Update: Dec. 8 — The physical therapist told me today that it's OK to ride my bike, even though there will be some pain. The knee cap should be realigned so it's not rubbing the femur after about 10,000 repititions of the exercises he's given me. That means 3 to 4 months.

I'm still kind of stunned that a bicycling fall I had way back in January has forced me off the bike in November.

Although I had badly bruised the muscles around my right hip in that fall, it's my right knee that's been feeling the pain since August.

I finally found the time (got up the nerve) to visit my doctor about the knee pain about a week ago. That's after three weeks of self-imposed rest off the bike hadn't made anything better.

Here's my tale of woe as a lesson to anyone with knee pain in the past, present or future. Obviously your knee pain can stem from other causes, but it's illustrates the importance of keeping our muscles, ligaments and tendons in balance ..

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Just 3 miles from home on a bicycle ride along Lake Washington Saturday afternoon and I started feeling light-headed. It was going to be a tough climb to my neighborhood.

I had that “emergency” PowerBar with me, but really didn't feel like chowing down on 240 calories of chewy paste that close to dinner. Soon I realized the road was lined with blackberry bushes and ripe berries hung from the vines.

This is an instant source of tasty energy. I was ready to go after eating about a dozen, but couldn't stop until I'd had about twice that many.

There are several different types of roadside blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest. There are the native wild blackberries (Rubus ursinus) and the invasive noxious weeds — Himalayan blackberries and Evergreen blackberries. …

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Spring might seem to be the best time to dial in the fit of your bicycle, but some riders may notice that necks and backs begin to pinch a little during long summer bike rides.

For me, it's a sore knee brought on by too many uphill miles on my second-hand mountain bike that I never took the time to fit properly.

While searching for some other bike-related videos, I stumbled across this video (on jump) from YouTube of a bike fit system used over at Veloce Velo in Issaquah. I also found a do-it-yourself system produced by Performance Bicycles.

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Another day, another study with something for us to worry about.

Coming on the heels of a report that tied bicycling and infertility, the New York Times reports on a couple of studies that ties bicycling with the reduction in bone density.

That makes cyclists more susceptible to breaks, such as Lance Armstrong's collarbone fracture earlier this year, above.

An encouraging note is that recreational cyclists are not subject to the infertility and bone density problems. The studies looked only at elite athletes who push themselves to the extreme in training and competition ….

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How much bicycling is too much if you're trying to start a family?

Lengthy and frequent bicycling — like more than 186 miles a week — can cause “significant fertility problems” for men, says a report presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

But bicycling to work on a daily basis wouldn't cause a significant increase in abnormal sperm.

This isn't another urological study about saddle pressure causing male impotence. The current study from the University of Cordoba Medical School finds that tight clothing that holds heat, friction of the testes against the saddle and the stress from hours of high-energy exercise can contribute to inferior sperm quality …

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It's probably not a bad thing that so many bicycle clubs factor in the local brew pub at the end of a bike ride.

It bears repeating that beer and bicycling are both good for the heart.

Iowa cyclist John Gray told the local newspaper that riding a bike and drinking beer just seems right; “The two things just go hand in hand.”

So if you're looking for justification for quaffing a couple of beers after a ride, check these facts presented by the Sioux City Journal. Just remember, says nutrionist Sarah Nelson:

“The key, here, is the darker the brew, the higher the level of antioxidant present ….

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