I'm BACK! :)

[jinks]

Just had to post about how ecstatic I am. Over a year ago I hurt my back. Of all things I was teaching my then 4 year old son how to ride his bike without training wheels. He was successful, but I strained my back (massive spasms). Being the bonehead that I am, I didn't rest it (I've never had a back injury). I kept on commuting to work and swimming at my local masters swim team. It finally got to the point where I went to the doctor. Suffice it to say, I regret not resting for a few days. The doctors tell me that at best I'll get back 80% - 90% of my back strength. Next time - REST DAMMIT!

I've probably only ridden on the trails five or six times this past year. My back just can't handle the uphill strain. I'm finally getting to the point where I can ride again. The pain's still there, but it's significantly better. I went on a ride last Saturday, and had no legs. I felt like puking three or four times and turned back to the car in shame. This is more due to my laziness than anything. I got back on my spinning bike almost every day last week, and then hit up STT/Luge this morning. What a difference. I'm BACK!! Now let's hope I don't over do it and re-injure myself. Maybe I can finally go on one of the group rides.

I built a single speed a year ago that I haven't even had the chance to break in. Maybe in a couple months my legs and back will be strong enough for it. Every day, I walk into my garage and see it hanging on the wall. It used to feel like it was taunting me. Now it feels like some mtb hope!

[LBmtb]

Man, I'm sorry about your back. If anything at least it serves as a warning to all of us. Congrats and welcome back though

[ECOdork]

Looking forward to riding with ya' jinks! I'm often in Irvine for work (and don't live too far as it is) so maybe one of these days we can ride!

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Welcome back, Jinks!

One thing that works for back pain is doing abdominal excercises. i had pain issues in the past and that pretty much cleared things up for me.

Your torso needs to have balance. your abs are too weak for your back, this throws things off by not having strong abdominal muscles to keep your back from straining.

[jinks]

Thanks guys!! Yeah, I started strengthening my abs now that I can do situps. I've heard that it helps strengthen the core in general. Thanks for the confirmation. I'll keep it up. For about nine months I couldn't do much of anything. It was a great excuse to eat like a pig and get fat. But that just puts more strain on my back, so I'm working on dropping some weight. Plus I can't fit most of my clothes, hehe. It's time to trim back down into riding shape. I'm all psyched about being able to ride again!

[tkblazer]

its good news that you're back in action ( pun intended), i suffered from a similar situation last year and took a good month off the bike. to this day my back isn't 100% but going to a full suspension bike helped a lot. let me know when you do stt/luge again, i work about 5 min away and some of my coworkers and i get together on mon,wed,fri to ride after work.

[dirttorpeedo]

try advil 1/2 hour with plenty of water before you ride, i've been having lower back probs. lately and that seems to help . good luck welcome back!