Does it get easier
- Thread starter wolf37
- Start date
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ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
Keep at it @wolf37! A 20 mile round trip is a decent length commute, so I'd expect to find it challenging after a year out of the saddle. Take the odd day off if you're feeling really tired, it will get easier as you clock up the miles.
If your back/neck is sore, you could try raising the handlebars a bit (this is quite easy, you can google how to do it) to see if this helps - they can always go back down as you get used to riding again.
Good luck!
If your back/neck is sore, you could try raising the handlebars a bit (this is quite easy, you can google how to do it) to see if this helps - they can always go back down as you get used to riding again.
Good luck!
- Location
- Manchester
That's going from nothing to 100 miles a week!
It wasn't going to be easy to start with.
Yes, it will, but you could be better off building up to it. Can you do every other day for a while?
jefmcg
Guru
I found when I started a 12 mile commute, I bonked going home on day 3. So give yourself a day off a week for the first couple of weeks - or even take every second day off, and you'll soon be fit enough to do it every day without pain.
Doobiesis
Über Member
- Location
- Poole Dorset
Well done, you'll get quicker, fitter and less pain within a few weeks I'd of thought. In my experience cycling is rarely pain free 
Yes it does. Although my brother once said to me that he'd didn't feel any different, still out of breath even though his time had improved by 10 mins. Turned out he was going hell for leather every day, so although his fitness had improved he was still working as hard as he could and knackering himself out. I told him to do it in his old time and he was like "wow I feel loads better". Push yourself some days and take it easy other days. I tend to push myself a bit on the way to work and take it easy on the way home.
jefmcg
Guru
Well, you'd hope the commute gets easier; you don't want to be in pain every day.
KneesUp
Guru
I was pondering this earlier, and concluded that I just need to ride more. My commute is a bit easier, but due to a combination of @buggi's explanation and me not having much time to do a lot of other riding (well, not as much time as I have excuses, anyway) it's not loads easier.
The way I thought about it was this - really unhealthy people probably get off the sofa and go upstairs at least a few times a day, but it's still hard work because just doing something 'hard' for a short while only gets you just fit enough to do that, and no fitter. If that unhealthy person went for a jog of a few miles twice a day, getting up the stairs would be loads easier.
And thus is it with cycling, I concluded. If I want my commute to feel significantly easier I need to do more than just ride the commute. (That said, the first time I did it my OH considered calling an ambulance when I collapsed in a wheezy heap in the garden - it had been 15 years since I'd ridden a bike. She tends not to do that any more!)
The way I thought about it was this - really unhealthy people probably get off the sofa and go upstairs at least a few times a day, but it's still hard work because just doing something 'hard' for a short while only gets you just fit enough to do that, and no fitter. If that unhealthy person went for a jog of a few miles twice a day, getting up the stairs would be loads easier.
And thus is it with cycling, I concluded. If I want my commute to feel significantly easier I need to do more than just ride the commute. (That said, the first time I did it my OH considered calling an ambulance when I collapsed in a wheezy heap in the garden - it had been 15 years since I'd ridden a bike. She tends not to do that any more!)
xxDarkRiderxx
Veteran
- Location
- London, UK
The body needs to rest as well as be active. Ensure that you have a few rest days so that you can recover. I don't think it get's any easier it is just perception and state on mind.
Pretty much... Yea. My brother was only commuting. When I told him to drop back to his old time that's when he realised how much fitter he'd got.
Hip Priest
Veteran
Yes, it does get easier. "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster" was coined by Greg LeMond, and whilst it is relevant to racing, it isn't necessarily relevant to other forms of cycling.
Good luck and keep at it.
Good luck and keep at it.
I had a break of about 5/6 years and returned to cycling with a 20 mile road ride on a mountain bike.
Very nearly called it a day again, but I persevered, got a more suitable bike and gradually built up the distance/riding time. Now I occasionally get soreness, but usually only if its a hilly ride, or if I've been on the bike for over 3hrs. The 'easier' bit depends on how far you want to push yourself.
Very nearly called it a day again, but I persevered, got a more suitable bike and gradually built up the distance/riding time. Now I occasionally get soreness, but usually only if its a hilly ride, or if I've been on the bike for over 3hrs. The 'easier' bit depends on how far you want to push yourself.
