Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[Justinslow]

Completed my first 50 miler on sunday and well chuffed, legs were quite saw after but recovered for work on monday, 6 of the last 10 miles were against the wind which was a right bitch as upto that time i was travelling pretty well. Things I've learned are take more snacks to keep up the energy and not to fight the wind. Since i started in mid july I've always found that after a long ride (by newbie standards) is to go out again 1 or 2 days after and that shows me how much the ride took out of me, so did that this evening and legs were a bit tight for the first 5 or 6 miles then felt pretty good, but if had the time wouldn't be able to complete 50 miles so soon afterwards.
Question to others is when your out on your own do you always think you should be going that extra bit quicker or is just a 41 year old thinking he is going to enter the tour de france once fit(lol) I do all my travels alone and without a computer only use strava on my iPhone. Would a computer make you pace yourselves or do you look at it and think your not going fast enough.
http://www.strava.com/activities/194400511

Hi, I don't use a computer only strava, and like you I think I should be going quicker especially up hills as I pretty much come to a standstill! Strava's a bit of a bugger because of the competitivness nature of comparing your segments against other people, particularly mates. I think you just have to do your own thing and not worry too much, if you feel strong push it up a bit, if you feel drained take it easy for a bit. I went out on Sunday night, did about 35 miles and I feel pretty drained at the moment, I hope to get out tomorrow night as it's pretty much my only free night of the week so I hope I feel a little more energetic!

 

[Luked1980]

Bit of a disappointment. 12.9 miles with 440ft of climbing. Furthest I have been but really wanted to crack 15 miles

 

[bash 73]

Thanks stevey keep going your soon lose that mate, I've also realised how much food pays a part in cycling, I'm trying to slim down and its a real balancing act not eating some much rubbish but still having enough energy to cycle and not collapse. Started to take pasta to work when I'm going out in the evening and its made a real difference with energy. Being a builder and used to cooked breakfasts pasta is pretty fecking boring but does the trick.Justinslow be interesting to see how you go tomorrow good luck

 

[stevey]

@bash 73 Try having tuna with pasta mix in with beetroot,sweetcorn,cucumber (all chopped)....Mmmm i live on the stuff and if you are slimming cut down the bread intake get your carbs from the pasta and also the alcohol made a massive difference to me.

Good luck

 

[bash 73]

Luked1980 thats good going lots of climbing and where i live its pretty flat so if i do more hills i definitly feel I've achieved something

 

[bash 73]

stevey tried the tuna and anything else i can find in the fridge! same for me aswell not having a pint here and there has made a big difference to the way i feel and stops me falling asleep at 830 in the evening telling the misses I've work my nuts off allday

 

[Nomadski]

Completed my first 50 miler on sunday and well chuffed, legs were quite saw after but recovered for work on monday, 6 of the last 10 miles were against the wind which was a right bitch as upto that time i was travelling pretty well. Things I've learned are take more snacks to keep up the energy and not to fight the wind. Since i started in mid july I've always found that after a long ride (by newbie standards) is to go out again 1 or 2 days after and that shows me how much the ride took out of me, so did that this evening and legs were a bit tight for the first 5 or 6 miles then felt pretty good, but if had the time wouldn't be able to complete 50 miles so soon afterwards.
Question to others is when your out on your own do you always think you should be going that extra bit quicker or is just a 41 year old thinking he is going to enter the tour de france once fit(lol) I do all my travels alone and without a computer only use strava on my iPhone. Would a computer make you pace yourselves or do you look at it and think your not going fast enough.
http://www.strava.com/activities/194400511

You've done 50 miles at an average of 17.5 mph. That seems plenty fast enough to me!

You will always think you can go faster, in the end your body will be the best judge.

 

[Big_Dave]

Bit of a disappointment. 12.9 miles with 440ft of climbing. Furthest I have been but really wanted to crack 15 miles

Don't lose faith mate, the 15 miler will come soon, look at it like this, you have achieved another 12.9 miles under your belt,Think of all rides as positive rides irrespective of distance, The fact is 12.9 miles is better than 0miles, we all have off days now and then, chin up mate

 

[Justinslow]

@bash 73 I'm a 43 year old self employed gardener and often when I get home from work I'm shot, I struggle in the week for time and energy, I find I have my most enjoyable rides at the weekend when I haven't been to work. I'm hoping to do the ipswich cycle swarm 100 miler in early October so I'm going to need some energy for that one! Biggest ride to date has been 61 miles a couple of Sundays ago but it took me over 4 and half hours with a stop for a coffee, which is a struggle when your juggling family life kids clubs etc, the bigger rides take bigger time.

 

[bash 73]

Justinslow Im the same as you large family self employed and also the weekends are the best time to go out, good on you to go for the 100 miles something I'm looking at maybe by the end of the year. also looking at joining a club do you go out solo or with mates

 

[Justinslow]

@Luked1980 what are you riding out of interest?
I'm just lucky (or unlucky) that I have a manual job so I was in a relatively good fitness state before I got my road bike, I don't generally have trouble with exhaustion just various parts of my body start to ache like crazy as the miles go up - legs, lower back, across the shoulders/neck, bottom, nads, I guess this is where you probably need to stop have a stretch and a breather then carry on. The 100 miler I'm hoping to do has several of these "rest stops" so it's not like you do the whole 100 miles without stopping. I'm trying to do regular 30 mile rides to get my body more used to being in the saddle so hopefully one day I won't ache so much.
We're all different so don't think you have to do huge milages to be part of this forum, I have a friend who just did the London Paris ride, so that's a massive step up from where I'm at! When I did my 61 mile ride and could barely walk my mate did 88 miles without skipping a beat!

 

[Hoko1971]

Gave up smoking in February bought myself MTB in May first few rides 15km never ached so much.
Got better week by week yesterday just passed 2000km.
Loving it!!!

 

[Luked1980]

I have a borrowed Carerra road bike. It's not great. The gears seem to not always go in when I change them
I had to stop a couple of times at the top of the hills as well. My furthest ride but I was gutted when I looked at the strava

 

[Justinslow]

Justinslow Im the same as you large family self employed and also the weekends are the best time to go out, good on you to go for the 100 miles something I'm looking at maybe by the end of the year. also looking at joining a club do you go out solo or with mates

Mainly solo, but I have had a couple of rides with a mate who's been riding for years, but we're fairly evenly matched and don't mind sticking to each other's pace. There's some other lads we know who are a bit quick including my mate above who did the London Paris ride, and they would just disappear into the distance so it's hard to find people of the same ability as yourself. The 100 miler could be a bit soon for me as I only had my first ride on my bike a month ago! We will see!
I did think about joining our local club and having a crack at the time trials, I'm never gonna win but it's all about beating yourself.

 

[Justinslow]

I have a borrowed Carerra road bike. It's not great. The gears seem to not always go in when I change them
I had to stop a couple of times at the top of the hills as well. My furthest ride but I was gutted when I looked at the strava

Don't beat yourself up! It will come, just keep going out every few days, let your body recover, eat properly sleep properly don't drink too much alcohol, and your body should get stronger. The gear shifting takes a bit of getting used to as the amount of pressure you apply to the lever does make a difference particularly going from the small cogs on the back to the bigger cogs and you may need the cable adjusting slightly. One tip- do a loop around where you live so you go out one way and come back another, not just go somewhere then turn round and come back, you might be surprised how far you can go, here's one of my circular routes as an example
https://www.strava.com/activities/186172238
Just take it easy and allow yourself plenty of time!