On Monday, November 16th, I had back surgery. It was not major surgery, just a trimming of a protruding disc and arthritic spike on a vertabrae that were teaming up to put pressure on my L5 nerve. That had been a problem for many years, and had progressed to the point that I really needed this surgery.

Four days after the surgery, I was back on the bike. I rode 12 miles on the Xstream. Back when I had lung surgery, I found that the more upright seating position on my long wheelbase bike of the time put less pressure on the surgery incision on my back, and so was more comfortable. I figured that would apply to this surgery as well. But I found that every bump in the road hurt my back, and wasn’t happy with the pain level I experienced on that ride.

The next morning, as I got ready to ride again, a cold front had come through and there were 40 mph winds. Because of the pain of the previous day’s ride, and the fact that the Xstream, with its fairing, doesn’t handle 40 mph winds very well, I decided to ride the F5 instead. The F5’s more reclined seat puts more weight on my back, but spreads it out all along my back. I rode 18 miles on this Saturday ride, and was much more comfortable on the ride. I decided that the F5 would be my ride of choice until my back is much better. The next day, I rode 15 miles, then took a day off the bike on Monday.

Yesterday I did a 22 mile ride out to County Road 2938, and this afternoon, did my regular 30 mile loop out to Purtis Creek State Park. I’m going to try and get in a few miles tomorrow morning before the Thanksgiving gathering, but there is rain and cold forecast for the rest of the week, so it’s not clear whether or not I’ll get another ride in this month. I have 327 miles total for November. Not much, but considering I had back surgery in the middle of the month, I’ll take it.

4 days after surgery, on the Xstream.