Do you think you may have a mineral deficiency? I get severe foot & leg cramps that I blame on this. Usually have to take doses of coloidal minerals for a few days and then I'm ok for nearly a month. My dad gets the same thing and the minerals help him, too

What I really want to know is what is it that works - is it the high rpm, or is it the forced speed. That is, if you can pedal at 80-90 rpm by yourself is that good enough? Or is it being forced to pedal a lot faster than you really can that does the trick. Do we need another person who's faster than us or a motor on the bike, or is it good enough to just go as fast as you can?

It makes me think it must be the forced speed because both groups were working at 60% of their training heart rate, and if I were to pedal 30% faster than what felt reasonable, I think I'd be way up higher than 60%.

"When I was first diagnosed, I felt like I was on an icy slope with no axe to arrest the progression of the disease. Through a series of happy coincidences, I learned about the work of neuroscientist Jay Alberts at the Cleveland Clinic , pedalingforparkinsons.org. I began cycling at 80-90 rpms 4-5 times/week for at least an hour, generally 1.5-4 hours. Within less than a month nearly all of my symptoms disappeared, so much so that my doctor told me that if he didn't know I had PD, he wouldn't know. I still take 6 mg of ReQuip XL (down from 8) and 1 mg of Azilect, but the changes happened when I started the forced pace cycling. It is MOST important to pedal at 80-90 rpms. We don't know why, but it is working for me."

The above quote implies that VE AT 80 to 90 rpm does the trick while controlled research claims that only FE is useful. The research paper is confusing because it doesn't say if the wpd achieves same high speed as that in FE, why he does not get same benifits?
FE requires double seat and a strong partner, both difficult to have.
I have been stationary cycling twice daily for 15 mins at 85 rpm which is my "killing" limit.
I am sure it has helped my general health perhaps even my pd. It aso resolved my knee joints pain,
Imad

I was at a conference in Sarasota where the person from the Cleveland Clinic that did the study gave his presentation. I recently bought a spin bike and ride it daily at 20 mph. This is as close as I can get to forced exercise since you must continuously pedal. I set the resistance to wear I am at 75% target heart rate at the peak of my workout. So far seems to help, either placebo or not I am off less. Go figure??>>

Jim, You're doing great! If you can ride for an hour 3 times per week, 10 min warmup, 40 min at 80-90 rpm, 10 min cooldown and keeping your heart rate within 60-85% for the 40 min part, you'll have all the pieces in place. Like you, I like going every day, or nearly every day.

As I [not a neuroscientist but a PWP] read the study, there was not anything shown that would say that the critical factor was the forcing of the pace or the high cadence itself.

As they say in Detroit, your mileage may vary.

I have had Parkinson’s symptoms since 2007 and was diagnosed in 2010 with Parkinson’s disease at stage 2. But in July of 2011 my UPDRS rating was 3 out of 160, an excellent rating. Since diagnosis I have biked daily on a stationary bike for nearly an hour and, except for warm up and cool down (beginning and ending 5 minutes), bike at a cadence of between 90 and 110 RPM (depending on how I feel on the bike). I feel good.

As to cramps, after a frustrating round of unanswered questions about mineral deficiencies with medical doctors, I turned to a dietitian (they are regulated in my state, whereas nutritionists are not). She advised supplements and quantities. In addition to calcium and magnesium supplements I added bananas to my diet to provide potassium. You might also want to read works by Dr. Arnie Baker MD who writes on medical issues pertaining to cyclists.

Using bike shorts I avoid burns from friction.

To avoid boredom I do two things. I read from an android tablet and am enjoying old books. I also listen to jigs, reels, and other fast dance music of my ethnicity--there must be some music that is right for you.
Unexpectedly, I found after doing daily biking for a while that my hands would feel pins and needles. Well, I recalled that carpel tunnel syndrome can be aggravated by vibrating machinery. A stationary bike is a piece of vibrating machinery. A pair of anti-vibration gloves solves the problem!

Overall, after two years since initial diagnosis and taking only selegine and CoQ10 [has all the study data been unlocked?] for PD I am better off than before diagnosis, though still showing symptoms.

The conclusion of the CoQ10 study was that it is not neuroprotective. This or next week it should be published whether isradipine is neuroprotective (clinical phase II though). I myself believe more in Inosine but results from that one will appear next year.

The NIH stopped the study early, but since I had seen earlier results I was reluctant to conclude that.budget issues were not a factor in the NIH decision.

I've had some unintended experiments over the last couple of months. Injuries and travel forced me to take a 7 week hiatus from cycling. Then I rode part of the way across Iowa in unreal heat, which made me less stable rather than healthier. At least I'm alive. I increased my meds a little hoping to even out my symptoms until I can get back on a regular schedule. If you want to read my extended account of RAGBRAI at 105 degrees, you are welcome to check my website: http://home.comcast.net/~nan.little/site/

I just returned from my neurologist visit. Last visit was in January. He reported that I am unchanged since January and I am still at Level 1 "way ahead of the curve". He said that people are normally at Level 2 by three years into the disease. I'm at five years. I've been able to cycle nearly every day since getting home a week ago. He suggested I return to ReQuip XL 4 mg (I had raised it to 6) since I'm able to be back on the bike.