Woke up and decided to start cycling...

Woke up and decided to start cycling...

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GreatGranny

9,097 posts

225 months

Tuesday 26th March 2013
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Don't give up!

It will get easier I promise you.

Get yourself some decent shorts which will help.

Make sure you eat properly before and keep hydrated.

uncinqsix

3,239 posts

209 months

Wednesday 27th March 2013
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Porkupine said:
Well I did it!

Was a LOT more difficult than I imagined. I planned a route and thought should start small. So my route in total was 2.5 miles. I thought would be easy. It was ok up until half way. Didn't break a sweat. On the way back though, uphill, and I was destroyed! I was very very close to stopping for a rest, but managed to complete it.

Shows just how bad my fitness is, my legs were burning. Total ride time was 21 minutes, shocking I know, for only 2.5 miles!

Whilst I was riding the words kept echoing:

zebedee said:
try and keep it flat too until you find your feet - a big hill will expend as much energy as a couple of miles of flat
Oh, how I should have took more notice of this. The experience of yesterday almost makes me not want to do it again! But I will!

!
As someone who is also new to cycling and horribly unfit, I can relate to this. As my riding has pretty much been purely commuting, I haven't been in a position to avoid the (large) hill on my route to and from work. The first few times I thought it would kill me and I was reduced to pushing the bike up a significant portion of it. However, a month later and I can ride the whole way up (apart from a 100m section of approx 25-30% grade), and I'm even starting to knock a few minutes off the climb.

So, if you're anything like me you'll see a pretty rapid improvement in the space of a few weeks, and that really helps the morale!

richardxjr

7,561 posts

209 months

Wednesday 27th March 2013
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uncinqsix said:
So, if you're anything like me you'll see a pretty rapid improvement in the space of a few weeks, and that really helps the morale!
Oh yes.

12 weeks ago I was an unfit overweight 44yr old life long smoker. 800+ miles and 7+ kg lighter having dropped the fags I now go seeking out hills. It took 8 weeks to conquer a mental 20% hill that I see all the time from my house front windows. At first I'd have to stop 4 or 5 times, but eventually after 500 mainly flat miles I cracked it. I now try to climb that hill and others each day.

Off to the Alps in 10 weeks. 3 months ago I seriously doubted whether I'd make it up Huez; now I'm itching to get there and also planning in some more climbs in the area.

Set some goals and reward yourself (with shiny bike stuff wink)

Porkupine

Original Poster:

1,709 posts

164 months

Wednesday 27th March 2013
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I'm thankful for all the replies on this thread. I actually am finding it quite motivational. So lets hope I can continue!

I went out for my second red yesterday morning. It felt a little easier. But I think reason for that was because I did not go all out and peddle hard on the outward half as it is mostly down hill anyway. This meant the way back was very slightly easier. Overall I did in the same time (well 10aecs slower actually). I think this must be due to being slower on the first half.
Anyway, the other thing that may have slowed me down is because the bike seems to be stuck in a pretty low gear. This happened at the end of my first ride. So this slowed me down on the first half of my ride this time where I would have shifted to a higher gear. Will try sort this before my next ride!

will_

6,027 posts

202 months

Wednesday 27th March 2013
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richardxjr said:
3 months ago I seriously doubted whether I'd make it up Huez; now I'm itching to get there and also planning in some more climbs in the area.
You must be deranged - I found it hard work driving up the Huez hehe

Westy Pre-Lit

5,087 posts

202 months

Wednesday 27th March 2013
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Porkupine said:
Well I did it!

Was a LOT more difficult than I imagined.

Shows just how bad my fitness is, my legs were burning. Total ride time was 21 minutes, shocking I know, for only 2.5 miles!
Well you done a lot better than me hehe

Having used to race many years ago I hadn't touched a bike for over 20 years or so. Have decided to get back into it a few months ago and before I went out on the road wanted to get a bit fitter first on a set of rollers......I lasted the grand total of 27 seconds and had to stop laugh

Can now last 30 minutes before stopping averaging 7 to 8 miles at a go. Note to say I haven't fallen off either and can watch the TV at the same time. Must say I did forget how hard it all was haha.

Keep up the good work smile

Porkupine

Original Poster:

1,709 posts

164 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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OK...so my previous exploits did not go so well!

I completed about three rides and gave up. The bike I borrowed is still in my garage...

So, I have managed to lose some weight in the last couple of years, and think I would be in a lot better place to give this a go.

Am going to sign up for the Palace to Palace ride in September. I feel this will give me something to aim for, and of course it is for a good cause.

Any advice on how I should start to train, and when? From my above posts, you can see I struggled with 2.5 miles previously!

It is a 45 mile ride, which at this moment, sounds very daunting to me!!

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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So start with 2.0 mile rides and work up to it. My first ride was a "two miler", I'm quite happy doing a hundred now if I've got the time smile

For a newbie I'd pick and choose the days you ride to start with, wait till the wind is low and it's not quite so cold.

prand

5,910 posts

195 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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Porkupine said:
OK...so my previous exploits did not go so well!

I completed about three rides and gave up. The bike I borrowed is still in my garage...

So, I have managed to lose some weight in the last couple of years, and think I would be in a lot better place to give this a go.

Am going to sign up for the Palace to Palace ride in September. I feel this will give me something to aim for, and of course it is for a good cause.

Any advice on how I should start to train, and when? From my above posts, you can see I struggled with 2.5 miles previously!

It is a 45 mile ride, which at this moment, sounds very daunting to me!!
Just keep at it, adding an extra loop on your usual ride when you feel up to it. It won't take long to start doing 20-30 miles over a couple of hours, 45 miles should not be more than 3-4 hours once you are used to being in the saddle for that time.

One thing I found out on the road that helped a huge amount is making sure your tyres are pumped as hard as you can go (rating on the sidewall of the tyre), as this helps a great deal with rolling resistance. I invested in a track pump for about £20 (beware of innacurate gauges, spend more to get more accurate readings), when I realised I was going out with 25 psi in my mtb slick tyres when they could have been up at 60. My road bike tyres took well over 100psi, added to a low weight bike (and a lighter weight rider after all the training), and the miles flew by.

In fairness if you are trying to get fit then resistance training on a heavy bike with soft tyres is probably quite helpful, but it can be exhausting!

Ki3r

7,806 posts

158 months

Monday 26th January 2015
quotequote all
Porkupine said:
OK...so my previous exploits did not go so well!

I completed about three rides and gave up. The bike I borrowed is still in my garage...

So, I have managed to lose some weight in the last couple of years, and think I would be in a lot better place to give this a go.

Am going to sign up for the Palace to Palace ride in September. I feel this will give me something to aim for, and of course it is for a good cause.

Any advice on how I should start to train, and when? From my above posts, you can see I struggled with 2.5 miles previously!

It is a 45 mile ride, which at this moment, sounds very daunting to me!!
Don't start too hard. My first ride was 13/14 miles and I almost died (OK maybe a bit OTT), but first time on a bike since 2006, even then it was just to and from school (which I can see from my house...). It kinda put me off.

Did a few smaller rides, 2.5, 1.5, 2.5, 5 miles and enjoyed them. Yes they are short, but its a start.

Keep at it...you'll get there smile.

Kell

1,708 posts

207 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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I would say that if you're planning on doing any sort of distance, then a road or road-focussed bike is a good place to start.

I was a mountain bike man through and through. Probably because I just the right age for them to be popular when they first came out (I'm now 43) and partly because I used to ride off-road and could never see the appeal of just pedalling away on boring old tarmac. So it took a lot of persuading for me to go and get a road bike recently. But the difference is like night and day - it's far easier to ride at speed. They do seem twitchy at first due to narrower bars and a shorter wheelbase, but if you're doing distance, then really it makes sense.

That said, I did do the London to Brighton on a rigid MTB with really fat knobbly tyres on in just under 4 hours. Also would like to add, I was still in my twenties then.

If you're planning to persevere with the old Specialised, then get some 'city' tyres (if you haven't already) and get them pumped right up. Also, if possible, lock the suspension out. Otherwise, a lot of the energy you're putting in to pedalling will be absorbed by the forks. Especially if you're out the saddle to pedal up any hills.

The other thing to do is to just do it. I commute, so if there's anyway to incorporate it into your daily routine, rather than having to make a special effort, then you're far more likely to stick to it. The downside of that, is that if you commute a lot, then you feel less like doing it for pleasure at weekends.




Porkupine

Original Poster:

1,709 posts

164 months

Monday 26th January 2015
quotequote all
Is the specialized hard rock a mountain bike? Sounds like a silly question (well it is silly) but I see it more of a professional type of bike than I had when I was younger, which was a true mountain bike!

I really have been giving the commuting some thought. My commute is 15 miles, and it takes me 1 hour by car due to traffic. If I get fitter and stronger on the bike, I will perhaps try to incorporate at least a part of the route by bike...this may or may not be possible, due to various issues to work around (where to park, does the bike fit in the car, where to shower).

I think I need to get out there in the next few days. Will report back on how I get on...


TheLemming

4,319 posts

264 months

Monday 26th January 2015
quotequote all
WinstonWolf said:
So start with 2.0 mile rides and work up to it. My first ride was a "two miler", I'm quite happy doing a hundred now if I've got the time smile

For a newbie I'd pick and choose the days you ride to start with, wait till the wind is low and it's not quite so cold.
Ditto - although not quite as accomplished as Mr Wolf wink

My first ride was a 2 mile "to the supermarket and back" and I stopped on the bench outside for a breather and a smoke. I was knackered! That was the 15th April 2013. 10,000 miles ago - 8000 of them in 2014.

Whatever you do, track it, gives you your own goals to catch up on and when motivation is lacking, being able to look back on strave and seeing that you're going twice as far and a lot faster than a month before helps a lot.

After a while it stopped being about using a bike to lose weight, but riding for its own sake. Finally found the sport I loved.

I don't smoke any more, clean for 12 months, I do more miles on the bike than the car. Gone from a 36" waist to a sub 28".
My first 100 mile and 200 mile rides last year, ridden to Amsterdam and Paris, raced (poorly) both on and off road and loving every minute of it.

So whatever you do, start small, do a little - don't worry about speed or distance, that comes later. Just ride smile

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Monday 26th January 2015
quotequote all
Porkupine said:
Is the specialized hard rock a mountain bike? Sounds like a silly question (well it is silly) but I see it more of a professional type of bike than I had when I was younger, which was a true mountain bike!

I really have been giving the commuting some thought. My commute is 15 miles, and it takes me 1 hour by car due to traffic. If I get fitter and stronger on the bike, I will perhaps try to incorporate at least a part of the route by bike...this may or may not be possible, due to various issues to work around (where to park, does the bike fit in the car, where to shower).

I think I need to get out there in the next few days. Will report back on how I get on...
My commute is about 14 miles, and I try to do it once a week by bike. Means I can pick and choose which day to do it (I avoid heavy rain and strong wind, too demoralising).
Takes me about 50-60 mins to ride there (big hill at the end) and about 45-55 mins to get home.

I recommend it as it is too easy to give up and go home early on a 'leisure' ride, whereas I have to get to work or get home, so just have to plough on even if knackered.

Take a change of clothes in a bag and leave it at work. Bring home to wash the day after you ride.

I started out on an old mountain bike (Orange P7 with Rockshox Mag SLs) and put some slick tyres on it which made a massive difference. Then "Upgraded" to a Specialized Tricross Sport (cross country racer, I was worried that my MTB-techniques for kerbs etc would break a proper road bike). Now considering a proper road racer bike, but it is probably just lust for a new machine rather than actually needed.

scubadude

2,618 posts

196 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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Well, whatever happens- Good luck.

Sounds like you might have lacked motivation? Perhaps you need some realistic targets to begin with, rather than jumping from nothing to sportives? Maybe 10miles in 45min to start with, easily achievable as a lap around most towns.

For me it was to ride up my local hill a one mile "cliff" to the view we always drive visitors up to see :-)
First attempt was a failure 1/4 way up, then I did it a few weeks later but I had to stop 5times! A year later I was riding it regularly and starting to pay attention to the time and where I could improve things. By last summer I knew to the inch where I could go to before sprinting to the top, now its just a case of training till I move that point down to the bottom. First effort was 15min+ and minutes behind the nearest on Strava, now 5min and confident I can lower it.

I the mean time I've gone from struggling to ride 20miles to doing 80-100miles without major problems.

It just takes time and motivation, difficult I know but there is no short-cut.

Kell

1,708 posts

207 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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And if you do fancy a road bike, Decathlon is a surprisingly good place to start (the Triban3 at £300 is always rated highly), though this has now just dropped in price and adds a carbon fork to the mix.



http://www.rutlandcycling.com/294813/products/mekk...


JustinF

6,795 posts

202 months

Monday 26th January 2015
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Good on you that you've come back to try again.

I smoked for 25 years and gave up the fags to recapture my youth. Aged 14 I was never off my bike, it was a precursor to the freedom getting a car gives you; life got in the way but it was always there in the back of my mind, how happy and carefree it made me.

I was so happy with the new bike until my first ride in years, 5 miles and I was fking shot, I was halfway to the next town and all I wanted to do was get off and crawl into a bush (sometimes I still feel that way but it usually takes a lot more miles wink ).

Did my first century 6 weeks later, joined a club (social not racing) and have never looked back, done various centuries, a double, planning a Belgian cycling holiday with my 13yr old and looking at doing LEJOG next year, and PBP in 5 years time, all of which makes me look back at that 5 mile ride (I ride past the bush I was going to crawl into regularly) and be thankful I kept on going.

Roger Irrelevant

2,898 posts

112 months

Tuesday 27th January 2015
quotequote all
Porkupine said:
I really have been giving the commuting some thought. My commute is 15 miles, and it takes me 1 hour by car due to traffic. If I get fitter and stronger on the bike, I will perhaps try to incorporate at least a part of the route by bike...this may or may not be possible, due to various issues to work around (where to park, does the bike fit in the car, where to shower).
This is a very good idea if the issues you mention can be sorted, and I'd be surprised if they couldn't. I used to be able to chuck my bike in a K11 Micra with the front seat forward so I'd be very surprised in you can't fit a bike in your car! The shower thing can be a pain so I'd just start off doing 3 or 4 miles and take it easy on the way in.

Making your commute your daily exercise is one of the best things you can do for your general well-being IMO, especially if a 15 mile commute is taking an hour - that sounds bloody awful! I live 25 miles from work and even though I'm in reasonable shape I can't be bothered doing that sort of distance every day, so I often just drive a bit then cycle the rest. After the first couple of times it just becomes routine; you do it on autopilot. I bet if you stick at it then within a year or two you could do your whole commute quicker on a bike than in the car.

MiloD

253 posts

201 months

Tuesday 27th January 2015
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I'm in a similar position, used to cycle everywhere, now 20 years a smoker and about 10 years with very little exercise. This is a remarkably motivational thread, keep the good stories coming!!
Just bought myself a road bike and having grown up on mountain bikes I can safely say the difference is incredible. 28 miles last weekend nearly killed me, but it was very hilly! Signed up to some Sportives later in the year and so need to keep pushing.
The difficulty I am finding is getting out on the bike during the week after work - it's dark, cold and often wet so I'm restricting myself to the weekends... time to man up I think.

What I can say, is that for the first time in many, many years (and quite a few inches round the waist) I have found a sport that I really enjoy! Onwards...

Roger Irrelevant

2,898 posts

112 months

Tuesday 27th January 2015
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MiloD said:
The difficulty I am finding is getting out on the bike during the week after work - it's dark, cold and often wet so I'm restricting myself to the weekends... time to man up I think.
...this is another reason why doing at least part of your commute by bike if you can is good - if I don't cycle 25 miles in the cold and dark tonight then I don't get home, simple as that! Though really, decent lights are so cheap now, as is good warm/wicking cycle clothing, that it needn't be a chore. I actually really like the long ride home at night, but I accept that not everyone will be fortunate enough to have the quiet, mostly rural commute that I do.