Hi Bill,

Your cycling routine sounds a bit similar to mine. My average rpm these days is in the mid 90s. I can manage 110 rpm only briefly, and so can my exercise bike I suspect. It starts to make strange noises when it gets to around 110 rpm!

Like you I'm interested in collecting data to see if I can use it to make improvements to my routine. It's still early days yet for this, and I've not yet got a stable enough routine to collect any long term data from.

I have a particular interest in the application of interval training techniques to high-cadence cycling (see post #353 on page 36). I was just wondering how TexasTom is getting along with his 30s/30s duty cycle, which he wrote about last year.

Jeff

I had the tests at OHSU on Monday. The colon part was actually fun, no pain and I got to watch it all. It reminded me of Pac Man, gobbling up chunks of my colon. The mandibular glands were much harder, because I could both hear and feel the samples being taken. The more they did the easier it became. They got the five samples and each time it just hurt for 2-3 seconds. The area is still swollen on Friday morning, but it has gone down enough for me to wear my bike helmet. I've been on the trainer up to now, but I'm planning to ride on the road in a few minutes. Tomorrow it's on to Iowa. While I was having the colon biopsy I asked the doctor about all the gas and incomplete bowel evacuation I suffer from and she told me to try Metamucil, one per day for a month and to keep a record of what happens. I've taken it for four nights now and haven't had any pain since I started taking it. For what it's worth.

I presented on the topics you referenced at the FDA headquarters in a patient-focused panel discussion on Sept. 22, 2015. You can find a written copy of the presentation at http://parkies.org/FDA/FDApattersonSummary1.2.pdf . I am working on an expansion of this that I hope to publish at some point.

Like you I am frustrated with the lack of information on this topic. In particular I have not found ANY long term studies of high cadence aerobic exercises on human PD patients.

So I am doing my own amateur one. Hopefully it can be useful to an academic researcher who wants to see some possible directions. At this point I've been cycling for nearly seven years generally daily, keeping exercise session level information for the last 3 years, and detail input from wearable sensors for the last 1 year. At some point I hope to make some of this information available.

As far as cramps are concerned, I'd refer you to the work of Dr. Arnie Baker (Arnie Baker Cycling) who identifies elemental nutrients helpful for avoiding cramps: sodium (which we probably get more than enough of), potassium, magnesium, and calcium. See your dietitian for dosage suggestions.

I like upright bikes. If you have discomfort or pain when riding, take a video clip of your riding and show it to your physical therapist. Mine gave me useful suggestions.

Bill Patterson

It's no great surprise, but I find that the more activity I build into my days, activity on a regular, scheduled basis, the more I am able to live outside of my PD symptoms. It certainly helps that the Stanford plasma appears to be working so well, in my body at least. Realizing that meditation is generally helpful for anyone under any circumstances, I have added Yoga to my cornucopia. My week has 1.5 hrs of yoga on Sunday and Monday, 1/2 hr of meditation and 1 hr of cycling on Tues, at least 1 hr. of cycling on Wed., 1.5 hrs of Dance for PD Thursday, 1 hr of cycling on Friday and 1 hr. of cycling on Sat. On days when I don't have the community Dance for PD class I do it using the DVDs I got from Dance for PD. This way I can do focused exercise every day. I'm sure the combination of exercises must make a difference.

I just had a call from the Marysville, WA YMCA to say they are starting the Pedaling For Parkinson's program May 1. Yesterday I had a similar call from the Ft. Worth, TX Y. They are starting the program at two sites.

I'm told that on Sunday, April 9, the NBC Nightly News will air a segment featuring Dr. Jay Alberts discussing the new findings on the five year study of the effect of fast paced cycling on Parkinson's patients. A Pedaling For Parkinson's class from the Mill Creek WA YMCA will also be featured. The show airs from 6:30-7 in all time zones.

Here is the "Pedaling for Parkinsons" news item that Nan mentioned:

How Patients Are Using Cycling to Slow Down Parkinson’s - NBC News

(hat tip to Xenos at HU for the link)