Helloooo all!

[spyda665]

Hey hey all ...

So, Have a few questions, Nothing major, But let me start with my little goal!

Mt brother recently moved to Stanley, And I'm in Gateshead, Teams ... My goal is to be able to bike it across to his occasionally, maybe once a week but one thing stops me .. Hills! ... Hills! ... Everywhere i look its great big scary looking hills! I know to most of you, you've probably ridden up hills that would cause me to faint from looking at them but the Question is ...

With all these hills, The very moment i leave the back door I'm climbing a hill (Well strictly not true, I do have roughly 1 minute of very slight incline before i hit anything that requires 3rd gear or lower) ... But Within a few minutes I'm already pretty achy in my thighs, and somewhat panting, which is kind of draining me pretty fast, leading to me not being able to do a great deal more ...

Along the back from where i live, is one AWESOME bike trail, There's a few places where i need to come off, hit a small section of (HILL) on a road, followed by another (HILL) grassy park area, then a massive (HILL) road climb, followed by a very steep (HILL) bridge leading over the motorway, to the second part of the bike track that is a very steep (HILL), that gets me to the very long track connecting Gateshead to Consett ... I Want to get to that track ... but I tried it two days ago, but the time i got ove the bridge and maybe halfway up the very steep hill, I was so knackered I just turned around and came home.

Ok yes, the question .... Sheesh, I do go on ... Alright ... How do i condition myself at such an early stage of riding where I'm not going to completely wear myself out in the first few minutes due to the instant hill climbing?

As a note, I've been using a site ((http://www.walkjogrun.net/)) for logging distances and all, And another ((http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/JourneyPlanning/FindCycleInput.aspx)) Which creates the back and bike routes, but they don't give a great deal of information involving gradients. If anyone knows of a better one would appreciate a link...

Thanks all!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

RWGPS for mapping shows grades elevation ect
As for the hills, just keep doing them, depending on the you bike it maybe possible to lower the gearing a little.
Don't worry if you have to stop, or even walk a while, the next time you will go further.
MYCYLINGLOG for logging rides, but it is purely a manual entry site, or if you have a gps enabled phone you can record your rides and upload the to the like of strava, endomondo rwgps and a few more.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Hills hills hills
No worries, you will manage with time. Maybe try to approach the problem bits already on the small cog in front, spin slowly as far as you can manage?
Today I rode a quite steep hill on my single speed weighting a whopping 3 stone.
Last year I could not manage that same hill on my 18 speed.
Takes time!
btw!

 

[helston90]

The good news is you've done the hard part- gettin on the bike in the first place, the bad news is the only way you'll move away from the pain is to keep on hitting those hills, build fitness, work on technique etc.
and remember- it never gets easier, you just go faster!

 

[AndyRM]

If you've just started out it's not going to be easy, but with regular riding you'll get used to (and embrace) the suffering.

I had a quick look on Google Maps and it looks like you could use part of the Coast to Coast route. I've never ridden it, but it may be less hilly than other options?

Good to have another Toon-ish based member on the forum.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

The good news is you've done the hard part- gettin on the bike in the first place, the bad news is the only way you'll move away from the pain is to keep on hitting those hills, build fitness, work on technique etc.
and remember- it never gets easier, you just go faster!

Yes it does.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Yes it does.

Have to agree, there. If you practise properly, it gets easier and you go faster .

 

[helston90]

Have to agree, there. If you practise properly, it gets easier and you go faster .

If you put in 100% effort as a newbie you get w distance at x mph, if you then get better you put in 100% effort and you cover y distance at z mph- both those numbers are (hopefully) larger, but the effort gone in remains the same, so it becomes no easier, anything else and you're just not trying.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

If you put in 100% effort as a newbie you get w distance at x mph, if you then get better you put in 100% effort and you cover y distance at z mph- both those numbers are (hopefully) larger, but the effort gone in remains the same, so it becomes no easier, anything else and you're just not trying.

I guess I'm "just not trying", then, because for me it has become easier and I've become faster.

 

[Nomadski]

Hey hey all ...

So, Have a few questions, Nothing major, But let me start with my little goal!

Mt brother recently moved to Stanley, And I'm in Gateshead, Teams ... My goal is to be able to bike it across to his occasionally, maybe once a week but one thing stops me .. Hills! ... Hills! ... Everywhere i look its great big scary looking hills! I know to most of you, you've probably ridden up hills that would cause me to faint from looking at them but the Question is ...

With all these hills, The very moment i leave the back door I'm climbing a hill (Well strictly not true, I do have roughly 1 minute of very slight incline before i hit anything that requires 3rd gear or lower) ... But Within a few minutes I'm already pretty achy in my thighs, and somewhat panting, which is kind of draining me pretty fast, leading to me not being able to do a great deal more ...

Along the back from where i live, is one AWESOME bike trail, There's a few places where i need to come off, hit a small section of (HILL) on a road, followed by another (HILL) grassy park area, then a massive (HILL) road climb, followed by a very steep (HILL) bridge leading over the motorway, to the second part of the bike track that is a very steep (HILL), that gets me to the very long track connecting Gateshead to Consett ... I Want to get to that track ... but I tried it two days ago, but the time i got ove the bridge and maybe halfway up the very steep hill, I was so knackered I just turned around and came home.

Ok yes, the question .... Sheesh, I do go on ... Alright ... How do i condition myself at such an early stage of riding where I'm not going to completely wear myself out in the first few minutes due to the instant hill climbing?

As a note, I've been using a site ((http://www.walkjogrun.net/)) for logging distances and all, And another ((http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/JourneyPlanning/FindCycleInput.aspx)) Which creates the back and bike routes, but they don't give a great deal of information involving gradients. If anyone knows of a better one would appreciate a link...

Thanks all!

"Riding a hill well is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman" Swiss Tony.

Learn to love the hills. How? Ride them, keep riding them, and ride them some more.

And track your ride properly, keep tabs of how long it took you and a few months down the line have a look back and giggle.

 

[Misusawa]

The cycle route up to stanley is quite pretty! But if your getting tired within minutes of leaving your house, i would suggest that you are probably cycling in the wrong gear and finding the hills a bit tough because of that or you maybee just need to practice grinding the hills a bit before you go for a longer ride... Stanley itself is impressively hilly.

It sounds to me like you are living near the top end of Gateshead?
If so and its the track from the motorway past birtley way down that hill, you might want to consider cycling along the road past portabello a mile or so, at the end of that you will meet the sunderland - consett cyclepath which has a very gradual incline all of the way to stanley.

 

[spyda665]

Hey hey, So first off, thanks for all the replies!!
So, I live in the flats in teams, Just near the A184, There's a small park area and football fields here, its relatively flat, slight incline, but getting anywhere farther than the immediate area is hills. I've started going out everyday, only for 30 minutes to 1 hour, Have to admit, I'm pretty Agoraphobic, so being outside anyway is a big deal in itself, (NE8 2TX) is my postcode if you see on Google earth there's a bike track nearby, Just south west. I've been riding around the park area because there's a long hill which i can manage fairly easily, but then hits the bike track, which i just cycle back and forth a few times, That i think is a good mix of up and down and flat, So I'm guessing thats helping me get use to the gear changes, and having to push hard to get up the hills then relaxing as i go down the other side ... I have to admit, in only a week i have noticed a pretty big change, First day I was almost dead on my feet hitting that hill, two days ago I purposely circled the area so i could ride up it three times, Had to give it a break yesterday tho because my butt was killin' me lol. Today, I just did it the once ... I'm only averaging between 3-4 miles in about 20-30 minutes, Depending on which ways i go but as it is so many hill climbs I'm looking at it as a "That's not too bad for someone that's not had any regular exercise in a good 15 years" ...

Misusawa .. Would love to be able to just get up that area, If you see Rochester Gardens road, That was what killed me, Lol .. Manged to get up there, but then the bridge is a hefty climb too, then once i got to the other end to try and connect to the rest of the bike route, I was just drained of all life (And I've not attempted it since - SKEERS ME!) But If thats the path you mean, That runs from Gateshead all the way to Stanley, And that's the one I'd like to start doing regular, Think its just under 10 miles and would take me a while to get use to it, but with my brother living over that way I'd at least get a good rest at the end!

Nigelnaturist ... Thanks for the links, I'll give them a good looking over!


Helston90 ... If you have a route that's off the roads, I wouldn't mind giving it a look, Might be a bit of a while before I could manage it it, but It couldn't hurt to try it out!

 

[Misusawa]

From where yo are, i would reccomend that you do a circuit going over the swing bridge, down to scotswood bridge and back along past the metro centre, 6 miles fairly flat, a few slight inclines. That should help you build up distance and stamina before you need to attempt to go to stanley.

 

[spyda665]

I think .... If i tried that circuit ... I'd have a coronary ... I also don't know the area well enough to find back routes ... I'll give it a look on google tho, See if i can find anything

 

[Misusawa]

I think .... If i tried that circuit ... I'd have a coronary ... I also don't know the area well enough to find back routes ... I'll give it a look on google tho, See if i can find anything

Ha ha, thats understandable if you don't know the area!
I know it like th back of my hand so i forget other people don't.
How about try staying on your side of the river and just riding the flat ground to the metrocentre and back a couple of times to build up

If you pop into your local library or council office or tourist information you can get free cycle route maps, theres one for north tyneside, one for south tyneside, one for newcastle, one for gateshead and i have a south norhumberland one too... You can get them free and they contain alll the cycle routes