Why did you stop riding?

Knees are so weird. You hike a lot, right? Yet for me I basically need to be cycling regularly in order to get my knees strong enough for hiking, the downhill parts especially.

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I hike a lot but I canā€™t downhill anymore. Only in short bursts. Too painful although sticks help.

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Hi, long-time lurker here. I had been an avid biker for several years until 2013. Reason I stopped then was that I took up martial arts as a hobby and that also made me realize how cycling, especially riding downhill at breakneck speeds, was actually quite a risky activity. It didnā€™t help that my last ride in 2013 was a group ride in heavy rain which kinda put a damper on cycling for me that took a while to recover from. I got back into cycling in late 2020, partly due to the hype around bikes during the pandemic, which made me appreciate my good old 90s MTB again. Been cycling frequently ever since.

Iā€™ve always liked the concept of mixed surface riding which is now usually called gravel riding, though in Taiwan, at least where I live, the mix is 90% asphalt and 10% concrete, sadly zero gravel or dirt. I do enjoy riding the back roads in the mountains around Taipei and NTC a lot though.

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How long you been lurking coffee fan :grin: ?

My left knee is bad from to many cycling accidents (downhill mountain biking) and 3 in Taiwan, each time left knee.
Doctors in U.K. told me Iā€™m getting early arthritis in my left knee because of damage Iā€™ve done.
Weirdly biking has done the damage but walking on pavement or downhill hiking is really painful. High step up hiking ok :ok_hand:
Cycling no problem!

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I like to doodle ride around back street roads NTC, times like being in third world country! Yet 100 metres on, a brand new luxury hotel style apartment building.

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Yeah thatā€™s also known a traumatic arthritis.

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Iā€™d say since around the start of the pandemic, maybe earlier. Actually, I had been lurking many years before that but took a break until a few years ago.

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I love Taiwanese mountains, but sometimes I hate hiking here. I really donā€™t understand why 90% of the trails are perpendicular to the contour lines.

It felt more dangerous than a scooter. You have to constantly listen to cars and scooters honking and almost running you over. Then if there is a biking lane you have to watch out for bikes and people. Itā€™s too stressful compared to just driving a scooter. Taiwan really isnā€™t bicycle friendly despite having lanes.

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Not if you ride as fast as scooters. :sunglasses: But seriously, I sometimes feel safer riding in the street than on the sidewalk as I can be part of the traffic flow. As long as youā€™re staying in the stream of vehicles and moving at a good clip, and not weaving or zigzagging, youā€™re pretty safe.

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Iā€™ve been off my bike for about a month now due to a pinched nerve. It started out with a tingling sensation in my left arm and hand, and when I rode, especially when I held the bars on the drops, I immediately felt soreness in my left shoulder. Could only hold on to the tops. It got worse later when I felt sore just riding a Youbike. Had to stop riding altogether. Been going to physical therapy but the progress is slow. I even took the bike in to see if my setup was off, and it wasnā€™t. I had a proper fitting when I bought it and Iā€™ve been riding it for 2 years without any issue. Have any of you had this problem?

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Maybe cycling is not the cause? If you have an office job, check the ergonomics of your working place. Do not abuse phone use. Other activities that may have caused it?

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Ditto this.

I had my bike for around 2 years until I started feeling a bit of lower back pain and thought that the bike needed to be adjusted. I never really found out what the cause was, but I did change jobs at the time and itā€™s possible the added mental stress tightened up my muscles?

Had a bad crash and never got my mojo back.

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Be careful, I had a pinched nerve ignored and nearly lost complete use of my arm and hand. Still partially disabled after 4 years and lost lot of muscle in back of my arm.
Brachial Neuritis Is what I had.

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Iā€™m in the UK so the roads in my area are too busy and infrastructure where I live is kind of crap, walking is more fulfilling in this area.

In 2021 I got hypothermia on a ride in June and then a while after that (unrelated) that my neck started tingling after 15-20 minutes of riding, a day later I was at my desk at work and my neck seized which was extremely painful, i couldnā€™t hold my head up for a few days. The neck tingling still happens.

Now I just canā€™t be bothered.

Iā€™d still like to do the South Korea bike ride across the country but iā€™ll just do it as and when and take my time.

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Thatā€™s what Iā€™m hoping. The therapistā€™s first reaction was: Do you sit at a desk for a long time without moving? So it could be the ergonomics as you say.

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Sorry to hear that. How did you recover? Surgery? Physical therapy? Iā€™ve only had an X-ray so far. I think I should get an MRI.

You never had it looked at? Donā€™t ignore it as @LondonSpice advised above.