As you get older, well meaning friends tell you, "It's not the years, it's the miles." This encouragement buys you a few more years, but eventually you rack up a lot of both years and miles. What do you do then?
I got a new bicycle last spring, but I haven't been riding much lately because of knee pain. When I told cycling friends about the problem, they all asked, "Are you going to get it scoped?" I began to accept the idea of surgery. But let's face it, I didn't really want surgery, I just wanted to ride my bike!
Sometimes we have more flexibility in these situations that it seems at first glance. Because medicine is a business, hospitals and surgeons want all the scoping they can handle. We hear about professional athletes getting scoped every day. So surgery is the first thing that comes to mind. But the poppies in my back garden hinted to me that I shouldn't go under the knife so quickly.
California poppies have silky orange petals. They're very delicate. A spring rain can tear up a field of poppies pretty badly. Over time, all those fragile petals will fray and drop off anyway, so easy come, easy go, right?
Poppies don't accept that. Instead, they unfurl their petals for sunshine, and for sundown or storm cloud they close up like patio umbrellas. I know, that doesn't sound like much for you or me, but we're animals. For a plant to open and close every day like a coffee shop is an incredible effort of will. Poppies may be fragile, but they fight valiantly to last another day or two.
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The poppies inspired me to defiance about my knee. Surgery is a last resort. Okay then, what were my other resorts? I tweaked my saddle position and the cleats on my shoes. Cycling friends quit talking about scoping, and started remembering what cycling legends of the 1930's used to do when they had knee trouble. Eventually Chet suggested putting the pedals from my old bike onto the new bike, just for grins. |
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I rode four times last week. I may have just bought myself a few more years and miles. I'm fine with that.
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