Bicycling?

We have a serious biker amongst us - Mare - maybe she'll drop a line or two about her experiences. Recumbent bikes are a problem because they place us in that same jackknife position (like the boat-pose in yoga) that we're trying to avoid.

I do a spinning class twice a week, quite strenuous(sp?). I have recently stopped wearing my pessary for the class and it is fine, in fact I find that everything feels higher afterward, perhaps because my pelvis is down more. I love it!

Amy

Great! :-)

I got a new bike this week - and it's great to cycle - i feel like a kid again zooming again. But it was on my mind about how it affects prolpapse.

I did make sure to buy one which had higher handlebars so i could fairly upright but the saddle's a bit stuff.

But months ago i saw a newspaper insert - i think it was called "Really cool stuff" and it had odd unusual clever items. One was a big comfortable wide looking saddle that was apparantly designed by a gynecologist especially for women not to pressurise the pelvic area.

Buuuuuut i didn't cycle then, glanced at it and threw it out. I'll keep an eye out for it from now and let you all know if i find it.

Best wishes

Anne-helen

Hi Anne-helen,

I would love to try riding a bike again now that the summer is here. I have a ladies mountain bike which forces you to lean forward and has a small seat. It wasn't good for my crotch before especially when i was on bumps and i can't imagine it feeling better with a bad urethrocele! Remember those old fashioned bikes that one can sit straight up and ride on the boardwalk...i would like one of those! :)

Thanks for that website!! I love to bike too. I do powerpacing twice a week but the seat is so uncomfortable! We will be biking a lot this summer with our daughter because we bought a trailer for her. That seat would be much more comfortable.

Yes, I finally have seen your comments about biking. I am amazed I missed this conversation as it is right down my alley. Yeah! I hope as many of you that can, try riding a bike. It is a wonderful exercise and sends me off in a positive frame of mind for the whole day.

I have a Specialized mountain bike (a stump jumper) and road bike (allez dolce). They are both made for women and have a very comfortable seat made specifically for women. This company puts more research into their women's models than the mens. If you go to their website you can view this seat. Any bike store that carries the Specialized brand of bikes will have a seat available. You could test ride one of their bikes to see how it feels.

I usually ride between 25 and 35 miles each Sunday, as the traffic is sparse in the morning on that day and I have no soreness even for this distance. I concentrate on riding in the "posture" and have no ill effects from my prolapse. Actually, I find I am not even aware I have one when riding. After one ride, I was unable to even find that prolapse as it had totally retracted and I can only assume it was back where it belonged.

mare

I find that I must be diligent and constantly put myself in the "posture" while pedaling my bike. The following describes some of the moves I make, they are very slight variations of the posture. I start by rotating my hips/abs downward and thrusting my tailbone back and up. Then I drop my shoulders and lengthen my neck while dropping my chin just a tad. Usually my chin comes back up as I do like to scan for traffic and such and I turn my head a lot. For me, it has been beneficial if I keep my hips/abs in this position. My feet fly as I do ride a bit aggressively. Even at my age I like to go at a pretty fast clip.

There is a picture online of me on a bike ride with some 6,000 others. If you would like to view that let me know and I will put the website up that has it.

mare