I remember when she was just a baby. Lily and I put her together in the basement 12 years ago. I got her new shifter cables and housings, chain, and cassette for her birthday.
Left leg saga continued
On Sunday, I rode the Hains Point 100, the final event ride of the year (for me anyway) in DC. The ride is 30 laps of a 3.3-mile circuit in East Potomac Park, down to Hains Point and back. It’s about as flat a course as you can find. Serious riders form fast-moving pelotons. We mere mortals ride a few laps, socialize, munch goodies, and hang out at the raffle. (I won a gift certificate to a taco place a mile from my physical therapist. The burrito gods are on my side.)
I had no intention of riding anything close to 100 miles. It was pretty cold, in the 30s for much of the time I would be riding. The Mule and I took it easy, rolling along, mostly at 12 miles per hour, but, occasionally cranking it up to 20. My legs were holding up just fine. Until about 28 miles into the ride, that is. The ache in my left leg, formerly only present when I was walking, appeared. I managed to ride another 9 1/2 miles with plenty of rest stops but I was really not a happy camper.
Fortunately, I made an appointment with my orthopedist on Monday. I felt fine when I woke up. Oh, great. What will I tell the doctor? I decided to do some stocking shopping before my appointment. I lasted 50 feet before my leg started aching again.
I limped a few blocks to and from a store and my left calf, groin, outer thigh, and butt cheek were having a contest to see which one could make me drop a salvo of F-bombs. (The calf won.)
At the doctor’s office, I explained my woes to the doctor. He nodded and smiled. When I told him about hurting after 50 feet of walking his eyebrows went up. Forttunately, this was obviously a no-brainer to him.
He examined my legs and back. He was impressed. “Push. Pull. Resist. You’re strong,” he remarked. Funny, what 30,000 miles in three years can do.
Then he checked my back for flexibility. I acquitted myself well for an 85-year-old. I did however manage to touch the floor from a standing position without bending my legs. I took about 15 second for my back to relax though. “I’ll only be a minute.”
The diagnosis was stenosis.The passages through the vertebrae in my lower back are narrowing as I age. The nerves emanating from my lower spinal cord are being compressed. Lucky me, I’m old. The good news is that I haven’t incurred appreciable muscle weakness in my legs. (And you thought I was nuts to ride so much, didn’t you?)
The treatment plan is pretty simple. I am on a nine-day declining does of prednisone, a steroid that will almost certainly calm the nerves down. (I was on a seven-day course prior to my back surgery. It worked well. It wore off just as I was being wheeled into pre-op.)
The doctor gave instructions to my physical therapy team to change my PT regime. He agreed that the gentle yoga exercises I have been doing would be helpful.
When I arrived home, I looked up PT-for-stenosis videos. As it turns out, most of the exercises are already part of the yoga/PT routine I discontinued last year.
The plan is to follow this exercise regime for a few weeks, unless the pain doesn’t abate in which case we amputate.
Just kidding. If I don’t recover, we’ll discuss surgical remedies. Time will tell.
Ironically, my PT team has being trying to improve my posture, thinking this would help with my general mechanics, I suppose. Well, it turns out that stenosis patients find that a forward lean helps to attenuate symptoms. When I ran back in my 20s and 30s, I had a pronounced forward lean. When I sit, I naturally lean forward. Riding a bike puts my in a forward lean as well.
So I asked the doctor, can I ride my bike.
Yes.
Considering the fact that two years ago I was in a hospital bed on anticoagulants and trying to breathe with one functioning lung, I’ll take this year’s medical conundrum any day.
Merry Christmas, y’all.
Pictures of the Year 2019
Well, once again I wasted untold hours posting this inane blog. In for a penny, in for a pound. So here goes with the pictures of 2019. With one, regrettably from a few years ago.
Top Ten of 2019
The year isn’t over yet so I am assuming nothing particularly notable will happen in the next 10 days. Except for the fact that we will be taking back some daylight from those thieves in the southern hemisphere! Here’s a list of ten notable things that I wrote about in 2019.
- Before I left for my bike tour, the Washington Nationals were a complete flop. So disappointing. When I got back they were playing great and having a blast. Baby sharks were busting out all over. I must have gone to 20 games. Many with my daughter. Improbably, with one of the worst bullpens in history, the Nationals won the whole damned thing. Unreal.
- My daughter received her masters degree from King’s College in London so we went over the pond to celebrate and play. We visited the Churchill War Rooms, saw Book of Mormon, checked out the Greenwich Observatory and the British Museum, and had breakfast at Dishoom. Twice. (Try the granola with coconut milk yoghurt.)
- My son came home from Thailand this fall. So great to see him. He earned his PADI certification this year. When not taking tourists on scuba dives, he works at an Internet-based marketing company.
- In April, Dave Salovesh, a dear friend, was killed by an out of control driver in DC. He always seemed to be everywhere. And now he’s nowhere. In death as in life, he brought us together. Too many tears. I can still hear his warm, calming voice in my head. It was a pleasure knowing him.
- I rode my bike from Indiana to San Francisco. One day outside Saint Louis, I was scraping Mississippi River mud from my tires and fenders on the side of a highway. Jerry, a retired chef, pulled up in a white pick up and all but ordered me to get off the pavement. Seconds after I did, two cars crashed where I had been standing. Channeling Samuel L. Jackson, Jerry remarked, “That would have fucked you up!” Indeed, it would have. It was a stark reminder that just like Dave I could go at anytime.
- The other people who helped me on my trip across the country were amazing. An especially kind motel owner in Westcliffe, Colorado. Bicycle mechanics. The inspiration of a Buddhist monk in a cowboy hat walking along the highway in the Ozarks. Warmshowers hosts. Mike and Jessie who met me at the ferry terminal and housed, fed, and “watered” me in San Francisco. And a woman giving out cold water out (and letting me use her bathroom) on the side of the road in Kansas. I could not have made it without them. Proving once again, that there is no such thing as a solo bike tour.
- Mark and Corey let me join them for the ride across Kansas. You couldn’t find two better people to ride through floods and endless prairie than these two. Corey stopped to take pictures of flowers everyday, and sent one home via his online trip journal to his wife Lynn each night. Mark was the master of logistics. I think the floods near Chanute, Kansas receded when they heard he was coming.
- I rode the Nigel Tufnel edition of the 50 States Ride (my 11th time), once again joined by a posse of friends. In reality, I have ridden in 34 states. Maybe I should knock off the other 16. What do you think? I did four other event rides in the fall, three of them with my friend Emilia. Estoy bien.
- Several times a year, friends from grad school get together to celebrate birthdays. This year we got into day hiking. I hadn’t done much hiking in the past couple of years. I think I did four or five hikes with them. The hikes were a welcome break from the bicycling grind.
- For the second year in a row, I rode over 10,000 miles on my bikes. I cycled through 5 new states (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada). From Pueblo to San Francisco I climbed (and descended) over 150,000 feet. For the first time ever, I walked up hills, mountains really. My legs are still trying to forget. I hope my mind never does.
- And, a final extra note to three traveling bloggers, Lily, Jessica, and Brittany. Thanks for keeping me inspired to go somewhere far. The next time I find myself pushing my bike up a mountain, I’ll remember that I could be sipping tea in a cafe somewhere civilized.
The saga continues….
Today I cancelled Monday’s PT appointment. Yesterday I did a two-hour recumbent ride in the basement. My wonky left leg felt fine throughout. When I walked away from the bike, the ache in my leg returned.
I did a very abbreviated PT session, took two Tylenols, and chilled.
Today, my leg felt fine for a few hours after waking. Then, as I was telling Mrs. Rootchopper that my leg felt pretty good, the ache returned.
I went for a 30-mile ride to test out the repairs done on Little Nellie. The shifting works fine in the front. I still get some chain misbehavior in the rear but that’s the norm for this bike. I wonder if there isn’t some kind of flex in the frame caused by the folding mechanism.
In any case, my leg felt absolutely fine for the entire ride. The left knee hurt a little going up hills or grinding big gears. There’s a small painful spot on the outside of my hip, as well. I don’t know if the leg could handle a mountain out west but for present purposes it’s okay. I stopped to shop at a store and within a few minutes my leg was aching again. I think weight bearing is triggering the pain.
When I got home, instead of PT, I did a short version of my old yoga routine. There are over 30 poses involved. I spent about a minute on each. By the end, my leg was very achy.
It has been suggested by several people (my physical therapist and my brother, a retired nurse, who has similar back problems) that this ache is referred pain from a pinched nerve in my lower spine. My lower back doesn’t hurt any more than usual. It’s always stiff thanks to the family genome. I’ve had sciatica in the past as well as a herniated disk. My current symptoms don’t follow the classic knife pain from butt to calf of sciatica, nor do they follow the aching thigh numbness of my slipped disc. Still, some sort of nerve compression in my lower back is a pretty good candidate for the cause.
So I looked up yoga videos for lower back pain. The three that I found all include positions in my routine. Most include extending the leg away from the body, either while doing a standing yoga position or a kneeling one. (Some of them involve reaching back and pulling the foot back toward the body. Ain’t gonna happen.) The level of difficulty of these is easy to moderate, for me anyway. If I had full blown sciatica, they’d be impossible.
Another candidate for the pain in my calf is repercussions from my blood clot episode of two years ago. It turns out that some people who have had a blood clot called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in their leg have residual pain that can show up much later and last a life time. The pain is caused by the body reacting to the DVT by redirecting blood flow around the DVT. After the DVT is gone, the blood flow gets discombobulated and pain and swelling results. (When I had the DVT, I had no pain or swelling. It was a sneaky little bastard.) Depending on how my visit to the orthopedist goes on Monday, I may make a follow up appointment with my hematologist.
Digression: one way to tell that you are old is by the number of medical specialists you see. My specialty list includes ophthalmology, neurology, hematology, pulmonology, endocrinology, orthopaedics, and physical therapy. If this goes on much longer, I’m going to need a psychiatrist. As long as my list does not involve a mortician, I’ll consider myself ahead of the game.
A third possibility is acute Christmas cookie intoxification. ACCI is a bitch. The only known cure is January.
I happen to have a vibrating massage gizmo that I acquired during one of my many episodes of back pain many years ago. It’s basically been useless until now but it turns out to be surprisingly effective in calming my calf muscle down. This device can target the muscle tightness much better than a foam roller, massage stick, or a lacrosse ball.
So for the next several days it’s biking, yoga, massage gizmo, Netflix, and pills.
Flossing ain’t getting it done
For the last couple of days I’ve rested my legs and done nerve flossing. Last night my left leg was killing me as I walked 1/2 mile from the WABA holiday party to the Metro station. It nearly seized up as I was crossing U Street, a chaotic traffic mess of a road. It ached at night and all day until I went in the basement and started riding:
I’ve been going at it for over an hour. No pain at all.
After 10+ weeks of physical therapy and three cortisone shots, other than when I’m riding, I’m in more pain than when I started. They say that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity
I’m cancelling my Monday PT appointment and going back to the orthopedist instead.
In the meantime, I’m discontinuing all flossing or stretching or leg strengthening exercises as long as my leg still aches.
On Sunday morning I’ll be doing the last event ride of the year, the Hains Point 100. It’s a flat ride in 3.3 mile laps. If you do 30, laps, good on you. I usually ride 7 to 10 laps, stopping to chat with friends and eat junk food. And Advil.
Flossing amid the winter gloom
So the weatherman cooperated with my new regime. Yesterday I didn’t ride at all. Not riding makes my brain restless so I started the day with 20 minutes of meditation. I haven’t done sitting meditation in a long time, because long slow rides make it superfluous. (Most meditation teachers would disagree but I doubt they’ve ridden a bike across Kansas. Then again, I did run into a Tibetan monk in a cowboy hat walking down the road in Missouri this summer so what do I know.)
Cold drizzle made outdoor riding unappealing, so I rode Big Nellie in the basement for the first time since last winter. Two hours on a bike indoors may sound boring but I multitasked with a Bill Bryson book, Neither Here Nor There. It’s his account of travelling solo through Europe.
After that I did a PT session. After reviewing several YouTube videos on nerve flossing, I decided to stop beating my left leg up with the foam roller. I did four or five flossing sessions (they only take a minute). So far, I am seeing no noticeable change. If this doesn’t work, I’m going back to my yoga-based routine from 2017 – 2018. In many ways it is quite similar to the PT I’ve been doing but costs nothing. I tried some balance moves today. The Flying Wallendas will not be calling me anytime soon. I also did a shoulder stand that I cut short to avoid taking out the router on the table next to me.
After that I watched Room on Netflix. A gloomy movie for a gloomy day. Lots of really good acting though.
Tomorrow, I hope to pick Little Nellie up from the bike shop. Then I’ll go to the WABA Holiday Party. I’ll be the guy with the pronounced limp on the left and the beer on the right.
A change of plans
My recovery from knee and hip pain has hit a setback. For the last several days, I have been experiencing aching on the side of my leg from my hip to my mid calf. After 10 weeks of physical therapy I was hoping to see some progress by now but I am getting worse.
I was going to throw in the towel on physical therapy, but, after reading Brittany’s post today, I decided to change things up.
When I explained this new pain issue, my therapist examined me and concluded that I probably have a sciatic nerve impingement. I need to stop tightening the muscles around the nerve and free it up instead. So we decided to drop certain exercises that were intended to strengthen my outer left hip and left butt cheek. Instead I’ll be doing nerve flossing. This involves gently moving my left leg out and back from a sitting position. I’ve done this before for other nerve problems. I don’t recall if it worked but at least I won’t be making pain worse. Also, based on another video I found, using a lacrosse ball or a foam roller to knead the muscles in my left leg is probably not helping so I drop that for now.
Another thing my therapist wants me to do is back off my bike riding. Eek! We talked about taking a couple days off each week a few appointments ago. Now she wants me to ride every other day.
Today, the weatherman cooperated. It was gross outside. I went to the gym and did some upper body weight lifting for the first time in a while. When I got home my leg was still killing me so I went to bed, laid on my back, and did a body scan meditation. Of course, as is often the case, I fell asleep. I woke up without any pain.
Hey wait a minute.
Take the Rootchopper hibernation cure! Send me $500 and I’ll show you how in ten easy-to-follow steps. Sign up for my new hibernation retreat. Only $2,000 for a fabulous weekend in the mountains. Ear plugs and eye masks provided.
Zzzzz.
And I Thought It Was Me
One of the worst, most depressing experiences I have ever had on a bike, or for that matter off a bike, was hitting the wall on my first day climbing in the Colorado Rockies. The day started with 30 miles from Pueblo to Wetmore. In the process I climbed about 1,400 feet. It was a bit challenging but not too bad.
Between Wetmore and Westcliffe, however, was a 3,000 foot climb over what I learned today is something called Hardscrabble Pass. The Google says the distance is 15 miles but other accounts have it at 12 miles. Either way it is a relentless grade of between 6 and 8 percent for most of the way up.
Today I read an account of a bike tourist who did this ride in 2009. He describes having to stop every 1/10 of a mile to avoid going anaerobic. His legs kept tying up as he rode. With no experience at this sort of thing, I didn’t stop until I was completely unable to get a breath. At around 7,500 feet, I leaned over my bike gasping. (My asthma didn’t help a whole lot.)
Another rider broke the Pueblo to Westcliffe ride into two days. He referred to the pass as “the wall.” He took five hours to ride 15 miles over the top. And he walked three times.
After starting and stopping several times, I ended up walking the steepest part about half way between Wetmore and the pass. I felt humiliated, but these two journals assure me that my failure to ride nonstop over the pass had nothing to do with my fitness or age.
My ego feels better now.
Belle View Bike Shop Update
My local bike shop, Spokes Etc.’s Belle View location, is the only shop within six miles of my home. I use it mostly for repairs and purchases of bike stuff. It’s pretty darn good. A few weeks ago, fire broke out in the Belle View shopping center and a number of businesses had to close, including Spokes. I had thought that the bike shop had suffered only smoke damage but that turns out not to be the case. Along with burning off the roof, the fire warped a structural I beam. Once the shopping center’s owners get the place structurally sound and covered, the Spokes people can go about building out the store. Although the I beam should be installed soon, the rest of the structural work will take a few months.
