Saturday, September 25, 2010

Back in the saddle, kind of

So I hit the 8 week mark after my knee injury two days ago. Well, actually it was the eight week mark after I reinjured my knee by twisting it in a garden divot exactly one week after the initial injury on July 16. The orthopedist had said to take it easy for about 8 weeks. And I have been good - only in the last week have I gotten out and walked for exercise on local roads; prior to that it had been all "safe" indoor cycling and walking on a track after the pain and stiffness had diminished.

My knee has really been feeling pretty good, so today I thought, "What the heck. I'm gonna get on Dude." More than anything I was worried about swinging my right leg up and over the saddle. Part of the fall-out from limping for four weeks was a resulting tightness in my right hip flexor; I still can't sit cross legged and have both knees pointing out evenly. There's just not much flexibility in my right hip.

I knew Dude would be good - you can count on him to behave even when no one has been on his back for a month (or longer). I got him lined up next to the mounting block, swung my right leg over, and my hip felt fine. Whew. I only walked him around for about 5 minutes, because I could feel the stretch in my right knee - that in-the-saddle position is one the knee hasn't been in in a l-o-n-g time. So I didn't want to push my luck, and I will see how it feels tomorrow. Those few minutes in the saddle felt really nice. :)

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