Need some advice from the moms

[atombessy]

Hi ladies! So I'm four months pregnant, and a pretty regular road/mountain biker. I've gotten the go ahead from my doc to ride with no modifications until at least 20 weeks, provided I stay on top of my hydration. I'm not an advanced level ride, but I'm a very competent intermediate rider and good at evaluating my skill level with obstacles, so crashing is super low on my preggo worry meter (I crash more on my road bike, seriously). However, I'm not sure if my doctor really grasps how bumpy mountain biking can be, and I have some first time mom paranoia I think. I'm riding a full suspension on moderate trails, and a rigid single speed on some easy/moderate trails (which gets bumpy fast, obviously). What do you ladies think about the bouncing around? I'm going to discuss it with my doc again around 20 weeks, but looking for some reassurance from ladies who have maybe been there before!

thanks :)

[limewave]

I mountain biked up until 6 months pregnant. I work with a sports doctor and she gave me the go-ahead. But she said 6 months was it. In fact, I did an Adventure Race with 11 miles of single track riding when I was 5.5 months pregnant. The road bike I could do through 'til the end.

My thoughts are as long as you take it easy and listen to your body, you should be good to go :)

Congratulations!

[malkin]

After about 6 months, the bumps are likely to feel more uncomfortable or just weird.

Happy Gestating!

[Irulan]

Some good threads here in the long past, try the search function. Also try the Women's lounge at www.mtbr.com, it's been discussed ad nauseum. Again, try the search.

It all comes down to
1. how new or old school your MD is about exercise
2. whether you are high risk or not
3. your comfort level - if ANYTHING goes wrong, would you blame yourself?
4. Your knees will be hitting your belly pretty soon anyway.:p

[lph]

I didn't mountain bike when I was pregnant 13 years ago, but I commuted by bike and rock climbed. My doc was pretty old school, but still she told me to continue doing the activities I was competent in, not take up new ones or compete, avoid obvious high risk or strenuous effort, stay hydrated and and otherwise relax :) Check this with your doc, but I'm pretty sure that the risk of miscarriage from bumping around is pretty much a myth, though an understandable one. Anything putting an obvious strain on you can be a risk though, like very high effort, overheating and crashing, of course.

At the end of my pregnancy I found biking more comfortable than walking, because it would ease the pressure on my perineum. This was just easy city riding, though.

[WolfGirl]

I wasn't biking at the time I was pregnant (7 years ago), but I was playing tennis. When I started spotting in the first trimester, my doc said to quit tennis. I did. Possibly/probably it had nothing to do with anything? But again, it comes down to comfort level; if something happened, would that last tennis lesson have been worth it?

Up until the spotting incident I was given the good-to-go on tennis though. FWIW.

[atombessy]

thank you all! My doctor is very supportive about exercise, and I trust him, but it's good for me to hear your experiences and advice too, since I know you 'get' it (bumpiness wise). I definitely didn't feel pregnant/belly interference yet at all on my last ride, so I'll use that and maybe the 6 month mark to move from singletrack to the good ol' MUT/bike path. (after additional consultation with the doc, of course).

This December due date thing should work out pretty well, I got in the whole spring season and maybe most of the summer, and then I hope I'll be back in the saddle by the time it gets warm in spring :) woohoo!

thanks for the well wishes!