All 5 mountain passes

Dear Dr. Gilbert,

I'm attaching a picture of me on the 2011 Death Ride. I'm thrilled to say that I was able to complete all 5 mountain passes (15,000 ft. of climbing and 129 miles in about 12 hours ride time) only 2 months after full hip replacement surgery (on my single bike).

I was surprised and please by how quickly I was able to recover from the surgery and resume my bicycling passion. I was able to begin riding stoker on our tandem bicycle 15 days after surgery, and we rode a 60 mile ride the following weekend. One month after the operation we completed the final qualification ride for the 1,200KM Paris-Brest-Paris event in August that we have been training for all year. We needed to ride 600KM (375 Miles) within 40 hours, and we completed it successfully in 37.75 hours. I'm attaching the Davis Bike Club announcement with the link of finishers for that event.

I hope you share this letter with your prospective patients. I put off surgery for over a year because I didn't want the down time off my bicycle. The 2-4 month recovery stories that I heard were not true for me. Being in shape before surgery has incredible benefits.

I also want to thank you for the ‘pretty scar' that you crafted. I've been putting scar reducer cream on it and it actually looks, and feels, more like a scratch than a scar.

Lastly I wanted to thank Dr. Dickenson for getting me into surgery so quickly (about one month). The wait time for surgery in Sacramento was around 6 months. You both saved my summer and gave me back my old life. Thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Cheryl Burns