elbow injury-- cant bike???

I banged my elbow in the winter,yes the winter I have this tennis elbow thing going on, tendonitis or something. Doc says the tendon got injured right where it meets the bone, thus the extreme pain at time. Still hurts ALOT if I bump the bone at the right (wrong) spot. I wore a wrist brace to limit movement, helped in the beginning, but its still very bothersome. Doc says could be 8-10 months till full recovery- wtf???? Anyway, I understand with a forearm injury no pull ups, chin ups, that sort of stuff, but now I can't bike? I guess I grip the bars really tight and I started doing some serious hill work lately, and my tendon is the WORST it's ever been. I'm in lake country in Sussex NJ for 2 weeks and love the hill work around the farms near Mountain Creek and in Orange County, NY. But I seriously have to stop riding, I rode Monday and tried to concentrate on a looser grip, but it didn't help, and it was probably not the safest way to ride, so that's not an option- nor is riding totally aero- this is not the place to do much of that. This injury has serious quality of life issues- hard to pick up anything over 2-3 pounds, can't do much around the house (can't grip tools too hard). I've had two cortisone shots and they work well enough, but I think they're a mask, not a cure. And, btw, swimming isn't so easy, so that's not exactly the best option despite sitting lake-front for two weeks- what a bummer.

Any experience/advice? Would appreciate it. Thanks