Re: 16 weeks shaky to say the least

On 9/10/2024 12:42 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:

Ok had the big crash 05/20/24 (other thread explains.) Broken collarbone, hand, and great trochanter too. The great trochanter was not found in original x ray only a month ago. Not displaced but hurts in some positions. I have been riding indoor train pretty much with maybe 4 weeks off during parts of recovery. I ride usually 25-35 miles inside. Use my regular clipless pedals.
 Today first ride outside in 16 weeks I have some sciatica in my right leg, the one with broken trochanter. Stopping and simply standing on the leg and unclipping had me worried. My leg can give out in certain positions so very cautious. I bought some flat pedals with spikes thinking that would be easier to deal with. However, today I did a 25-mile ride out in the country stay away from anything potentially problematic. Well now I cannot ride in flat pedals I was completely off. Could not get a groove going because my shoe keeps hitting the cranks at various points and sometimes, I overpower pushing down and simply cannot pedal smoothly at all or least for very long.
 My first question is if anyone else has ever done this going back to flat pedals and cannot use them well? Second question is I think the trochanter is not so bad of a problem. but the sciatic nerve touchy so feel unbalance stopping to dismount. My sciatic nerve does not hurt so much at all but just the tingling on the outside of leg going down to foot. Does not go numb and my back does not hurt. Anyone deal with this issue?
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It seems to me that it might be wiser at this point to put the flat pedals on the indoor bike and practice your pedaling technique. When you can use them comfortably indoors, put them on your outdoor bike and take it for short rides to better fine-tune. FWIW - 25 miles was probably a bit ambitious to start off with. No matter what anyone tells you, riding outside _is_ different - you're engaging significantly more core and stability muscles keeping the bike upright than when it's locked into a trainer. The added muscular engagement can reveal problems you don't have indoors.
I'd also suggest consulting at least an exercise physiologist about the tingling. As you noted in your reply to Andrew, it could be any number of things, but experiencing a nerve sensation could be an indication from anything as simple as a pulled muscle that hasn't healed to a microfracture in a vertebrae that was missed in any of the various scans. Performing a repetitive motion when it happens can lead to serious other issues from over compensation of non-injured skeletal-muscular structures, worst-case leading to possible permanent injury in those areas as well.
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