for those who are interested in the bike experiment at cleveland clinic, please note that simple biking did not achieve the results as 'forced' biking. 'forced' exercise means that the machine is doing part of the work and the patient is doing part of the work. in that manner, the exercise level can be increased past what the patient is able to do himself. the cleveland clinic used lab assistants on tandem bikes with the assistant in the front as captain and the patient in the rear as stoker. in that manner, the assistant was able to keep the rpms up to the necessary number to attain positive change. a control group, with no 'forced' assist, did not show improvement.

nevertheless, if you are able to bike at that rate with PD, great! in our case, my husband could only bike 55-60 rpms and for a limited time....very limited. we did see positive changes in his digital dexterity and walking, immediately, with me assisting but we were unable to keep this up as i am 75 and couldn't maintain that.

I have followed with great interest this subject. I use a spin bike at home, the exact same as they have in the gym. It has a weighted flywheel up front that will keep going if you stop pedaling, essentially forcing you to keep up. I would imagine that there is the momentum aspect in that once you are at a certain speed it would continue but you still have to pedal. I feel great and definitely do much better when I ride. Typically I am doing about 1/2 hr to 45 mins, at 22-25mph. I does not have an rpm counter. Even if this is not what they did in the clinic I feel great and I move a lot better after riding. The bike cost about $800.00, I got it from an infomercial on tv.

I got a Torker electric trike at the end of August and I love it. It allows me to enjoy the outdoors and ride farther than I could otherwise. I discovered early in my disease that I could ride a bike farther than I could walk. However, at this point I could not ride more than a mile from my home or I would have trouble making it back. The Torker trike has an electric assist. You have to keep pedaling for the electric power to work, so it is very good for you,but helps you keep pedaling even if you are tired. It was expensive, but my bike shop had a financing option with no interest for 6 months. I am really glad to have it. I don't know how many rpms I do, but I know it is good for me and I feel better as soon as I start riding and feel the wind on my face. I am even able to ride on days I am not feeling well.