I am definitely lucky that cycling is generally considered an okay activity when you have ankle problems. I will try to ramp things up slowly once I can stop wearing the boot, because I don't want to end up hurting something else due to trying to do too much too soon. So I'll probably start with easy rail-trail rides on the mountain bike with flat pedals, then if all goes well will progress to relatively short flat road rides.

If I couldn't ride my bike, I think I might look into swimming, even though I suck at it and look hideous in a swim suit. And I actually do want to try flat water kayaking one of these days. I'm glad it's something you're able to do, Pax. I know some people who have had leg injuries that prevented them from kayaking because they were not able to get in or out of the boat. Also I've thought about your reluctance to get a handicapped placard for your car -- more than once I have wished I could park in a handicapped spot over the past few weeks. Most of the time I'm fine when I'm out shopping, but sometimes I am just tired and the boot is just not comfortable. And we don't have reserved parking spaces at my condo, but if you have a handicapped placard the management office will designate a space near your door for you to use. Since I typically get home late, I usually have to park several doors down from my building and I'm always carrying stuff and there's just enough of an incline in the parking lot to make it hard to walk with the boot. So I completely understand reasons for not wanting to get that handicapped tag, but at the same time if this was not a short-term thing I would already have asked the doctor to fill out the form for me.

Meanwhile, one thing I am still able to do is upper body weight training at the gym. I'm going tonight. Still have to do a modified version of the workout I was doing before, but that's certainly better than nothing. Another thing that I've thought about recently -- I never went to the gym before I had the ankle surgery back in the day. But I struggled so much with the crutches after surgery, once the physical therapy was over I decided to join a gym. At the time I just wanted to make sure to have enough upper body strength if I ever needed crutches again. But it turned out that I liked weight training enough to stick with it for all these years. And the personal trainer that I met when I first moved to DC and joined a gym here was very helpful and supportive when I bought a bike and then bought another one and started to do longer rides. And he's been helpful and supportive in other ways, up to and including this here current ankle problem. The ankle surgery was painful and disruptive, but it did start me on a path with all sorts of unexpected consequences -- friendships and empowering accomplishments.