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OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
United StatesSpent five hours walking around watching things like this....
Bilateral TKR The Historian - recovery diary
- Thread starter TheHistorian
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trailspud
graduate
Historian,
If cycling is something you really want to continue, but causes physical difficulties during and after, I would consider a recumbent trike. I was a mountain runner who has just never fallen in love with cycling. I am determined to try now that I am past my 2nd TKR. However, despite living in a cycling crazy area, I am not a good technical mountain biker and do not enjoy road cycling. I think I am going to try a recumbent trike... tadpole design w/2 wheels in front. We have a few long rails-to-trails paths nearby and I have talked to users and they all rave about how fun the trikes are and how they can ride long without all the nasty effects on the shoulders, back, hands, etc.
If cycling is something you really want to continue, but causes physical difficulties during and after, I would consider a recumbent trike. I was a mountain runner who has just never fallen in love with cycling. I am determined to try now that I am past my 2nd TKR. However, despite living in a cycling crazy area, I am not a good technical mountain biker and do not enjoy road cycling. I think I am going to try a recumbent trike... tadpole design w/2 wheels in front. We have a few long rails-to-trails paths nearby and I have talked to users and they all rave about how fun the trikes are and how they can ride long without all the nasty effects on the shoulders, back, hands, etc.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
As you can tell from the photo I posted, I was at a rocketry event, Red Glare in Price, MD. The Maryland-Delaware Rocketry Association holds the event twice a year on a local farm. Chris runs a rocketry website and invited me along for the weekend. I have some mild interest in rockets, if only because I'm old enough to have seen man land on the moon, so of course I went.
Saturday, as I mentioned, I spent five hours walking and standing. I was sore and stiff at the end of it, despite my going back to the truck to rest for an hour. Also I forgot sunscreen.
Sunday I went on a bike ride while Chris spent 7 hours standing taking photos. My plan was to ride to Tuckahoe State Park, but I'd left my maps at home and I got lost. I wound up turning around two miles from the park, unaware I was so close. I battled headwinds, had no food or water since I didn't reach the park and had forgotten I was going to be riding in farm country - no services available, and finally found my way back to the launch site with the help of the smoke trails from the rocket launches. My ride was 19.50 miles according to Map My Ride. Had I reached the park I would have 24 miles in for the day.
I still had the problems I did before when riding, and by the end of the ride I felt very beat up. My stamina isn't where it was. Still, all in all it was a good weekend. And I didn't get hit by a falling rocket. The blue one in this photo, for instance, blew up in midair instead of having a successful recovery by deploying its parachute.
The oddest thing I saw all weekend... and I saw a lot of it. After I returned from my ride Sunday I walked onto the launching site to talk to Chris, and told him I went out there in full kit so for at least a minute or two he wouldn't be the most ridiculous looking man there.
Spectators spent a lot of time looking at the sky, as you can imagine. This guy had the right idea for his chair.
Waiting for the all clear so he can bring his rocket out to the launch site. You can see Chris in the middle ground and the launching rails in the distance. To Chris' left is the control area rockets are launched from. A PA system lets the man at the control panel announce which rocket is going up, give the countdown, and then provide 'play by play': "I see smoke.... there it goes.... climbing, arcing..... we have an event..... chute deployed......"
Sunday's bike ride was from the launch site. I immediately made a wrong turn but thanks to "guydar" began riding in the right general direction. I stopped at a small family graveyard. These small plots are all over the Eastern Shore. You can see my bike on the fence in the distance.
The Eastern Shore, at least this part of it, is as flat as can be imagined. This is the closest I came to a hill climb during the ride. The local roads were very little traveled by cars, and all the drivers were courteous to me. Maryland law requires bikes to use the shoulder on roads with posted speed limits of 45 MPH or greater, and fortunately this highway had a good shoulder.
Saturday, as I mentioned, I spent five hours walking and standing. I was sore and stiff at the end of it, despite my going back to the truck to rest for an hour. Also I forgot sunscreen.
Sunday I went on a bike ride while Chris spent 7 hours standing taking photos. My plan was to ride to Tuckahoe State Park, but I'd left my maps at home and I got lost. I wound up turning around two miles from the park, unaware I was so close. I battled headwinds, had no food or water since I didn't reach the park and had forgotten I was going to be riding in farm country - no services available, and finally found my way back to the launch site with the help of the smoke trails from the rocket launches. My ride was 19.50 miles according to Map My Ride. Had I reached the park I would have 24 miles in for the day.
I still had the problems I did before when riding, and by the end of the ride I felt very beat up. My stamina isn't where it was. Still, all in all it was a good weekend. And I didn't get hit by a falling rocket. The blue one in this photo, for instance, blew up in midair instead of having a successful recovery by deploying its parachute.
The oddest thing I saw all weekend... and I saw a lot of it. After I returned from my ride Sunday I walked onto the launching site to talk to Chris, and told him I went out there in full kit so for at least a minute or two he wouldn't be the most ridiculous looking man there.
Spectators spent a lot of time looking at the sky, as you can imagine. This guy had the right idea for his chair.
Waiting for the all clear so he can bring his rocket out to the launch site. You can see Chris in the middle ground and the launching rails in the distance. To Chris' left is the control area rockets are launched from. A PA system lets the man at the control panel announce which rocket is going up, give the countdown, and then provide 'play by play': "I see smoke.... there it goes.... climbing, arcing..... we have an event..... chute deployed......"
Sunday's bike ride was from the launch site. I immediately made a wrong turn but thanks to "guydar" began riding in the right general direction. I stopped at a small family graveyard. These small plots are all over the Eastern Shore. You can see my bike on the fence in the distance.
The Eastern Shore, at least this part of it, is as flat as can be imagined. This is the closest I came to a hill climb during the ride. The local roads were very little traveled by cars, and all the drivers were courteous to me. Maryland law requires bikes to use the shoulder on roads with posted speed limits of 45 MPH or greater, and fortunately this highway had a good shoulder.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
BTW, for the Brits posting here, you are responsible for the name "Red Glare." Its a line from The Star Spangled Banner, written about your attack on our Fort McHenry at Baltimore.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
Hi Trailspud,
I've test-ridden trikes before.....
...but they have their minuses as well as pluses. They are harder to transport, store, and lift. Parts are more expensive, shops that can service them properly aren't as common as for traditional bikes, and they cost more. Also, fitting a trike can be as difficult as fitting a bike. So I'm not ready yet to jump into the world of three wheels. Maybe sometime, but not now. I'm not convinced my problems on an upright bike are beyond overcoming.
I've test-ridden trikes before.....
...but they have their minuses as well as pluses. They are harder to transport, store, and lift. Parts are more expensive, shops that can service them properly aren't as common as for traditional bikes, and they cost more. Also, fitting a trike can be as difficult as fitting a bike. So I'm not ready yet to jump into the world of three wheels. Maybe sometime, but not now. I'm not convinced my problems on an upright bike are beyond overcoming.
DelawareGirl57
junior member
A couple of those pics look familiar. That wouldn't be route 404 would it?
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
First photo is on Hope Road and Maryland 405. Second is on Maryland 304. The rocket launches took place at the farm on Ell Downes and Bridgetown Roads.
jetthugger
senior
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
One surprise I'm finding as I am out and about is how common knee replacement is. For instance, at Red Glare I had a discussion at the snack stand at the event about my procedure. One of the proprietors had a TKR, and another had a partial. They both seemed stunned I rode as far as I did on Sunday. And by far they meant 20 miles. Sadly, I'm so used to long distances that 20 miles doesn't seem big to me, and I estimated the ride at 10 miles until I plotted it on a map.
I was stiff on Monday, but some of that could be from the long drives I had Sunday evening, 2.5 hours in Chris' tiny truck and then 1.5 hours in my car driving home.
I was stiff on Monday, but some of that could be from the long drives I had Sunday evening, 2.5 hours in Chris' tiny truck and then 1.5 hours in my car driving home.
RICBAK1
graduate
Yes driving can do that i drive to daughters which over here is nearly all motorway which i drive at mostly 80mph and takes me 4 hours and get out of car like a gereatric till i have walked about.Also as you say when just talking how many have had tkr or hip jobs in this village about 1/4 of us but then again it costs us nothing financially with NHS, just time to recover.
trailspud
graduate
The Catrikes in your pics (a few posts up) are the brand I have considered.
My wife has a lot of back, neck, and shoulder issues. Fitting is still an issue, but I think she would be able to do some touring on a high end tadpole trike. Me, I have just heard they can be a blast to ride.
Good luck getting back to cycling in an enjoyable fashion.
My wife has a lot of back, neck, and shoulder issues. Fitting is still an issue, but I think she would be able to do some touring on a high end tadpole trike. Me, I have just heard they can be a blast to ride.
Good luck getting back to cycling in an enjoyable fashion.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
There is a legend of a great bike called Notung, stuck in an ash-tree, or a shed, until a hero comes along to ride it. "Notung! Notung! Hoho, hoho, hohi!"
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
Weekend plans are set, more or less. Saturday its a hike, then "Geocaching 101" course, followed by dinner and a "star party" with the local astronomy group at Marsh Creek State Park. Sunday its a bike ride with the repaired and restored Notung, a bike that should fit me better than the red one I've been riding. Chris is going to join me for all this, bringing his telescope for the star party.
RICBAK1
graduate
Busy week end for you ,hope to get out on bike but it is still seriously cold here all of 7c today,how are those butterfly bars to ride keep meaning to get some for cross bike to try out.I have a lot of trouble with wrist and hand seizing up so maybe more positions might help.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
I'll let you know how the butterfly bars are when I use them. I hardly had any experience with them before I shelved riding Notung. The Surly Long Haul Trucker is a touring/road bike, and it has a narrower crank than my hybrid. By 2011 my valgus was so bad I couldn't get my right foot on the pedal, so its sat in a shed for two years while I was repaired.
Geocaching promises to be interesting. I have friends who do it but I have no experience with it.
Geocaching promises to be interesting. I have friends who do it but I have no experience with it.
RICBAK1
graduate
Hi managed a 30.5 mile ride today but still having trouble with tkr leg being longer than right so given up on cleats and toeclips and ride was great,i could place my foot where ever was comfortable and really enjoyed ride or it was my new Banesto shirt searched internet for years for an original shirt my size now just need one with short sleeves ,look out Big MIG i am coming(miguel indurain),him and LANCE only riders i like B Wiggins is a spoilt child throwing his bike yesterday against cliff wall,he deserves a slap of manager.
![[Bonesmart.org] The Historian - recovery diary](https://data.bonesmart.org/attachments/9/9474-c8323263a0dc9647139e5debaf1edc61.jpg?hash=yDIyY6Dclk "[Bonesmart.org] The Historian - recovery diary")
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
A dozen miles on Notung Sunday...
The geocaching on Saturday was fun. But the star party was a bust.... too cold for me, and looking through some of the telescopes made me dizzy.
The geocaching on Saturday was fun. But the star party was a bust.... too cold for me, and looking through some of the telescopes made me dizzy.
RICBAK1
graduate
How did the geoching go ,we go walking but the wife uses map and compass i am useless at that ,best thing i have is sat nav in car and on phone i get lost anywhere i have no sense of direction.The trail path looks okay, none round here i think thats why i prefer roads.
OP
OP
TheHistorian
post-grad
Geocaching was an interesting little diversion. It took less than an hour. Not something I'd go out of my way to do on my own, but if I were invited to join a group I'd do it. Also I'm clueless when it comes to GPS.
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