New to the road, how to get fit?
- Thread starter BigChick
- Start date
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Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
BigChick has not returned.
Maybe she isnt a net addict like us, or maybe we frightened her of, if the latter, its a shame!
Maybe she isnt a net addict like us, or maybe we frightened her of, if the latter, its a shame!
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
She may not have posted, but if you check her profile you'll see that she visited CycleChat early this morning.
Come back BigChick - we miss you already!
Ravenbait
Someone's imaginary friend
- Location
- The Seventh Level of Hell
40 miles? You'll be fine. It's just 10 miles another three times. Take it at your own pace and enjoy it.
I'd also dispute the being too big for a roadbike statement. I find that impossible to believe. I know some very large people who have ridden roadbikes (tourers, mainly, because that was the sort of riding they did) with no problem at all.
Sam
I'd also dispute the being too big for a roadbike statement. I find that impossible to believe. I know some very large people who have ridden roadbikes (tourers, mainly, because that was the sort of riding they did) with no problem at all.
Sam
totallyfixed
Veteran
- Location
- The only county without a McDonalds
HI all
I am new to the forum and have just posted a short intro. I took up biking in June 2010 with a MTB and have already since upgraded my bike. To be honest, whilst i am currently riding on the roads, I am far too big for a road bike so the roadies will have to deal with a MTB in their presence
Anyhow, when i first got my bike in June, i was unable to cycle to the end of my street which is a mere 500m. I can now comfortably do 15 kms and 10 kms off road. I could probably do more if i just stuck to my spinning schedule!
My other half, who is also just starting out, has entered us into our first ever road race next month. Much to my horror, the shortest distance they have is 65km. I just do not know how i am going to cycle 65km.
Firstly, we are both really big and the reason we took up cycling was to lose weight. We have both been spinning about 1x per week since October, but from today the spinning will be 4x per week, Tues - Fri every week with a ride on the weekend.
Is there any way possible to get fit enough for 65km on the 13th Feb? Or should i aim for half this distance and call it quits at the half way water point?
Anyone been in this boat?
Come on Admin, lighten up, ok the T word maybe was a bit strong, but as an adult on a grown up forum you have to have a sense of humour and take the rough with the smooth.
I suspect there are not that many on here who have actually raced, and if it is a race that Big C is talking about, come on, whoever is running the race would never let her enter for her own safety. "Been spinning once per week since October" is not going to cut the mustard in a road race, not even if you were already generally fit.
So, if this is not a wind up will Big Chick please reply and give us more information, because if it is true I have never heard anything like this before.
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
Instead of telling Admin how to run CycleChat why not take on board what he and others are saying about your approach?
Rhythm Thief
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ross on Wye
Indeed. And try to bear in mind that this is someone who's new to cycling and may not be as familiar with the terminology as you lot are. Not everyone who says the words "bike" and "race" means a Cat One event.
mgarl10024
Über Member
- Location
- Bristol
This is the key thing for me.
I do a 6-7 mile commute on my own, and I normally 'go for it' quite a bit - huffing and puffing and working up a sweat. If I wanted to do 40 miles at that rate, I'd probably struggle.
My girlfriend however is a weekend cyclist and so goes much slower. She worries that I'll get frustrated at being made to go slower, however I try to explain that it's actually quite nice and that her regulating my speed enables me to cycle for much longer. 40 miles then becomes a lot easier.
Perhaps do the spinning every other night - giving your body a rest day in between?
Best of luck!
Like I said on page 1 of this thread, many novices consider any event where there are a lot of riders going off at once a 'race'. For example the Liverpool Chester Liverpool ride, lots of novices attend that and you can overhear the chat in the crowd and almost every person (apart from the more seasoned riders) is convinced it's a race. So much so that the guy with the microphone has to keep reminding people.
It's just novice terminology, stop trying to pretend otherwise and remember what it was like when you first starting riding a bike regularly enough to be called an enthusiast.
It's just novice terminology, stop trying to pretend otherwise and remember what it was like when you first starting riding a bike regularly enough to be called an enthusiast.
Hop3y
Padiham Commuter
- Location
- Padiham, Burnley
+1Hi Bigchick!
In May this year me and some colleagues, well, people who work for the same company but who I didn't know, did a charity bike ride from Carlisle to Norwich (Carlisle played Norwich on the last game of the season) in aid of The Benjamin Foundation. We were a disparate bunch, I was the oldest apart from a rock steady Norfolk gentleman who dealt in agricultural equipment. I ended rooming with him and he was a thoroughly bloody decent bloke. I'm not exactly svelte, 13 stone and 6 foot, but Rob my roomie was at least fifteen stone and of generous proportions. We set off from Carlisle and broke the Pennines the first day, had a pint in the highest pub in Britain after shooing the lambs out, then trundled through a stunningly beautiful Yorkshie (the daffodils were still out! In May!) Rob was on a MTB, nothing special, a Trek I think, and he was, as I said, rock steady. Never complained, always cheerful, the miles just churned away beneath his wheels. He had greater stamina than me.
Anyway we finished the ride but my knee hurt like hell the last day- Kings Lynn to Norwich- and I found the only way I could turn the pedals was to drag them round with my good leg! There was a cold rain blowing sideways, I very nearly gave up. After a quick shower at the football ground we took our places in the terraces, I was the last to arrive and gingerly climbed the steps to my seat, dragging my dead leg behind me. Rob jogged down the stairs and held out an arm to support me. To jeers and claps from the other riders and supporters he helped me to my seat.
Rob is 69 years old. He's doing London to Paris this year.
You go girl, you can do it, get a rhythm going, get an earworm in your head where the tempo of the song you're silently singing matches your cadence and you'll be fine.
Good luck!
In May this year me and some colleagues, well, people who work for the same company but who I didn't know, did a charity bike ride from Carlisle to Norwich (Carlisle played Norwich on the last game of the season) in aid of The Benjamin Foundation. We were a disparate bunch, I was the oldest apart from a rock steady Norfolk gentleman who dealt in agricultural equipment. I ended rooming with him and he was a thoroughly bloody decent bloke. I'm not exactly svelte, 13 stone and 6 foot, but Rob my roomie was at least fifteen stone and of generous proportions. We set off from Carlisle and broke the Pennines the first day, had a pint in the highest pub in Britain after shooing the lambs out, then trundled through a stunningly beautiful Yorkshie (the daffodils were still out! In May!) Rob was on a MTB, nothing special, a Trek I think, and he was, as I said, rock steady. Never complained, always cheerful, the miles just churned away beneath his wheels. He had greater stamina than me.
Anyway we finished the ride but my knee hurt like hell the last day- Kings Lynn to Norwich- and I found the only way I could turn the pedals was to drag them round with my good leg! There was a cold rain blowing sideways, I very nearly gave up. After a quick shower at the football ground we took our places in the terraces, I was the last to arrive and gingerly climbed the steps to my seat, dragging my dead leg behind me. Rob jogged down the stairs and held out an arm to support me. To jeers and claps from the other riders and supporters he helped me to my seat.
Rob is 69 years old. He's doing London to Paris this year.
You go girl, you can do it, get a rhythm going, get an earworm in your head where the tempo of the song you're silently singing matches your cadence and you'll be fine.
Good luck!
Scilly Suffolk
Über Member
I like your style! However, I think you are at a real risk of over-training.
Whatever your goals and however you choose to reach them you should remember that a training program comprises of three elements, each as important as the other:
- exercise: this provides the stimulus to change your body.
- diet/nutrition: this provides the fuel to make those changes.
- rest: this provides your body with the opportunity to use the fuel to make those changes.
It is the last of those three that is most often overlooked, but without adequate rest a large part of the other two is wasted.
Some might point to bodybuilders who train four or five times a week, but they will be following programs that target different parts of their bodies on different days. I'm not entirely sure what spinning involves, but doing the same thing on four consecutive days is a fast way to injury and is simply not effective.
Bearing in mind what you've told us of your medical history and your current level of fitness, I sincerely recommend the services of a qualified Personal Trainer, ideally specialised in weight management.
Best regards.
Whatever your goals and however you choose to reach them you should remember that a training program comprises of three elements, each as important as the other:
- exercise: this provides the stimulus to change your body.
- diet/nutrition: this provides the fuel to make those changes.
- rest: this provides your body with the opportunity to use the fuel to make those changes.
It is the last of those three that is most often overlooked, but without adequate rest a large part of the other two is wasted.
Some might point to bodybuilders who train four or five times a week, but they will be following programs that target different parts of their bodies on different days. I'm not entirely sure what spinning involves, but doing the same thing on four consecutive days is a fast way to injury and is simply not effective.
Bearing in mind what you've told us of your medical history and your current level of fitness, I sincerely recommend the services of a qualified Personal Trainer, ideally specialised in weight management.
Best regards.
ian turner
Guru
- Location
- Leicestershire
Probably the most sensible response so far given most of the others are ignoring the consideration that this will be the equivalent of going from 10 to 40 miles in mid August with temperatures in the high 20s (Or more as the current temperature is 28 !!!)
