[phoenix]

Sorry to hear about your injury. I have also suffered an ACL/miniscus tear while riding. It seems like everyone's experience is a little different, but I was able to hobble on my knee a few days later and could walk on it fairly normally within a month (prior to surgery - then the process started over).

Here's my advice...get on the list to get it fixed. I elected at the time to just get my knee "cleaned" up and not have the ACL replaced. Big mistake. My knee has never been the same since (obviously). Though they say you can strengthen the rest of your leg to compensate, I think that is only moderately true. Forget jumping down off anything ever again, and walking/jogging on uneven ground is an annoying experience. Your knee will easily slip out of place, sending you stumbling or worse. If you don't get it replaced, you will eventually learn to deal with it and make the proper motions to land on it without tweaking it. I can still jog on even ground, run up stairs, wakeboarded (with braces) and I certainly haven't given up bikes (though I am now far less likely to stick that leg out).

I also had the miniscus tear, and that is nothing to take lightly. The miniscus basically keeps your bones from rubbing together, so you want that healed (and its hard to heal because it doesn't get much blood flow). My tear was stitched up and required a month on crutches. With a simple ACL replacement, they usually have you up and walking in just a few days.

I just recently decided to go back and get my ACL replaced. I've come to the conclusion that if I don't get it fixed, I'm just doing slow damage to my knee due to all the extra lateral movement. I don't mean to be a debbie downer, but you will be much happier in the long run if you just get it fixed now. Do it now before you change your lifestyle. As funny as it may seem, I wonder whether I will ever regain the confidence to do the things I used to do without a second thought (jumping off a tailgate, etc.) even after I get the ACL replaced.