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

[Nigelnaturist]

Here is my trusty steed, the cheap and quite rubbish Vittesse Sprint, I got it for free off my brother to use instead of my even cheaper Halfords mountain bike. I think if I had a decent bike I could go further and faster but I am still to convince SWMBO of that yet I think I have the cycling bug now so hopefully I can get a better bike in the spring as the winter should kill this one off (with some luck) I do like the gearing on this bike though which suits me at the moment and it does at least let me get out and do some miles.

Well my Viking keeps going and going, though it's not the same bike i picked up 5 years ago. Just off to fit the new BB.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

BB all done. No movement happy bunny. Took about 30 mins.

 

[SWSteve]

I don't know why, but I do like the Cannondale bikes

The complete opposite, their white/blue/green combo puts me off bikes completely

 

[eevvee]

http://www.strava.com/activities/88357598 - my first metric ton

it has been a few months since my first 50 mile ride and with the days getting ever shorter and the weather only going to get worse I thought I had better make the effort sooner than later.

I was going to also have my first attempt at the cairn o mount but quickly realised that this was not my best idea, however I have set a mark to improve on next time.

There was a cold wind most of the way - more so over the last 10 miles, however all things considered reasonably happy - need to work on the elevation though. A few more trips to the Cairn o'Mount in the future.

 

[User28924]

Slightly scary ride today. Gusting winds in completely open terrain meant whenever a car passed on the other side of the road I'd move a few feet towards the centre; a close pass could've been lethal.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Quick spin out, all seems fine, just got a slight tweak on the front mech to do, just catching ever so slightly on the middle ring and on 8 on the back, but it least it gets no worse now if out of the saddle climbing in that gear. (usually because I have dropped to it because the others are too easy, and not having mastered changing the front ring whilst out of the saddle). Whats more its a whole 20grms lighter.

 

[Mo1959]

Quick spin out, all seems fine, just got a slight tweak on the front mech to do, just catching ever so slightly on the middle ring and on 8 on the back, but it least it gets no worse now if out of the saddle climbing in that gear. (usually because I have dropped to it because the others are too easy, and not having mastered changing the front ring whilst out of the saddle). Whats more its a whole 20grms lighter.

Will that 20 gms make you .1 mph faster do you think?

Well I've been scaring myself reading articles saying that too much aerobic exercise can actually do more harm than good and, given the fact that I have been keeping getting flu like symptoms in the evenings and starting to find my rides hard work I have decided to back off a bit for a while. Not sure that someone in their mid fifties should maybe be cycling at quite a hard intensity for two hours plus per day? Not sure how to continue to be honest. Probably one longish ride a week is more than enough for endurance mixed in with some shorter ones.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@Mo1959 as fast as that.
I try and do a longish ride once in a while, but more usually no more than about 31, I then may go out again for a quicker 10 miles or so, or just bimbal about like this week really, though in fairness in the last 7 days I have done 311 miles (avg 44.5mile/day) with 15067ft elevation gain (48.35ft/mile according to rwgps) with an avg 65" gear (52x21, and no i ain't even thinking of bike with that as a fixed gear), an avg cad of 80 rpm, and an avg speed of 15.5mph, which is done on the previous 7 days but I only did half the distance and slightly lees ft/mile, and do you know something I dont recall riding that far, or feeling like I have.

 

[RWright]

Will that 20 gms make you .1 mph faster do you think?

Well I've been scaring myself reading articles saying that too much aerobic exercise can actually do more harm than good and, given the fact that I have been keeping getting flu like symptoms in the evenings and starting to find my rides hard work I have decided to back off a bit for a while. Not sure that someone in their mid fifties should maybe be cycling at quite a hard intensity for two hours plus per day? Not sure how to continue to be honest. Probably one longish ride a week is more than enough for endurance mixed in with some shorter ones.

I decided to cut back a little too. I am going to make myself do a little more walking with maybe just a little jogging while I do. I also have a weight bench and do some bench presses and curls, nothing major. I am still wanting to lose a little more weight so I will continue to try and get an hour or so of exercise a day in.

I am hoping the mountain bike will be a little more intense form of exercise riding...and so far it is that and then some. I want to work that into my weekly regiment. I am still working on getting my mountain bike dialed in like I want it, should be good to go this week. I am a year or so older than you so I know how much energy riding two hours a day takes. If we were training for a competition that would be one thing, but just for fitness riding, the huge miles might be a little bit of overkill.

 

[Mo1959]

I decided to cut back a little too. I am going to make myself do a little more walking with maybe just a little jogging while I do. I also have a weight bench and do some bench presses and curls, nothing major. I am still wanting to lose a little more weight so I will continue to try and get an hour or so of exercise a day in.

I am hoping the mountain bike will be a little more intense form of exercise riding...and so far it is that and then some. I want to work that into my weekly regiment. I am still working on getting my mountain bike dialed in like I want it for that but should be good to go this week. I am a year or so older than you so I know how much energy riding two hours a day takes. If we were training for a competition that would be one thing, but just for fitness riding, the huge miles might be a little bit of overkill.

Yep, totally agree Rocky. Mixing it up will be more beneficial I think. I am finding the obsession with mileage/speeds is bordering on harmful now I think. It is hard to find a route around here that doesn't involve at least some climbing so it isn't easy not to stress the body on nearly every ride and I just finished reading some articles last night saying that exercising intensely every day can actually knock your immune system and damage your heart. Over on one of the other threads there were much more experienced riders than me mentioning that they had only done around 2000 miles this year and I have done nearly 7000 in my first proper year. Just got a bit carried away I think! I'll have several days either off or much gentler/shorter runs and see if I can shake this virus type thing that is hanging around then take it from there.

Already feeling guilty sitting here looking at what is looking like a nice morning for riding but will resist and just take the dog a nice walk.

 

[Stonechat]

I decided to cut back a little too. I am going to make myself do a little more walking with maybe just a little jogging while I do. I also have a weight bench and do some bench presses and curls, nothing major. I am still wanting to lose a little more weight so I will continue to try and get an hour or so of exercise a day in.

I am hoping the mountain bike will be a little more intense form of exercise riding...and so far it is that and then some. I want to work that into my weekly regiment. I am still working on getting my mountain bike dialed in like I want it for that but should be good to go this week. I am a year or so older than you so I know how much energy riding two hours a day takes. If we were training for a competition that would be one thing, but just for fitness riding, the huge miles might be a little bit of overkill.

I will never jog - just doesn't suit me.
Ihave the dog walking - about 3 miles per day.
Weather is foul today - will wait until Wed probably - knees feeling better already

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I need to go to the shops and it is raining and even windier than yesterday, so after carefully considering Mo's comments I am going in the car. I think I need a rest day anyway, have ridden for 26 days in a row and done a tad over 1,400 miles in that time, fingers crossed should break 12,000 miles for the year by the end of next week.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I will never jog - just doesn't suit me.
Ihave the dog walking - about 3 miles per day.
Weather is foul today - will wait until Wed probably - knees feeling better already

I use to love jogging, but it kills my knees now, cycling is much easier on the joints.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Yep, totally agree Rocky. Mixing it up will be more beneficial I think. I am finding the obsession with mileage/speeds is bordering on harmful now I think. It is hard to find a route around here that doesn't involve at least some climbing so it isn't easy not to stress the body on nearly every ride and I just finished reading some articles last night saying that exercising intensely every day can actually knock your immune system and damage your heart. Over on one of the other threads there were much more experienced riders than me mentioning that they had only done around 2000 miles this year and I have done nearly 7000 in my first proper year. Just got a bit carried away I think! I'll have several days either off or much gentler/shorter runs and see if I can shake this virus type thing that is hanging around then take it from there.

Already feeling guilty sitting here looking at what is looking like a nice morning for riding but will resist and just take the dog a nice walk.

I must admit I am a bit obsessed about my mileage, speed doesn't really bother me, but I have loads of mileage targets going on (four at the minute) and I work out the daily commuting distance I need to hit them, I then try and do the highest distance on the way to work, so when I come home I am eating into the target. Currently need to do 26 miles a day to hit my "hardest" target

 

[Mo1959]

Enjoyed my doggy walk and she had fun chasing pheasants! It's actually a perfect day for cycling here. Dry, cool but not as cold as yesterday and just a hint of a breeze. While wandering around with the dog I actually started wondering if I should cancel my Strava account as it makes it soooo hard to resist challenges, segments, etc.