Bicycling and hip replacement

In 1990, I thought I had a bad groin pull. Several months later with no relief, I consulted a doctor and learned that I no longer had any cartilage in my left hip. The doctor said I was too young at 41-years old to get a hip replacement. “You’ll get to the point,” he explained, “when you will know it is time.” For the next dozen years or so, I took glucosamine and chondroitin supplements, which I was told could rebuild the cartridge. I really don’t think that worked. I took Celebrex for several months, and that did ease the pain, but I didn’t want to mask the pain because then I would be unable to accurately know what the situation was.


For anyone who’s experienced a similar situation, the pain is pretty intense. I learned to live with it. Finally in 2003, I came home from the soccer fields one evening and barely made it into the house. It was time. I had the hip replacement in 2003. Again, for anyone who’s done it: instant pain relief. I know the procedure has progressed significantly in the last seven years.

While I was pleased with the pain relief, I was not satisfied with the result. Maybe I just didn’t understand it, but I thought I would be able to play soccer, tennis, basketball, etc like I used to. I was very disappointed when I couldn’t. I did all of the therapy, but I still walked with a limp. While I would get out on the tennis court and even the basketball court, I was as limping player who couldn’t cover the court or play defense. All I did was hobble. If the ball was hit to me, I could strike it, but I just couldn’t run it down. The change occurred in 2009, and the change is the point of this story …

My son Brad and daughter-in-law Stephanie gave me an old bicycle that was gathering dust in their garage. I was still living in Missouri at the time. Once my butt got used to the seat, I started riding five miles about four days each week. I thought it was a big deal. Other than the fact that the old mountain bike wasn’t sized right, it worked fine. In October, Marie and I moved back to Arizona, and I started to get more serious about the bike riding. I received great inspiration from 1981 Academy grad John Mooney who finished 81st in the 105-mile Tour de Tucson in 2009.

In short order, I was riding 6 miles a day, five days a week. Then I started stretching out to 10 miles …. Today, I routinely ride 8 miles a day Monday through Friday and 25 miles each Saturday and Sunday. The result has been startling …

I’m playing tennis and covering the court without limping, without pain and without problems. Then I started going down to the basketball court. After a few weeks of half-court games, I got into some full-court games with players 30 and 40 years my junior. I could actually run the court and contribute to a 5v5 game on both sides of the ball. I’m told I don’t limp anymore. Maybe …

The final point is this: if someone asked me how to recuperate from a hip replacement, I would say there is no better alternative than bicycling. The results for me have been unbelievable. I only wish someone had told me five years earlier! The side benefits speak for themselves.