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@BobbinBird
I'm amazed by the amputee cyclists. It's massively impressive how they adapt so well. Prancer too! Keep at it sir.
I don't get to cycle as much as I'd like because of the back condition/surgeries that I've had - I only even learned to ride about 3 years ago as I wasn't allowed to as a "disabled" child. I was told it wouldn't be possible for me. What a load of crap! Bluequinn bought me a little Moulton Midi and I learnt to ride in Vicky Park and did a couple of Skyrides on it.
My main issue now is that I've had a spinal fusion from T1-L4 so I only have L5 (the bottom lumbar vertebra) left that can still move and the two remaining discs either side of it take all the stress so cycling for any sort of distance pummels the hell out of them, causes them to squash down, trap nerves and cause numbness/pain/temporary foot drop in one or both legs. Annoyingly this happened on the Tweed Run last year and eventually caused me to have to stop and push the bike just a mile from the end. I think I could probably help prevent this from happening so quickly by building my core stability muscles up so they act as a sort of "internal corset" and support things more.
Another issue is that I have a conective tissue disorder that causes joint hypermobility, and riding leaning on my wrists bloody kills after a while. I may see if I can get wrist braces made specially to help with this; I've already had some made to specifically help with painting and playing musical instruments, so I don't see why not.
The combination of these probs means that it's much more comfortable to ride sitting bolt upright on my Dutch bike (the Bobbin), but that's sooooo heavy and I struggle with the weight when I have to keep stopping and starting quickly, as in traffic. BQ has built me a fab single speed which is a lot lighter and I feel so much more in control of, even though my weight is on my wrists.