Advice

[Old Plodder]

.....& 'listen to your body', if it says you've had enough, then you have.
You should always get back home thinking you could have gone a bit further.

 

[jonni]

Sorry for the late reply as I didn't get any notifications for some reason.
Anyway, thanks for all the welcomes, the beer joke and all the very useful advice.

I called at the bike shop where I got the bike from today on the way back from a ride out. The guy was very helpful and did some adjustments for me like the breaks and gears. He also put air in the tyres as they were at 40psi. That will explain a lot of why I have been struggling. So thanks for the heads up with the tyres. I just went off what felt right when I press my finger against the tyre.

 

[MikeW-71]

Ah, yes.. 40psi won't help

 

[SWSteve]

Keep riding. make small increases to start with, keep a track of it (if you want) and you'll soon see improvements :-)

 

[User16625]

Build up slowly. Stay with the 5 mile route until it feels straightforward, then add a few miles, then a few more...... Don't worry about speed, just ride

Eat sensibly, cut down on booze and junk food (if needed) and you will find improvements.

SOD THAT!

 

[Mr_K_Dilkington]

This is the best advice you've received.

You complain about having sore legs after 5 miles, which says to me that you are trying to cycle using strength, rather than endurance. You should be sitting down the whole time, and spinning smaller gears. No one push of the pedals should be hard work. You have the choice of low revolutions/ high load against high revolutions/ low load. Millions of cyclists make the mistake of going for the low revs/ high load option, and then can't do any great distance, or climb hills.

Think of it this way: look at 100m sprinters' physiques. They are huge, muscly creatures with over-developed thighs. Have you ever seen one of them try to run more than 400 metres? It isn't pretty..... Then look at Mo Farrah. How far behind would he be in a race over 100m with the proper sprinters? Miles... Yet how far ahead would he be in a race over a mile? Cycling is a long-distance event (with the odd exception of some indoor track events). You simply cannot get enough oxygen to big thighs to keep them doing all the power work for, say, a 50 mile ride. You need to think of yourself as Mo Farrah on a bike, not Linford Christie. Mo's legs look like they'd break if he got into too high a gear and tried to push with all his strength, so what would he have to do to be a good cyclist? He'd have to spin those pedals at high revs/ low load, and use his endurance.

Mike

I love this fact about cycling. It's one of the few sports where only being a skinny bastard (I'm 6'2" and about 12 stone) is a positive advantage. Having a body like Chris Froome doesn't exactly make girls go weak at the knees, but it certainly helps riding long distance and climbing hills