meaningless. I feel pretty wiped out after short slow rides, which is okay, but it seems increasing performance is glacial---it is really hard to stay consistent and even if I get several riders in a row, every one is slow and difficult. I am doing a little better than five mph, but not hugely.

For me, the only thing that matters is reconnecting with the joy of riding. I cannot ride for speed, or endurance, i cannot go exploring new areas---I cannot even ride to the end of the areas I already know. The only thing I can do is Ride my Bike .... and it turns out, I still like riding my bike.

I still track my numbers, but I really don't mind if they go up or down. That is no longer the point. If I can get out away from the desk or couch and ride at all, I win.

So, ride short, ride slow, ride without measuring anything, whatever. If you like riding, ride your bike. it is the thing in itself.

big john

I think he just got tired of the forum and quit.

PeteHski

For weight loss I just do a bit of calorie counting for a while and for me it works well - although I'm only looking to lose maybe 10 lbs max for some specific climbing events. But it always surprises me how many calories we consume without really being aware. If I count calories for a few weeks I can adjust my intake and drop those 10 lbs over the course of a few months. I agree with others who say diet is way more important than exercise for weight control. Although ultimately it all works together for a healthy lifestyle.

DiabloScott

I thought he got hit by a car and died on a bike ride, but maybe I'm confusing him with someone else. Is he the guy who used to call "hooey" on everything?

Jumpski

Left knee capsular and meniscus tear. I did the whole PT program after the sports related injury, and that didn’t work out well at all. I still had discomfort- ok pain, so the surgery was a go. Looking back, I should have had the arthroscopy fun after the incident. My surgeon’s specialty was knee tune- ups, so all is well. Life is good.

Trakhak

Banned in 2014, apparently.

Road Fan

Hi, Dudelsack, I remember you and have wondered where you are! Welcome back! I've had a hiatus as well, of about three years. Not long after it started I fell on ice and had a wrist fracture, which has healed 1000% with the help of surgery and PT. After that I retired and got similar lost in the Internet, including BF. Now I'm trying to get into the saddle more, and have had no more injuries. When I do get on the bike it's still smooth and fluid to glide over the road or MUPs, I just need to work on comfort and fitness.

One aspect of my motivation to return to bikes is that my wife (Mrs Road Fan is even a little older than I am) can now go out and crack off a ride to Lake Erie and back (45 miles round trip from the trailhead), and I am wasted after the first 25 miles -- need work!

Didn't you wear that chicken hat on your avatar?

Road Fan

I think DnvrFox ultimately left on his own, but I could be wrong. He started a chat group on Google, I think, but I think it's dormant now.

takenreasy

I like your bike and your style.

takenreasy

Another rider with the right idea and a shiny quick release master link!

davester

PT may not have helped you avoid surgery, but for many of us it has worked tremendously. I had a bad torn meniscus from playing soccer + running a few years ago. It got to the point where I could barely walk up and down stairs, walking in general was difficult and I had severe knee locking. I visited a surgeon who gave me the standard "sure, we can go in and clean that up but then you'll need PT plus a lengthy recovery period" speech. After reading up on the less than 50% surgery success rate of blind studies where they compared surgery + PT versus sham surgery (i.e. making incisions but not actually doing anything else) + PT) I decided to try the PT route. I went through two crummy physical therapists who just gave me generic exercises to do. The third one was great...spent two sessions purely on isolating the problems I needed to work on, asked me how dedicated I would be to fixing the problems and then got me to hard work on targeted exercises. Net result...my knee is perfectly fine now. I can ride, run, play soccer, whatever, without pain. Importantly though, YMMV. At the very least, if you do decide to do the surgery then your PT conditioning may help to speed your recovery. I just suggest that you ask yourself if you've taken the PT far enough to be sure that it's not working and that you really want to go under the knife.

probe1957

I have never had any surgeries or injuries that inhibit my ability to ride. I am just old and slow but I don't care. Yesterday I rode 14 miles at average 11.5 MPH. I track it just for the hell of it but I don't really have the desire to improve anything (other than lose about 10 pounds). I ride because I like to ride and I always ride alone as that seems to help me destress.

big john

Maybe you're confusing him with patencad? Denver asked to be banned, other members have also done that.

big john

That was Doohickie.

Road Fan

Okay, thanks!!!

Dudelsack 

Exactly and thank you! I just rode around the neighbourhood. Knee hurts but I can tell I’m getting stronger.

I’ve never worn a chicken on my head.

Did patentcad really die? So sorry if that was true.

PS I got dry needled yesterday. If you’re into pain and suffering, it’s for you. I thought it hurt like hell.

Dudelsack 

And so I tried to track down Pcad, without success, but I came across some vintage threads and names I remember. It reminds me of a Paul Simon lyric:

Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there.

Makes me greatful to be above ground.

shelbyfv

Pcad post# 291 https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...brance-12.html

Dudelsack 

So sad! PCad was a glorious larger than life tortured soul. The YouTube video was somber. I appreciate that there were no yapping heads to detract from the utter sadness of the scene. I hope he is at peace.

Biker395 

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.

rydabent

In the past I have taken heat when I stated 99%+ of bike riders should just ride any way it pleases them. I still recommend it.

Dudelsack 

Heat? From whom? It’s your life and your bike.

Biker395 

It looks like at least semi-retirement is in my immediate future. I've worked my whole life since I was 12 ... even worked through law school, which is pretty much unheard of. I'm hoping I adjust to it as well as you have!

Riveting

Here in Denver, with hills everywhere and almost unavoidable, in order to maintain consistency of stress during knee-hab (as I call it), one must monitor time, and NOT mileage, since riding 10 miles uphill is not nearly the same as riding 10 miles on the flats. I typically choose to ride for a max. of 3 hours if my knees are bothering me at all. If only on the flats that could be 45-50 miles, but if I instead do a long climb up a canyon, those same 3 hours of riding might only be 20 miles (10 up and 10 down).

Different pedal strokes for different folks.