I’m in hospital recovering from an aortic valve and root replacement (mechanical valve) which I had last Wednesday. Due to something on my latest ECG they are investigating whether or not I need to have a pacemaker fitted.

Are there any riders on here who ride regularly with one? I’m thinking XC, trail centers, BPW, Alps in the summer etc.

If I land on it and smash it then is it just a trip back to hospital to replace it or am I fried?

I don’t personally but my brother in law did LeJog with one seven years ago after he’d been massively ill three years previously. He had no problems with it racing or training and his was set with a 160 bpm max. I guess the bashing it is a different thing but how often do you come off and mash your chest – wear a chest protector maybe?

As you’re in hospital probably best to ask the specialist nurses or a cardiologist. If you think you might be coming off your bike then could be best to invest in some protection (pads etc) as you’ll bruise/bleed more readily being on warfarin.

Good luck with the recovery 🙂

My wife has one after her heart transplant & they said there were several different spots they could put it. You could have it somewhere less vulnerable but a bit harder to replace.
They put hers back where her defibs were due to the shape of her ribs.

I don’t think there are any issues with pacemakers themselves, rather it depends on your condition and if you can tolerate the pressure of exercise. My dad has a pacemaker. Nothing wrong with his heart as such, but he has a condition where he can’t regulate the heart rhythm, so he’ll do exercise and his heart rate won’t reapond. Advice to him is that he can go at exercise as hard as he likes, the pacemaker is not an issue. Younger athletes with the same condition are pushing themselves as hard as they like and competing so the pacemaker itself just does what it does.

I generally act as the pace maker for my group of mates, well I slow them all down anyway!!

Seriously though, Hope the recovery goes well.

My mate is a marathon runner with a pacemaker. He had his replaced this year (something to do with routine battery life). He’s out running most days (I see his strava profile)

no, but I did used to ride with a bloke caller Gerry.

– hope your recovery goes well.

I’ve had conversations with several members of my ultra runner community about these and none report significant problems with either the exercise or the physical piece of kit and its location. I check the medical declarations for most of the larger Scottish events and have no hesitation in allowing folk to take part, provided that they have discussed it with their cardiology team.

Thanks for replies so far. I always wear knee and elbow pads so adding a shoulder/chest protector won’t be a problem. I guess a hard plastic cover moulder to my shape with a bit of neoprene for comfort should be fine. And as has been said above, how often have I actually landed on my chest?

A good point about discussing it’s location. I just assumed it had to go in a certain spot.