Walking Before Riding

Yesterday I had been planning on my grand return. I was going to ride in The Good Ride in Charlotte. The plan was that I would travel up with my wife, and even if I couldn’t ride, we would make a weekend out of it. Since I started back on the bike the week prior and received the green light from my doctor, riding was a good possibility. I was even considering doing the longer route depending on how I felt. There was some bad weather on the horizon, but Michael, the ride director, had done some solid meteorology and determined that the storms would happen towards the end of the event.

Unfortunately, I did not ride. And that turned out to be a good thing. There was a perfect storm of forces working against me. I forgot some stuff, had a little bout with allergies, and my hip soreness flared up. The weather was an obstacle and would have been a challenge to ride because of high winds, but it was more a mental detriment than anything. Given all my other challenges, I just couldn’t get enthused to make my grand return on a dismal day.

The reason not riding turned out to be a good thing was that I saved my legs. If I had ridden, I would have probably been holed up in the hotel room, icing my hip and probably leaving my wife helplessly bored. Instead we had a productive day, roaming around downtown Charlotte with a foray to IKEA.

For those of you who haven’t been to IKEA, just know that it is mammoth. The store is designed to funnel you through to every showroom, and by the time you’ve completed the circuit, you’ve probably walked a few miles. I’ve been walking for a couple of weeks now, but not completely painlessly. I still find myself walking with a limp, and if I spend too much time on my feet, the hip will hurt the next day. Even though I brought my cane and used the cart as a way of absorbing the weight bearing, it was still taking a toll.

This was hardly the therapy that my doctor’s or therapists prescribed, but IKEA was another way of testing the hip. I passed with flying colors on that day, however later and then today, I’ve been dealing with some soreness and a little bit of hip popping. It isn’t a setback, but more of an example of ‘two steps forward, one step back,’ which can describe most of the recovery process. The more I push, the better I will get, but progress does not equate to painlessness.

Before I start pushing it on the bike, I think I need to get to a point where I can walk without pain. I can continue riding for therapy and my doctor encouraged it, but racking up the miles at this stage of my recovery is probably not wise. Who knows, maybe next week I’ll reach another healing point and feel more confident riding. In the meantime, I’ll keep on resting and being smart. There is no deadline for my recovery. The biggest challenge is balancing my desire to exercise and ride with my physical need for rest and recuperation.