Did a 6 Miler Today

Published on June 12, 2005 By MasonM In Blogging

I managed to get a ride in this morning before the rains came again. I live on the far west end of town and rode to the far east end of town and back again. A total ride of 6 miles. Yeah, small town.

This is the longest continuous ride I have made so far. And it felt pretty good.

Comments

kingbee

on Jun 13, 2005

i'm correct in thinking you're recuperating from a recent accident? 6 miles is always good but, if i'm right, it's excellent. just be sure not to push yourself too hard (if you're any kinda addictive personality, that's way easier said than done).

what kinda bike do you have?

MasonM

on Jun 13, 2005

You are correct kingbee. My right hip/pelvis was shattered in a car wreck the day after Christmas. Cycling, while being a great hobby/sport and means of transportation is also physical therapy for me. After spending a few months being laid up and then learning to walk again, my ability to walk has improved greatly since I started cycling again. I am now finally to the point I can look into starting to work again.

When I first started try to ride again about a month ago I could barely manage a mile without inducing extreme pain. While 6 miles doesn't seem like much, for me it's an indicator of some really good progress. I'm hoping to be able to do a century some time next year.

Right now I just have an old Huffy 10 speed (remember those?) mountain bike. Not great, but it gets the job done. Once I start working again I hope to save up for nice Trek or Giant.

kingbee

on Jun 13, 2005

i'm really glad to hear you're doing so well. i wasn't aware you'd been so severely injured. like i said, 6 miles woulda been an accomplishment even with something as relatively minor as a torn hamstring; i'm truly impressed.

huffy's still in business aint it? altho i hadda mongoose and then a nishiki (which i sorta bastardized by going with a wheel that was nearly as narrow as a road bike) i greatly prefer the old raleigh 10-speed i have now to both. it's gotta be about 40 years old and is almost too tall for me but i sure get a hell of a kick and great leg extention with it. since i was using it as my only means of transportation, i was covering a lotta distance...all on city streets.

have you also tried swimming? or even just walking the length of a pool? water provides decent non-traumatic resistance, altho i'm no pt so i don't know how well it would work for you.

MasonM

on Jun 13, 2005

Thanks kingbee. It's been a long 5+ months.

Huffy is indeed still in business. My bike is about 10 years old now. I bought it used a few years ago. Raleigh builds some decent bikes for the price range. While I prefer the better built bikes, I'm far from a cycling "snob" and figure any bike is better than no bike.

Unfortunately, I haven't had ready access to a pool but it would have been nice about the middle of April when I was first allowed to put weight on the leg and start trying to walk again. While I still have a limp which I'm told is probably permanent, I'm walking reasonably well now and don't even use the cane very much any more. I credit the cycling for it as improvement became much faster once I was able to start peddling.

Now I just need to work on getting back in shape and losing the weight I've gained from several months of sitting around doing nothing.

Shovelheat

on Jun 13, 2005

I'm sorry, I thought you said you did 6 Millers today. I was gonna say amatuer, but I stand corrected!

MasonM

on Jun 13, 2005

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