Day 72 - Walking and Walking

Been walking a lot after work on my leg. Yesterday I walked around Veterans High School with my wife. It is about a mile around the school. We walked on the same sidewalk that I fell on and broke my hip. I struggled to make it all the way around without my cane. Today, it felt better. I walked for at least 45 minutes around a tennis court at a park as my wife and son played tennis. My leg and hip felt good. I'm limping less. I am going to do more walking and less riding my bike on my indoor trainer. It seems like putting weight on my injured leg/hip does more good than spinning pedals on my mountain bike, which doesn't put much weight on my leg. I won't get as much cardio work, but I can also build up my cardio later. I just want to ditch my cane as soon as I can.

Day 70 - First Good Workout

Today I had did my first good workout since my surgery. I rode my mountain bike on my indoor trainer at a fast pace for 30 minutes. I worked up a steady sweat about 15 minutes into the ride. I don't have a heart rate monitor, but I'm guessing I got my heart rate up to at least 130 to 140 beats per minute, based on experience. Before I got injured I would do intervals where I would stand up and hammer the pedals for 20 to 30 seconds at a time, taking my heart rate to 180 bpms, which is my maximum heart rate. While it was nowhere close to my maximum it felt good to get my blood pumping through my veins, my heart, and my body. I can't wait until I am able to stand up and hammer those pedals again like old times.

Day 68 - Shorter Leg

I made good progress on my leg/hip over the weekend. I think I may have finally turned the corner with my hip. I was able to walk without my cane with only a slight limp. Last week I added some exercises to strengthen my hip abductor muscles, which seemed to have helped. I was reading that the hip abductor muscles help stabilize the pelvis and hip. I am encouraged by my progress. I'm also relieved. For a while I was worried that maybe my limp was caused by my leg being shorter from my surgery. I remember when my grandmother broke her hip when she was 93, the doctor fixed it, but it ended up being an inch or two shorter than her good leg. I'm relieved that that's not the case. I don't want to be called "peg leg" for the rest of my life!

Day 65 - My Rehab Routine

People often ask me if I am doing rehab. My answer is "yes". I've been doing rehab at least three to four times a week at my house. I haven't gone to a rehabilitation clinic or seen a physical therapist, cause I trying to save a few bucks so I can pay my hospital bills. I have done some research on the web to find exercises that I need to do. I've been alternating days between riding my mountain bike on an indoor trainer, and walking on a treadmill. And I do some exercises with 10 lb. ankle weights to stengthen my hamsting, glutus maximus, and quadricep muscles. Yesterday I rode my indoor trainer for 40 minutes. Today, I walked a mile and a half on the treadmill. I can't seem to lose my limp yet. My goal is to walk into my doctor's office without a cane or limp at my next appointment in first week of August. I'm not sure if I am going to be able to since my progress has been slow lately, but I am surely going to try.

Day 64 - Body Tattoos

During the past four years that I have been mountain bike riding I have had my share of wrecks. Like tattoos, I have visible reminders on my body to remind me of my wipeouts. I have a small, pen eraser size scar on my upper right arm where a small tree limb jammed into my flesh. The doctor had to dig it out. I have two, two inch diameter brown, circular scars on both of my hips from strawberries I got from sliding out on the road. I have a two inch scar on the right side of my face from a wipeout I took at Flat Rock Ranch last year when I lost control on a descent and hit my head on the ground, cracking my helmet in seven places and breaking the arm on my sunglasses which cut me open. It took 15 stitches to fix (that's me in the pic after the stitches). You should have seen the look on my wife's face when I came home. I'm surprised that my wife even lets me ride after all my accidents.

Day 62 - A Matter of Time

My wife called me in the morning to tell me that one of my riding buddies, Brian (the guy kissing the burro while on a mountain biking trip in Saltillo, Mexico, last year), took a nasty fall while riding some hilly singletrack at Sullivan City. Concerned, a couple of my friends/riding buddies and I met up with him after work to see how he was doing. His arm was all scratched up and his shoulder was in a sling. The doctor had reset his separated shoulder in the morning. As we talked about his wreck, I realized that we had something in common -- each of us had either broken or seriously injured ourselves from mountain biking. Nico broke a finger in his hand after an encounter with his handlebar and a tree. Harold fractured his wrist after riding his bike into a canal ditch. I broke my hip after clipping a signpost with my handlebars. And Brian had separated his shoulder after losing it down a hill. I came to the conclusion that if you mountain bike the way we do -- hard and fast -- you will fall, and eventually you will get hurt. Wrecking goes with the territory. It's just a matter of time before you will hit the dirt, road, or in my case the concrete. Despite our injuries we will continue to mountain bike because we love riding. We just might have to slow down a little bit!

Day 60 - Rather Been Racing

My wife and I spent Saturday morning volunteering with mountain bike race in Mission called "The Four Hours of Cactus" organized by a local bike club we belong to The Mission Trails Club. It was a tough race. The humidity was high and it was hot. I'm sure it was over the century mark near the end of the race at noon. I mostly roamed around taking pictures and talking to riders and friends. It was good to help out and talk to friends, but I would have much rather been racing and getting sweaty and dirty. I enjoy racing mountain bikes. I miss the nervousness waiting at the starting line, the blast of adrenline that surges through me after the start, and pushing my body to the limits against competitors lap after lap. Being at the race reminded me of how much I miss racing and strengthened my resolve to race again.

Day 57 - Waddling for a Mile

After sitting on my behind for most of the day at work, I needed to get out and workout my leg and hip. Instead of riding my mountain bike on the trainer, I decided to try out my wife's treadmill for the first time. I got on it and turned it on at a slow pace of 1 mph. That was too slow so I gradually increased it to about 1.8 mph which was a good pace for me. I started walking. My foot hurt, my hip ached, and I walked like a penguin, favoring my injured leg and hip. Thirty minutes later I stopped after waddling for a mile. While it may not seem like a lot and it wasn't a pretty sight, I did it without my cane! I was proud of that.

Day 54 - Peg Leg

Over the past few days I've been working my leg out. I've been putting my full weight on my leg and trying to walk without my cane. I'm able to walk without my cane for a little bit, but I still have a noticeable limp. I need a few more days to build up my muscles and trust my leg is going to support my weight. My wife has a new nickname for the way I walk. She's been calling me "Pegleg". Now all I need is a parrot, an eyepatch, and a pirate ship, and I would be set. "Aye, aye, matie!"

Day 53 - Indoor Trainer

I set up my mountain bike on an indoor trainer at my house this weekend. I bought the trainer from friend at work who doesn't ride much anymore. I went by BikeMasters and bought a tire without any knobbies to use as the rear tire. I slapped on a gel cushion seat and got on and pedaled for a 25-minute ride on Saturday evening. Not wanting to overdo it like my first ride on a stationary bike, I spun at a relatively easy pace. After I finished I felt good. It was great to get back on my mountain bike again, even if it was indoor and I didn't go anywhere. The thing I liked about using the trainer was I didn't have to put all my biking gear on, except for my shoes. I'll probably do all of my training on the indoor trainer until I'm ready for the trails. I'm trying to stay away from sidewalks. They haven't been too friendly to me lately.

Day 50 - Spinning Pedals

I got on and rode a stationary bike today. I went over to the old gym at work during my lunch hour to try it out. I wasn't sure how my leg and hip would do. After changing into my workout clothes, I hobbled over to the bike with my cane. I adjusted the seat. I programmed the bike for 25 minutes on an easy, flat level, and started pedaling. I kept pedaling working up a small sweat by the end of the ride. I ended up doing 3.5 miles with a cadence of about 95 rpm. When I got off the bike, my hip felt fine, but both my legs were tight. The tightness disappeared after I rested a bit. Later in the day my quad muscle in good leg started hurting and I got a pain in my lower back. I put the heating pad on my leg and back when I got home and it took care of it. While it might not be the real thing it felt good spinning pedals.

Day 49 - The Penguin Walk

Since the doctor said it was ok to put my full weight on my leg I tried walking without my cane today for a little bit. I was able to walk without it, but my walk was very herky-jerky. I can put my full weight down on my injured right leg, but only for a brief moment and then I have to quickly move my good leg up to compensate. The best way to describe it is how penguins walk. They take small steps and waddle from side to side. It's funny looking. I am going to have to keep using my cane for a few weeks until my leg and foot get stronger and used to bearing the full weight of body again. I guess that's what happens after not using my leg for seven weeks. The saying "If you don't use it, you lose it" is true. Time to start using it again.

Day 48 - Another Month to Go

I saw my doctor today. They took x-rays as I expected. The x-rays looked good. The good news is the fracture is healing. The bad news is I can't ride yet. My doctor said I need at least another month to go before I can get back on the bike. He basically told me to not push it too much. The femur is the biggest bone in the body and needs time to heal he said. No running. No jumping. No biking. I was disappointed to hear that. He did say walking was ok and I could put all my weight on it when I was ready. The consolation was he said I could ride an indoor stationary bike. We have a few at work in the gym, so I am going to try to ride one later in the week to see how I do. That and continue my rehab exercises using a five lb. ankle weight for resistance.

Day 47 - Keeping My Fingers Crossed

I have a doctor's appointment with my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning. I'm anxious to see how I'm doing and hear what he has to say. I saw him two weeks after surgery and he told me to put only 25% weight on it. Five weeks have past since my last appointment. I'm sure they will take some more x-rays to see how the fracture is healing. My leg and hip feel good, like I could walk on it if I tried. But I don't want to chance it. I'm hoping everying looks good and my doctor gives me the ok to put my full weight on my leg. I'm also going to ask my doctor the big question -- "Can I ride my bike yet?". I'm keeping my fingers crossed he says yes.

Day 43 - My Back Hurts

Yesterday, I was in cane heaven. Today, I'm not too sure. Yes I get around a lot easier and quicker. And it was less of a hassle to carry, but after I full days use I got a pain in my lower back. With a walker I would distribute my weight between my two arms, so it was a balance load. With a cane, I am putting all my weight on my left arm which causes my back to be out of balance. I think also it is because I am not putting enough weight on my injured leg when I walk. Hopefully, when I see the doctor on Monday he will give me the ok to put more weight on my leg and less on my cane. Depending on how my back feels tomorrow, I may go back to using my walker.