Lessons and examples from riding

The mount and dismount issues when I am riding my bike are very definite and highlight an ongoing problem that I have.  I don’t know if I can get better at this, it might be something I can’t improve at.  But, it might fall into a class of issue I have with movement and if that is the case I think that it can be improved.

The problem with being completely deconditioned the way I was, where every muscle has atrophied, is that every muscle then needs to be rebuilt and strengthened – or reconditioned.  That would be fine if you were five years old.  Right after this all happened to me someone I knew said that I was just like his 5 year old son.  And it was true.  What kids do, among other things, is strengthen and condition their bodies.  That’s what play is.  Kids move everything.

So do some athletes, which means that there are ways to train your body.  If I were 20 I would probably be better off, but I’m already at the age where natural deterioration takes place.  Whatever.  I’m still going to try.

The real problem is that I have still not moved my body in every way that it can be moved.  I still find examples of this when I try to do something that I haven’t done since I was in the hospital.  It happened with walking, then walking backwards, reaching and bending and various other things that you take for granted.  You don’t realize just how much and in how many ways you have trained your body over the course of your life.  When you don’t move a muscle for 2 months you need to build all of that back again.  But it is an incremental process and some things just don’t have priority.  Until one day you try to do something and your body just says no.

Case in point: getting on and off of a bicycle.  I haven’t had occasion to move my leg in that way lately so I can’t.  But if it is just a matter of conditioning and not some deeper problem I should be able to improve.  I knew that I would need to focus on stretching if I got into this.  The specific exercise will tighten my muscles and I need to counter that.  I sort of knew that I would need to work on getting on the bike as well but I was thinking about coordination.  Now I know that I need to stretch as well so that I can put my body in that position.

So, I will work on that.

One good thing is that I seem to be balancing OK.  I wouldn’t trust my body to handle any sudden movements or adjustments but I do fine just riding around the neighborhood.  That’s enough for now.  I wasn’t sure that much was even possible so I’m happy.

As for the rest, I think it will come in time.  Until then, and even if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to keep on riding.