QUESTION: I’m wondering about the effects on the body of lifting the right leg over the frame of the bike to mount the bike, over the course of decades. I’ve literally gotten on my bike putting my right leg over the bike thousands of times, and the left leg probably less than 50. Can this ever wear anything down, or overuse anything? I know Floyd Landis had a hip replacement years ago” — does this action create that kind of injury/degradation? Just wondering because my right hip and thigh muscles hurt lately. —Lauren
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: It’s certainly possible that any repetitive action involving one joint more than the opposite one might have some effect. I pondered a similar question last year when I had to have a total replacement of my right knee while my left knee continued to be okay. But the only activity I could think of that involved only my right leg was driving, where that leg is extended for long periods of time to operate the accelerator pedal while my left leg remains idle. (Neither of my current vehicles has a manual transmission, so there’s no clutch to operate.) As possible evidence that the driving affected my right knee, for more than a year before getting the knee replacement, operating the accelerator caused severe nerve pain down the outside of my right leg and along the side of my right foot and into my toes. Thankfully, all of that ceased once I got the new knee, but whether the driving caused the problem in the first place, I don’t know, and neither did my surgeon.
Floyd Landis’ need for hip replacement probably doesn’t apply to your situation. According to his doctor, his condition was “avascular necrosis” — reduced blood flow to the upper part of his right femur, broken during a bike crash in 2003. The reduction of blood to the bone left a rotting knob grinding inside the hip socket, causing intense pain.
Hip pain can result from several long-term factors, including scoliosis, poor posture or unequal leg length, as well as from causes that arise later, such as arthritis or bursitis or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), so I wouldn’t be too quick to blame the bike mounting for the problem without consulting a physical therapist or an orthopedic physician to investigate other possible causes.
If the problem persists, but you want to keep riding, you might consider switching to a bike with a step-through frame or even to a recumbent. But also consider trying to lift your other leg over the bike more often, to change it up. It’s like brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, and it feels strange, but you’ll get better at it with regular practice.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
If you your country drives on the right, is it not (marginally) safer to be lifting the left leg?. btw I also find it an amazingly difficult mental and physical test to use the unfamiliar leg and that unilateralism is probably a bigger risk
well…yes, totally. I use a curb (kerb?) to stand on and that’s on the right and I lift up the left. IF not a curb (kerb?) the the shoulder is usually lower than the road and I am going in the opposite direction. I swing both ways.
Mostly, I have the bike tipped 10 to 30 degrees. I’m working on stunt getting on, with standing on the pedal while the bike is already moving. I’ll let you know!
How about a sloping top tube and a dropper seat post?
I broke my left hip nearly 5 years ago and since it didn’t quite heal perfectly (and my left knee is often painful), I have to always throw my right leg over the frame at an angle to get seated. No problems with any right side pain. Just saying.
I am a cycling coach from San Diego CA. I started pedaling in June 1987, I pedal many miles, I am averaging 96.4 miles per week since then..
In June 2014, both hips started hurting one evening at the same minute. I needed both hips replaced, which was done mid 2015.
I too lift the right leg to get onto the bike. But I could not tell much difference between the condition of the two legs before the surgery.
I picked a surgeon who is also a road cyclist. I asked him very neutrally “What effect did my decades of cycling have on my hips?” His response was that it probably delayed symptoms 2-3 years.
Surgery was when I was 63. I was 100% off the bike for 52 weeks, most of that was during diagnosis which took 6 months, and waiting for surgery.. It took 24 months for me to feel I was pedaling as well post surgery as I was before.
Yes, the year off the bike and recover time is included in my 96.4 miles per week.
I continue to raise the right leg to get onto the bike, but I have made a change getting onto my stationary trainer. I now mount that from the rear. I put both feet onto the trainer where it connects to the rear axel, then 2 hands onto the handle bars, then I get onto the saddle. In my stationary trainer classes after surgery, I noticed that many other cyclists started this mounting process as well.
I am mostly retired now, but able to put more miles than ever on my bike post replacements. Since January 1, I am averaging 164 miles per week.
For those with hip surgery in your future, google Coach Darryl and I will gladly answer your questions.
Best of luck to you in your hip future.
There are some hip flexibility exercises you can do that may help. Flexibility and strength are important especially as we age.
Isn’t there a cyclocross mount involving launching your hip onto the seat while running, then putting your legs on the pedals? Might help the hips… LOL I’ve never had the nerve to try it!
Thanks for all the responses, and the ideas for Lauren to try.