My 2007 bicycling season, which totaled about 3,200 miles, came to a crashing halt on Dec. 26.

And I do mean crashing.

On the way home from a 25 mile loop, I tumbled off my bike while negotiating a ramp between the roadway and sidewalk en route to a bike path.

Mensa candidate that I am, I declined the aid of passing motorists and eschewed an ambulance.

I swung my throbbing right leg over the bar of the bike and straightened it, clicked my left foot into the pedal and rode the final 2.5 miles home with one leg.

Yes, my average speed did indeed drop on the last, er, leg of the ride.

About 10 hours later I had three screws inserted in my right hip bone, which had broken near the femur.

The doctor on call at the hospital that night turned out to be a hand surgeon.

There’s a joke in there somewhere but I can’t put my finger on it.

Two days later I was home, pushing around a walker and wondering when I’d be able to climb the stairs or even bend my leg enough to put on my shoes without screaming in pain.

I’d gone from cycling about 100 miles per week to semi-assisted living.

It took me about a month of healing and light physical therapy at home to work my way up to using crutches.

My follow-up X-rays looked good, but when I asked Doctor Hand when I might be able to ride, or whether I’d walk with a limp, she didn’t have an answer. Who knew how much muscle and nerve damage was done by the crash and the surgery?

I started outpatient P/T at the end of January and began swimming laps in mid-February. My routine included treadmill, leg weights, some hamstring and quad machines at the gym, and 10 blessed minutes on the stationary bike.

I was cleared to return to work in March, when Doctor Hand told me the bone had fully healed. “No restrictions,” she said. “But don’t run a marathon.”

Well, who wanted to run a marathon anyway? What I wanted to do was ride my Trek up Terrible Mountain in Vermont.

Once my leg had enough flexibility to get on the bike in the spin room at the gym, I began gradually increasing the time and resistance.

My first post-surgery ride came on April 28, a flat, 15-mile loop. The hip felt OK and being back in the saddle was so good that I didn’t want to stop.

I slowly increased my mileage until I was ready to rejoin my group – I ride in the B- category, meaning we average between 13-15 mph over a 50-mile ride – in early June.

Over the July 4th holiday, I managed almost 140 miles stretched out over four rides in Maine and Cape Cod, including my annual favorite – a 60-mile loop around Martha’s Vineyard.

As of this writing I am back up to between 80-100 miles a week.

My left leg – formerly the weaker of the two – has a lot more work to do, especially when I climb hills.

And although I’m not as strong as last year at this time, the road ahead looks considerably smoother than it did last winter when I was pushing a walker around the neighborhood.