Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
Used to run distance, now I need B.A.P., or Beagle Assisted Propulsion.
Not even got on the bike yet and....
- Thread starter ScotiaLass
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
.
OP
OP
ScotiaLass
Guru
- Location
- Middle Earth
Thanks all. I do feel better about starting off now.
I've had various appointments all week so have not had time to change my tyres (I'm very tired by 2 or 3 pm and am at my best in the mornings) so once I've done that I hope to get out for my first cycle, maybe Saturday morning.
I will report back!
I've had various appointments all week so have not had time to change my tyres (I'm very tired by 2 or 3 pm and am at my best in the mornings) so once I've done that I hope to get out for my first cycle, maybe Saturday morning.
I will report back!
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It would probably be a good idea to do circular routes with the start/finish point at the centre of the circle. That way, you can easily cut a ride short if you have to.
Good luck with it! I hated spending 8 months off my bike due to illness, and it has taken a long time to start building my strength back up.
Good luck with it! I hated spending 8 months off my bike due to illness, and it has taken a long time to start building my strength back up.
Bryony
Veteran
- Location
- Ramsgate, Kent
With my heart prob I find cycling far more easier than walking I get out if breath so easily just walking to town and back and also being over weight puts more stress on my legs when walking but as I'm sitting on the bike my legs aren't taking all my weight.
Don't stress too much you'll get there! Good luck!
Don't stress too much you'll get there! Good luck!
This is good advice! Get out there. I have arthritis, knees from decades of football, hips from dislocating them in a car accident. 12 years ago, I'd go for walk and "lock up", I'd be stuck, unable to move and in pain. It was doctor who suggest cycling to me, now, I have cycled across France, across Spain and all over the UK. I coach a football team and play 5 a-side weekly. Getting on bike was the best thing I could have done, even though I am very fit, if I walk for a couple of hours, I hurt, but cycling? I can cycle all day!
Puddles
Do I need to get the spray plaster out?
- Location
- Hamble, Southampton
I have no conditions, apart from Motherhood to infringe on my cycling I don't take much notice of what miles or speeds people are doing, I take more notice of enjoying it. I do a whole 2 miles a day on most days! At a speed slightly faster than walking, sometimes if I go to the farm shop or supermarket I might manage 5-7 miles. I have no idea what I manage when I go to the country park or duck pond with small people as there is a lot of back and forth - ice-cream, tea and needing a wee goes on.
Sometimes my 1 mile return from pre-school takes forever because I meet people and you stop and chat and say hello and answer weird questions and I ride at a pace where smiling & waving and saying good morning happens...
Cycle to the end of the road and back - cycle to the end of your driveway and back.
If you make it a big monster of a chore in your mind it will become a big monster of a chore with fangy vampire teeth that will suck all the fun out of it.
Sometimes my 1 mile return from pre-school takes forever because I meet people and you stop and chat and say hello and answer weird questions and I ride at a pace where smiling & waving and saying good morning happens...
Cycle to the end of the road and back - cycle to the end of your driveway and back.
If you make it a big monster of a chore in your mind it will become a big monster of a chore with fangy vampire teeth that will suck all the fun out of it.
For me walking would produce more pain than cycling. Cycling is low impact and if you choose your route you can let your bike do the work. You can freewheel if you need a break.
You'll love it once you get back out, just take it slow and build up your confidence.
You'll love it once you get back out, just take it slow and build up your confidence.
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
@ScotiaLass
I do feel for you as you are clearly very determined and keen.
Sadly though I have some opposite views to what has gone before in this thread. I do a lot of walking both in the local countryside around me and a lot of mountain hiking/scrambling and to be totally honest I find cycling a lot harder work than walking locally but easier than my long mountain days.
Your comment along the lines of 1 hours walking at a slow pace leaving you 'wiped out' is a bit of a concern. That is no real time at all to be walking esp' at low speed and if you are really that blitzed at the end of it are you sure you ought to even try cycling at this stage? I'm not so sure anyone who is that 'unfit' (I am not being derogatory trust me) should go anywhere near a bike.
What does your doctor think?
Sorry to be a downer on this but I worry you may well cause more problems by undertaking what is a fairly rigorous past-time.
I do feel for you as you are clearly very determined and keen.
Sadly though I have some opposite views to what has gone before in this thread. I do a lot of walking both in the local countryside around me and a lot of mountain hiking/scrambling and to be totally honest I find cycling a lot harder work than walking locally but easier than my long mountain days.
Your comment along the lines of 1 hours walking at a slow pace leaving you 'wiped out' is a bit of a concern. That is no real time at all to be walking esp' at low speed and if you are really that blitzed at the end of it are you sure you ought to even try cycling at this stage? I'm not so sure anyone who is that 'unfit' (I am not being derogatory trust me) should go anywhere near a bike.
What does your doctor think?
Sorry to be a downer on this but I worry you may well cause more problems by undertaking what is a fairly rigorous past-time.
OP
OP
ScotiaLass
Guru
- Location
- Middle Earth
Because of my condition (the FM) I can be wiped out doing nothing! I feel if I just sit and do nothing because it will tire me, then I will put on even more weight.
Before this horrid condition struck me, I was a size 12/14 and cycled 30-40 miles per week, with some of it being MTB.
You can maybe understand why I want to do this.
I don't want to be confined to crutches, or worse, a wheelchair and yes, I'm determined.
My condition isn't going to get better, although I'm luckier than some, as it won't kill me!
I'm not going to sit down to this. I'm going to give it a go....only I know how I'll feel and if it's too much, well I'll think of another way!
My GP is all for me exercising; cycling, swimming etc. My pain nurse has started me on a new drug for the fatigue and I have painkillers
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
Because of my condition (the FM) I can be wiped out doing nothing! I feel if I just sit and do nothing because it will tire me, then I will put on even more weight.
Before this horrid condition struck me, I was a size 12/14 and cycled 30-40 miles per week, with some of it being MTB.
You can maybe understand why I want to do this.
I don't want to be confined to crutches, or worse, a wheelchair and yes, I'm determined.
My condition isn't going to get better, although I'm luckier than some, as it won't kill me!
I'm not going to sit down to this. I'm going to give it a go....only I know how I'll feel and if it's too much, well I'll think of another way!
My GP is all for me exercising; cycling, swimming etc. My pain nurse has started me on a new drug for the fatigue and I have painkillers
Good luck to you as well you sound like a fighter!
Maybe think of it like this - walking you are just moving your body weight and cycling you are moving body weight + bike weight. Which will tire you least?
If the lower impact of cycling on your knees etc is not a concern then maybe walking will be better for you than cycling and hopefully if you get fitter and get some weight off then you will be fit to cycle?
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
I might suggest swimming, if not cycling, but cannot say enough what cycling has done for me. I tried to take up running again, but just encountered injuries. Walking is fine if weight and impact are not a concern, but in my case, (I have the gout) although I have lost a good deal of weight and kept it off, the impact of walking is a problem, the stresses involved in cycling are not.
Scotia Lass, it sounds like you truly love cycling, you have a background in cycling, so I would think cycling would be a preferred method of exercise for you. Keep up the good work, and enjoy the ride.
Scotia Lass, it sounds like you truly love cycling, you have a background in cycling, so I would think cycling would be a preferred method of exercise for you. Keep up the good work, and enjoy the ride.
Cycling will be better, she will use more muscular energy walking each mile than if she cycled, cycling is easier and less tiring.
OP
OP
ScotiaLass
Guru
- Location
- Middle Earth
I'm going to give cycling a go....if it doesn't sit well with me I'll go to aqua aerobics until I've lost a couple of stone then I'll try again.
I do love cycling and was devastated when I had to give it up.
I'll go easy and let you know how it goes
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
I'm still not sure cycling is better.
I can see what you mean over a given distance as cycling is fairly efficient (efficient enough to counteract the bike weight?) but what about over a given time? I would've though that cycling for an hour including moving 10Kg or whatever of bike uses more energy than walking for an hour minus a bike.
