Going Biking!

Going Biking!!


Last week a blog I wrote appeared on the site CreakyJoints (https://www.creakyjoints.org/). It is about the excitement I felt when the doctor agreed I could resume riding my two wheel bicycle. No one reading this will be able to believe how excited I am. The bicycle is now in hand and I am waiting on spring to break so I can take off. Weeeeee!!!

So why would a man be so excited about riding a bicycle? Well to start I adored my previous bicycle Blue Bell. She was sleek and fit me wonderfully. She rode like a dream and I was so proud of her. When people would see her parked they were envious. Then in a flash it was over, my bicycle was taken away.

So why was it taken away? I had a hip replacement. It hurt like the dickens and yes it still does but it is better now. Because of the fear of falling the doctor said I could no longer ride a two wheel bicycle. That was in 2012. So I bought a 3 wheel lumber wagon. Oh my I did not like that bike very much. I get that it was a solution to a problem but I did not like the adult tricycle very much. It was ok for hauling things. But I don’t haul many things on a bicycle. The tricycle’s name was Silver Streak (S squared or SS).

The first time I rode SS, “two teenagers drove by and yelled get out of the way old man (A meaningless insult to them) yet I wanted to climb under a rock and hide. Perhaps, worst of all, I knew I was owed that insult. As a young man I had thought the same; then I was always in a hurry and wanted those who could not move so well to get out of my way. Maybe that was the problem, maybe S-Squared made me feel like that old man I foolishly derided in my youth” (Phillips, 2015). It was an embarrassing moment.

So I have my two wheel bike back. Her name will be CC, named after Emily Cole’s mother. You see Emily named her car after my father. Why you ask would Emily name her car after my father? Well let’s just say my father (now deceased) had an electric effect when he communicated with others. It is all in good fun of course.

I got my bicycle back following my annual appointment with the doctor who did the hip replacement. I have kept that appointment every year even though it always goes the same. I check in, he orders an Xray, he posts it on the view box and declares his work superior. We discuss that my foot turns out; he offers that this is a byproduct of my hip issue prior to surgery, and the visit ends. But I always ask can I have my bicycle back? He has always made the same response, No. But not this time, this time he said yes. Yes you can have a two wheeler. But don’t wreck. I had a good chuckle and was out the door to find my bicycle.


I located CC two weeks later. She is a 2009 silver and black hot rod road bike. She is sleek and limber and now that she is fixed up she is ready to roll. True she is not blue belle but then again a man can only love a bike after the first 300 miles.

So I am back to riding a two wheel bicycle I know that seems like a small thing, but to me getting my bicycle back is one small step to feeling more normal. I already have plenty of freedom, it is not that. Instead it is the awesome joy of screaming down the hills on a great bicycle.

Does it matter to my diabetes? Well a little. I do have an exercise bike and use it about 5 days a week, but it pales in comparison to the pure joy of riding outside. Just as important of course is the overall exercise benefit, riding outside is more physically demanding than using an exercise bike. Riding outside helps me lose a bit of weight and losing weight will help with diabetes. But that is not the issue. The real benefit is the joy of accomplishing that which was not expected. In the past month I went Para Sailing in FL, and I got my bicycle back, can skydiving be far behind? I bet not. Weeeeeee!!! Well maybe.

References



Phillips, L. (2015). Back on his bike: Goodbye to teens shouting get out of the way old man. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from https://www.creakyjoints.org/back-on-his-bike-goodbye-to-teens-shouting-get-out-of-the-way-old-man/

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rick

Thanks for making me smile this early in the morning. Love your blogs!

Wil,

Don't give three wheels such a hard time, just think about getting a better (albeit more expensive) ride.

I gave up on a standard two-wheeler years ago for a recumbent trike. No more pain in my neck, wrists, back and butt!


OOPS! I meant, Rick! Wil??? Don't know where that came from!

Mike, that's a cool 3 wheeler. S Squared is not so fashionable. I do really like those recumbant's but I think there is a visibility issue that I cannot get past. No Matter the ride, the super cool thing is to keep on riding. Even with S Squared.

Yay!!!!!!!

Hurray! Glad you can still ride, I feel a bit wobbly on a bike these days, no more hands off riding for me.
Keep pedalling,
Maureen

Ah, Going Biking. I have some biking stories. My favorite: Hardy and I went on a biking trip for our honeymoon. We biked from Seattle to the last of the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor. We needed a train ride and some ferry rides, but the all of the rest was biking. There were some *sceaming* downhills, and some exhausted flat-on-the-ground rests. Now that was a honeymoon to remember!--62 years ago. So glad you're on a 2-wheeler again.

Rick - I'm so happy you are riding a proper bicycle again. While I get your tricycle was a safe alternative, nothing beats a smooth ride on a 2 wheeler. Just wear a helmet :).

Trudy that might be a bumpy honeymoon. Well ok it woudl have been bumpy had I taken Sheryl on a bicycle honeymoon. Well to be fair we really lived it up at two state parks. one in Indiana and the other Ohio. Come to think of it, going biking to the Islands of Washington likely woudl have been better. LOL

Clare, I have a two season helmet. I am sure the red and white helmet will look great with my silver and black bike. :)

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. It is so much fun to be back on two wheels. Come on spring.

Rick, I was remiss in not offering you my congratulations. You had a goal to get back on a two-wheeler and (drum roll, please!) you accomplished it.

JUST. TOTALLY. AWESOME.

Thank you Mike, it has been a long road.

Very cool bike. I had my right hip replaced once and resurfaced a few years later. It's good now. Not as active as I would like to be but my 11 yr old son keeps me jumping.