pregnancy and cycling

[profàvélo]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I am 36 years old ('of advanced maternal age,' they tell me) and have not had any children yet. One reason for putting off starting a family is that I am still working on a dissertation that I hope to finish by the end of this calendar year. In the past year, I have really gotten into road cycling. I got a new bike in Feb. 2004, which I love (my previous one never fit me right and made my neck/shoulders hurt almost invariably). Over the summer I started doing more group rides, mainly charity-type rides. At the end of the summer I hooked up with some women who ride and have been gung-ho ever since (I could never keep up with my husband and usually rode solo prior to that). We have ridden all through the winter (off-season?? what off-season?), thanks to relatively warm SC weather. I'm currently training for the Assault on Mt. Mitchell (crazy century with 30-mile climb at the end) in May and l'Etape du Tour (a stage of the Tour de France that goes into the Pyrenees) in July. My husband and I plan to try to get pregnant after that.

So here's my question: if we are lucky enough to get pregnant, how is this going to affect my riding? How long can I ride though pregnancy? How safe/unsafe is it? How long after giving birth will it be before I even want to get on a bike? Of course I will discuss it with my doctor, but I am afraid of hearing that I shouldn't ride at all. I hate to think of losing all this fitness that I have gained.

Thanks for your thoughts/advice.

[alison_in_oh]

So here's my question: if we are lucky enough to get pregnant, how is this going to affect my riding? How long can I ride though pregnancy? How safe/unsafe is it? How long after giving birth will it be before I even want to get on a bike? Of course I will discuss it with my doctor, but I am afraid of hearing that I shouldn't ride at all. I hate to think of losing all this fitness that I have gained.

Thanks for your thoughts/advice.

I've wondered the same thing, also just getting really into biking, also planning to start a family in a couple of years.

I've heard of women riding into their eighth month. But I've also heard that the weight distribution throws off your sense of balance by the time you're showing, and carrying such a precious load is not a good time to get unbalanced in a fast curve and hit the pavement (as if there were a good time!) Hopefully somebody with experience can comment on this.

If it's the physical activity you're worried about though -- no worries. If you're fit going into pregnancy, it's A-OK to continue that level of activity throughout pregnancy, maybe tapering on the intensity a little after a point. Here's a site about weight training in pregnancy, but the advice pretty much holds for other activity. http://stumptuous.com/pregnancy.html

(BTW, to decrease the "luck factor" a little, you might want to look into Fertility Awareness. Knowing your body's cycles intimately can boost your chances immensely. I really like the book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler.)

[Irulan]

So here's my question: if we are lucky enough to get pregnant, how is this going to affect my riding? How long can I ride though pregnancy? How safe/unsafe is it? How long after giving birth will it be before I even want to get on a bike? Of course I will discuss it with my doctor, but I am afraid of hearing that I shouldn't ride at all. I hate to think of losing all this fitness that I have gained.

first, you talk to your doc, hopefully s/he is new school and belieives in exercise. second, your baby is well insulated against knocks so it's a matter of comfort/discomfort. Your aerobic and cardiac capacity changes, CG changes, your sense of "maybe I don't feel safe doing this" may change. You have 9 months of listening to your body.
third. You could have a high risk pregnancy and then all bets are out the window.
After the birth... too many factors to make a list. You could be exhausted for months. You could have a reconstructive epsiotomy. You could feel great.

The beauty of pregnancy is that is should really teach you to listen to your body, not go by a list of guidelines that you read somewhere. What works for other may not work for you, or vice versa. Youir knees hit your belly at some point. I rode a mtb on bike paths until I got too big.

more discussion here, good thread:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=90596


Irulan