The first 10 minutes...

[PaulSecteur]

Just done a nice 16 miler, very pleasent and really enjoyed it. Been working up to it with shorter rides of 6-10 miles, enjoyed those too.

BUT, for the first 10 mins of evey ride so far I just dont seem to enjoy it. I look forward to riding, keep an eye on the weather hoping it will be good, set off and would happily swap the saddle for a sofa with a nice cuppa tea and a choccie hob-nob.

I do warm up, its not like Im sprinting off the line.

Is this usual to take a while to get in the swing?

 

[Crackle]

I think we're all different but I can empathise with that. Sometimes, even though I want to go out, it can be hard to actually stop fumbling about and get on with it and then once on the way, the little grumbling 'couch' voice is still hanging on to the back of the bike for a wee while. Thinking no further than each step of getting ready works for me.

 

[gbb]

I read once it takes 5 or 10 miles for your muscles to warm/loosen up properly.
I think what you're feeling is quite natural...it takes me a while to get going, especially in the winter (when i hardly manage to get going at all )

 

[Fab Foodie]

I read once it takes 5 or 10 miles for your muscles to warm/loosen up properly.
I think what you're feeling is quite natural...it takes me a while to get going, especially in the winter (when i hardly manage to get going at all )

Agree. More important in this kind of weather to take it easy whilst warming-up, spin an easy gear at a comfortable pace. My Cardiologist also stated that 'warming-down' is also an important part of excercise too, so allow time for this.

 

[PaulSecteur]

Cheers for the replys, good to know Im not alone.

 

[fossyant]

Ease it over the first few miles..

 

[inaperfectworld]

It just takes abit of time/activity for your muscles to wake up and for your breathing to establish a rhythm. Just take it gently to start as at this stage your body is not working efficiently

 

[gbb]

This first occured to me a few years ago.
I do (in the summer) mostly 30 to 40 miles rides, and i'd hammer myself from the start
Then (after reading this article), i started the first 5 miles or so nice and steady. It made virtually NO difference to my times or average speed over those distances. Obviously you start steady but slower, then have the extra energy to go faster..later.

 

[MacB]

I get it a lot seems to last about 5 minutes now, I sort of think of it as the time it takes me to get into bike mode. In the first few minutes I have to concentrate and focus on things. After that I can daydream and still be aware, if I tried daydreaming at the start I'd crash. Quite often I near the end of a ride and have that feeling of where's the time gone.

 

[jimboalee]

Only ten minutes???

There is an old cycling saying which goes "The first ten miles are the worst".

When on a two hundred Audax, once I see 16 km click over on the Garmin, I can think to myself "It's all downhill from here", and "this next one hundred and fifteen miles will be a doddle"....

 

[jimboalee]

The secret of keeping one's sanity when riding a bicycle is to concentrate on what one is going to do within the next thirty seconds.

This strategy stops one's mind wandering to the sofa or dinnerplate. It keeps the cyclist's mind alert to the road ahead and the surrounding traffic.

 

[gregster]

As mentioned, takes a few minutes for the adrenalin and endorphins to kick in and give you that energy and enthuasism to keep going, and doesn't help that's it's been freezing for what seems like 6 months now. It'll soon be warmer and you'll forget you even mentioned this!!!

 

[Billloudon]

I liked the idea of taking it easy for the first few miles:

1 I do that for the entire run
2 The first few miles is a hilly nightmare from home.
Roll on the decent weather!

 

[jimboalee]

As mentioned, takes a few minutes for the adrenalin and endorphins to kick in and give you that energy and enthuasism to keep going, and doesn't help that's it's been freezing for what seems like 6 months now. It'll soon be warmer and you'll forget you even mentioned this!!!

Blimey... You get endorphins after a few minutes.

I can remember the last time I got an endorphin rush. It was on the return from Stratford upon Avon in the last 20 miles of a DIY 200km in 2008.
I'd just finished Liverage Hill and my legs went painless like I'd had local anesthetic. I could pedal like a pro. I kept over 20 mph all the way back to Solihull.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I find on the Turbo, the first 15 nins are quite hateful, after that (endorphins I guess) I start to get into my stride, and whilst not a pleasurable experience per se, it seems to become a whole lot more bearable.