Bio_Carbon
Member
I figured some may find this to be an unusual perspective on the hobby and possibly someone else been there before and has some experience/advice. Or maybe there's even a physical therapist around who can share something. I'm not a huge poster, but I thought this may be a good subject to write about. Little note about my disability and the status quo: I've been in a coma due to sepsis and this caused A LOT of damage. At this point I can walk for about 2km (at just about 3kph speed) now, but I still got balance issues and my left foot is still dead as a dodo. Can't move it, can't feel it. Above the knee I'm fine tho.
Previously I tried cycling on the lawn on my mountain bike. If I'd fall, I'd at least fall on something soft. Sadly it failed spectacularly on account of me not being able to put my feet on the pedals right. BUT. I also have a gravel bike with clipless pedals. The other day it was raining, so I couldn't go out with my therapist, but we did a little experiment instead: Could I clip into and unclip from these SPD pedals. Weirdly, clipping in worked fine with my dead foot, it just didn't happen for the healthy one. But more importantly: I could clip out again. I haven't been riding clipless much, on account of that, all settings on those SPDs are still fairly beginner friendly, but that works out quite well for me right now. Problem is: There is no chance in hell I'm riding around an excessively mossy lawn with a fairly skinny tired all-road bike. It was plenty hard with the MTB when I was healthy. Soooo... the disabled lad with mobility issues, who's on a metric fark-ton of blood thinners is gonna try cycling on asphalt. Naturally I have my helmet, but I'm feeling very nervous about this.
Currently (as a nearly 40 year old man) I'm dependent on my mother to drive me around, because naturally I'm not allowed to drive anymore - pedals n stuff. So this could be an enormous, shimmering, fireworks embellished, diamond encrusted win for my independence (and for my health (mental and otherwise)), but it could also be a quick route to win a trip with the noisy laying-down wagon. Anyone had experience cycling with floppy feet or something like that? Otherwise: Wish me luck. I gotta do some maintenance on the bike, but some time next week, I'd like to give it a go.
Previously I tried cycling on the lawn on my mountain bike. If I'd fall, I'd at least fall on something soft. Sadly it failed spectacularly on account of me not being able to put my feet on the pedals right. BUT. I also have a gravel bike with clipless pedals. The other day it was raining, so I couldn't go out with my therapist, but we did a little experiment instead: Could I clip into and unclip from these SPD pedals. Weirdly, clipping in worked fine with my dead foot, it just didn't happen for the healthy one. But more importantly: I could clip out again. I haven't been riding clipless much, on account of that, all settings on those SPDs are still fairly beginner friendly, but that works out quite well for me right now. Problem is: There is no chance in hell I'm riding around an excessively mossy lawn with a fairly skinny tired all-road bike. It was plenty hard with the MTB when I was healthy. Soooo... the disabled lad with mobility issues, who's on a metric fark-ton of blood thinners is gonna try cycling on asphalt. Naturally I have my helmet, but I'm feeling very nervous about this.
Currently (as a nearly 40 year old man) I'm dependent on my mother to drive me around, because naturally I'm not allowed to drive anymore - pedals n stuff. So this could be an enormous, shimmering, fireworks embellished, diamond encrusted win for my independence (and for my health (mental and otherwise)), but it could also be a quick route to win a trip with the noisy laying-down wagon. Anyone had experience cycling with floppy feet or something like that? Otherwise: Wish me luck. I gotta do some maintenance on the bike, but some time next week, I'd like to give it a go.
