What's the weakest link in stopping you from riding longer?

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****** away my retirement fund on motorcycles.
 
xrljoel said:
My knees are my limiting body part.
I have osteoarthritis in my knees. My left knee was scoped 10 years ago and it has limited range of motion and starts to ache after a while, and my right knee became supper painful this year to the point that it would wake me up. Since January I was sleeping in 1 hour increments as the knee would start to hurt and I'd have to move. I made it worse by missing a curb in Holland and planting my foot heavily, resulting in excruciating pain. Sometimes the only relief was sitting bolt upright in a chair with both feet flat on the floor. Walking was a roll of the dice, it might ache, after a couple hundred metres or piercing pain might develop after a couple steps.

Pain killers hardly helped, Cortisone did nothing so I got a referral to the surgeon who did my left knee. He recommended an injection called "enstride" which is synthesized from 60ml of your blood mixed with specific proteins which slows (often stops) the degeneration and reduces pain. After 4 weeks there is significant improvement and it gets better daily. I'm going to ask about the left knee during the scheduled follow up.

Needless to say, since it is effective it isn't covered by OHIP, so the (one-time) injection costs $1650, but given the experienced reduction pain I would have paid a lot more than that.

The only downside is that it is injected directly into the joint without anesthetic and it takes a while and some movement to get the solution into the joint. I can't adequately describe the nature and level of pain I experienced during the injection.

Before the right knee acted up I was able to ride comfortably through a full tank, and multiple tanks with only a quick(ish) stop for a pee if necessary. I'm back to being able to do that on the street, but I can't ride off road at this point.

I put a lot of attention into making my KTM1090 fit me and be comfortable. A wider Corbin seat spreads the load and avoids the tailbone, a taller touring screen did wonders for the buffeting noise and Knight Designs 7/8" lowered foot pegs made a HUGE difference for the achy left knee. I also added folding highway pegs to the OEM crash bars that land near the top of my calf muscle to provide some stretching room.

I'm more comfortable on the bike than in my truck or my wife's SUV.
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Very interesting. I have zero cartilage left in both of my knees as they were MRI'd 14yrs ago. Specialist said my leg muscles are holding the joints adequately and it wasn't time for surgery at my age but made a suggestion of some type of fluid injection that was ~$700 per knee which would last about 8-12months then be repeated (if it worked at all). I've never gotten the injection.
Sounds like what you had done is something completely different though so I'd be interested to know where it was done and if you required a specific referral.
 
Lightcycle said:
Yeah, yeah, barring all the smart-guy comments about: wife, kids, boss, other interests, your bike breaks down often because it's a Harley/KTM, poor tank range, can't afford insurance/gas/etc.

I'm talking about physically. I figure most of us on GTAM are of the age where the mechanicals between the seat and handlebars are starting to wear.

What hurts the most that makes you have to stop and have to take a break?

Most people say it's the butt, specifically sitting bones or riding position causing sciatica, lower back pain.

Others it's windblast/buffeting from not being able to find an appropriate windshield, so it causes head/neck fatigue.

Cold hands from inadequate heated grips. Reynauds, etc.

I've struggled with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for years. I wear wrist braces pretty much full-time during riding season when I'm off the bike. Then the problem magically goes away in the wintertime... :rolleyes:

It's not the vibrations or ergos, as I get it from every bike I ride: thumper, twin, in-line four, cruiser, dirtbike, sportbike, etc. Heavier bar ends, bar snakes, rubber-mounted risers, moving the bars front/back, changing the sweep of the bars, etc. Eventually my hands will go numb if I ride long or hard enough. Then, worse of all, it keeps on happening during the day and when I sleep...

Been to the doctor and she says surgery might be the only option to fix it permanently. Met a guy at the track and he got it done and says it works perfectly. If you do it at the end of the riding season then you should be ready to ride again in the spring. Thinking about getting it done this winter.
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I had the carpal tunnel surgery on both hands done at the same time. It helped but I lost some grip strength. It was super easy I did it awake and was back at work the next week. You just need some help for a few days with pants and wiping.

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Hardwrkr13 said:
Very interesting. I have zero cartilage left in both of my knees as they were MRI'd 14yrs ago. Specialist said my leg muscles are holding the joints adequately and it wasn't time for surgery at my age but made a suggestion of some type of fluid injection that was ~$700 per knee which would last about 8-12months then be repeated (if it worked at all). I've never gotten the injection.
Sounds like what you had done is something completely different though so I'd be interested to know where it was done and if you required a specific referral.
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They offered the injection you mention, and it's still about the same price, but more frequent. It's effectiveness is also finite apparently. He didn't think it would be a good solution for me.

As expected he said I was a bit young for replacement, and that OHIP doesn't like scoping anymore. I was hoping to avoid a replacement as the recovery time is long and I know of a couple people where it didn't go well afterwards.

This is where I went. It's owned (I think) by Dr. Wayne Marshall who did my scope 10 years ago. He's been a specialist for decades and has taught at U of T.:
Comprehensive Arthritis Management (CAM) Clinic

You do need a referral from your family doctor and a recent X-ray and (I think) and MRI, but he seemed more interested in the X-ray.
 
I'll be 80 in about 10 months and consider myself fortunate to enjoy riding most of my life with the exception of a few breaks. I do mostly single day rides now, enjoying county roads to all points north and east of Whitby. I retired at 60 so nearly twenty years of exploring as well as golf. I find that after about 2 hours riding, my body, both physically and mentally, is just telling me "that's enough buddy! Get off or something bad is gonna happen!". So I typically can take a couple of breaks in a 400/500 km day. I have had osteoarthritis since a teenager with surgery at 19 years old to install corrective hardware and then a right hip replacement and some hardware removal at 60 years old. I also have a few of the other issues already mentioned in this thread. Oh and a pacemaker installed last year after my heart kept deciding to stop occasionally. Somebody give me a smack if you ever hear me complain.
A few things that have helped extend my riding time:
- a great sport/touring bike with heated handlebars and seat
- a Russell sport (not day long) seat
- bar backs/risers
- LD Comfort riding shorts
- lightweight full face helmet
-earplugs

EDIT: I forgot a couple of helpful activities that are so ingrained in me, I keep forgetting how they contribute. They are:
Every morning upon waking up I turn still sitting on the bed to do head, neck, shoulder and upper body stretching
After breakfast, I have a 20 minute yoga stretching routine
Once during the day I do 30 minutes of meditation and conscious breathing
Before falling asleep I do 10 minutes meditation/conscious breathing.

Hope this helps others to extend their riding time.
 
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thwak said:
I'll be 80 in about 10 months and consider myself fortunate to enjoy riding most of my life with the exception of a few breaks. I do mostly single day rides now, enjoying county roads to all points north and east of Whitby. I retired at 60 so nearly twenty years of exploring as well as golf. I find that after about 2 hours riding, my body, both physically and mentally, is just telling me "that's enough buddy! Get off or something bad is gonna happen!". So I typically can take a couple of breaks in a 400/500 day. I have had osteoarthritis since a teenager with surgery at 19 years old to install corrective hardware and then a right hip replacement and some hardware removal at 60 years old. I also have a few of the other issues already mentioned in this thread. Oh and a pacemaker installed last year after my heart kept deciding to stop occasionally. Somebody give me a smack if you ever hear me complain.
A few things that have helped extend my riding time:
- a great sport/touring bike with heated handlebars and seat
- a Russell sport (not day long) seat
- bar backs/risers
- LD Comfort riding shorts
- lightweight full face helmet
-earplugs
Hope this helps others to extend their riding time.
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Well done sir!
 
For me…the cold is the worst. Starts with the fingers and toes and then keeps going and going until I’m shivering and can’t even focus on the task at hand.

Used to be able to ride below 10C but now…no way I can’t even be bothered to gear up if it’s a 5C morning and a 10C day.

Heated grips help but they don’t fix the issue completely.
 
For me it's my ass. More like tail bone and lower back.

My tractor windshield is sufficient for win protection but the seat still sucks.

I ride my buddies GS1250 a few weeks ago and it was like sitting on a couch.

If I could only justify the spending.
 
At least I had a demonstration of which muscle that is on the body.

Surprisingly my ass was OK today.
I did wear a pair of padded cycling shorts.
 
Lightcycle said:
I'm going add adductor muscle cramps to my list...

I thought I could have ridden it out.

Nope.

Thx for stopping with me!
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That used to bother me, my physio gave me some tips and it hasn’t been a problem since.

1) stretch before a long ride
2) stretch legs off the pegs when riding in relaxed stretches
3) stop and stretch every 2 hours.

There are other reasons for that type of cramping - hydration, bike ergos, fitness etc, but in my case it was cured by simple stretching before during and after riding
 
Mad Mike said:
That used to bother me, my physio gave me some tips and it hasn’t been a problem since.

1) stretch before a long ride
2) stretch legs off the pegs when riding in relaxed stretches
3) stop and stretch every 2 hours.

There are other reasons for that type of cramping - hydration, bike ergos, fitness etc, but in my case it was cured by simple stretching before during and after riding
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Alas, up to that point, I think he had only stretched his stomach:)
 
Mad Mike said:
That used to bother me, my physio gave me some tips and it hasn’t been a problem since.

1) stretch before a long ride
2) stretch legs off the pegs when riding in relaxed stretches
3) stop and stretch every 2 hours.

There are other reasons for that type of cramping - hydration, bike ergos, fitness etc, but in my case it was cured by simple stretching before during and after riding
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Yep. All of the above.

Also, I want to add:

4) Don't go riding with Shane "1K? Are we all in for a 1K day? Do I hear 1K? Anyone? Anyone?" Kingsley...
 
He was so dehydrated that he didn't even leave me a drop of water. 🤣

I was about 150kms shy of Shane's goal today.
 
Lightcycle said:
Yep. All of the above.

Also, I want to add:

4) Don't go riding with Shane "1K? Are we all in for a 1K day? Do I hear 1K? Anyone? Anyone?" Kingsley...
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I still do lots of 1k days, 1 have 10 so far this season, and another 8 driving a car.

I’ve done a 1200km day with Shane… those are tough twisty highways - i can see cramps from squeezing your tank for 1/2 the ride.
 
Lightcycle said:
LOL. Right?

Anyone who's ever ridden with Shane is vigorously nodding their head right now...
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I was thinking we were close to crossing paths last weekend near Calabogie. I did Kapuskasing to Smith Falls last Sunday 960km for a wedding. Then back to Timmins 850km the next morning.

The only thing that hurt was my head.. but I think that was the cheap booze my SIL was sloshing out at the wedding.
 
Lightcycle said:
What hurts the most that makes you have to stop and have to take a break?
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I've been retired 12 years so what stops me from riding...boring roads when I have been used to great roads in the past. A recent ride was 513 kms of back roads in one shot without taking a break thanks to a comfortable motorcycle with plenty of range.
 
Mad Mike said:
I was thinking we were close to crossing paths last weekend near Calabogie. I did Kapuskasing to Smith Falls last Sunday 960km for a wedding. Then back to Timmins 850km the next morning.
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We were all around the same area. Was coming back from Quebec last weekend, Gaspe to Toronto, two back-to-back 750 km days. The first day in the dirt.
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