I was very interested to read that other people have had Microdiscectomys and have returned to cycling and running.
I’m not sure if what I had was a microdiscectomy. In 2000, I had two herniated discs (L3-4 and L4-5, I think) trimmed and repaired . . . my doc referred to them as “partial discectomies.” In any event, this was before I got into triathlon. While I have had very, very few problems since the surgery, I’ve found that cycling is MUCH easier on my back than running. If I run 10 miles, I may have some stiffness, but cycling usually loosens me up and never causes pain or stiffness. I’ve found that sitting or lying around usually causes the most difficulty.
Next to soccer/football, cycling is my favorite sport, to do and watch. One of my favorite cycling experiences was going up the Madeline in the Alps, I had become separated from the group I was with and did the climb with two other guys, one was French the other German, niether spoke the others language but we traded pacing and hacked enough words together to enjoy a conversation. At the summit we shook hands and went off on our separate ways.
In San Diego, a guy who is just turned 90 made the front page of the paper, he just set a TT record, he still puts in 500 miles a month. You don’t see a lot of older guys running, you do see a lot of older folks that are still really strong on the bike.
Hope your recovery goes well and you become another dedicated cyclist.