Building speed... Does it come naturally?

[vickster]

Perhaps it really was a case of "ask a silly question" here - I suppose what it boils down to is - getting out on it whenever I can and the rest will come

Ride more, eat less (and especially drink less booze and sugary crap) You won't lose that much weight by cycling alone I'm afraid if you don't consume fewer calories than you expend through daily existence and exercise

 

[dee.jay]

Diet wasn't my concern - I don't drink much and eat sensibly - mainly low carbs.

 

[vickster]

18 stone is quite a big weight for someone who is 5'6 on that basis? Are you receiving medical treatment that has caused weight gain (steroids, thyroid treatment)? Gives you a BMI of over 40

IME it's about calories, wherever they come from, not carbs (need to have more calories going out than coming in, preferably from a balanced diet)

 

[jefmcg]

I'd add "get strava" to the list, if you have a smart phone. It's addictive from the second time you go out. There's user created segments everywhere, and each time you ride one, it compares your speed to all your previous rides, and it will tell you if it's the one of the 3 fastest times you have ridden it. So the second time you ride the same route, you'll get "cups". If you are slower than before it will be a second place, otherwise you get a personal record. Lots of people find it incentive to push a little every ride.

(it also compares you to every other strava user who has ridden that route. Try to ignore that for now, it's very depressing at first)

 

[dee.jay]

Yep I have Strava. It's awesome.

@vickster - Nothing medical - 30 years of being lazy. I work in IT. My weight was 21 stone but I've reduced intake to get it to where it is, honestly diet is in hand

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Heard a quote recently 'cycling doesn't get easier you just get faster'

I average around 14mph (on rides of 20-50 miles) which is slow by decent rider standards but I am the wrong side of 45 years old and only started cycling again last January so I'm reasonably happy with that.

Wrong, it gets easier, and you get faster to a point, then has been mentioned you really have to work at it, I manage 15.5-16.5 on most rides, and I am 50.

 

[Elybazza61]

Heard a quote recently 'cycling doesn't get easier you just get faster'

I average around 14mph (on rides of 20-50 miles) which is slow by decent rider standards but I am the wrong side of 45 years old and only started cycling again last January so I'm reasonably happy with that.

That was Greg LeMond,he could cycle a bit;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_LeMond

As for getting quicker well I only started this lark again about this time last year;then I could barely crawl around a 10 mile circuit now I can do 40-80 mile rides(and one 100 so far) and can usually keep an average of 18mph sometimes more on a club run which is not bad for a 53 year old.
Oh and it will get harder at some point and there will be times when you'll seem like you're riding into a brick wall but as someone on a club ride said after a climb at the end of a ride "it's character building"

Just stick at it

Oh and Strava is very,very,very addictive especially if there is other bods you know on there

 

[cyberknight]

Wrong, it gets easier, and you get faster to a point, then has been mentioned you really have to work at it, I manage 15.5-16.5 on most rides, and I am 50.

The ride leader of the slow mercia club run just turned 70 , and one the leaders of the medium run is mid 60s and apart from hills he can still turn a fair lick .

 

[Nigelnaturist]

The ride leader of the slow mercia club run just turned 70 , and one the leaders of the medium run is mid 60s and apart from hills he can still turn a fair lick .

I ride a Viking, though its noting like it was when I got it, its just the weight that really lets it down now, and as I don't have n+1 it has mudguards on all the time and a rack a good chunk of time too, but I managing about 16mph on a 38-40ft/mile ride, well thats what pretty much what I did tonight 15.8mph over 19.16 miles and 39ft/mile not bad to say I have had two weeks off one of them in bed, I have managed 17+mph on rides but these are pretty flat, to be honest I was quite pleased as I didn't do much in Aug either, just need to get out a bit and get my HR down abit now.

 

[bpsmith]

Going fast and burning fat/losing weight doesn't go hand in hand. Studies show that riding at a lower effort and for longer periods burns fat for fuel. Doing faster but shorter rides burns sugar.

Apparently, you can't do both at any one time.

 

[dee.jay]

That's fine by me - surely by losing weight then it'll be easier to go quicker.

So the key to getting quicker is to stay going slow.... I think

 

[Archie_tect]

For me, it's not so much the average speed increasing but my stamina improving to get up the hills easier. When I started on my son's old mountain bike I had to grind every slope in the lowest possible gear + stop at the top of the two hills on a 6 mile ride. Then I got my 33 year old 10 speed Dawes racing bike back on the road, even on the lower 42 chainring and a 12-32 freewheel things were easier. Then I bought jayonabike's Specialized Secteur Comp and it's easier again.

Now with the tandem and Mrs A_T on the back we can fly up the 2 hills on the middle chainring. We do 25, 27 and 32 mile rides without getting tired or sore knees.

Breathing patterns work for me: 2 pedal turns breathing in, two breathing out and keep going.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Going fast and burning fat/losing weight doesn't go hand in hand. Studies show that riding at a lower effort and for longer periods burns fat for fuel. Doing faster but shorter rides burns sugar.

Apparently, you can't do both at any one time.

Its more about keeping the H.R. down than going slow, as you become fitter you can maintain a higher speed at a lower HR, losing weight helps with this as you don't need to work as hard, so whilst you will always lose more fat at a lower HR it doesn't mean you can't go faster as you increase in fitness and still lose fat at the same rate.

 

[Leodis]

Spin to win!!

 

[bpsmith]

Its more about keeping the H.R. down than going slow, as you become fitter you can maintain a higher speed at a lower HR, losing weight helps with this as you don't need to work as hard, so whilst you will always lose more fat at a lower HR it doesn't mean you can't go faster as you increase in fitness and still lose fat at the same rate.

That's what I meant by riding at a lower effort. Didn't explain well I guess. Totally agree on the rising faster as you get fitter whilst HR remaining lower.