New Member intro & Am I doing ok for starters?
Meat_Helmet
Posts: 4
Hi all
Just wanted to introduce myself to the forum and get a little advice.
I'm a 35 year old male, who has been working in the oil industry for the last 6-7 years and as I work away from home half the year I always found it hard to get in to the gym etc I used to swim but found it tedious. I finally decided that cycling would be more fun and as the wife uses my car for work give me a mode of transport as well. I live in Davenport which is close to Stockport.
I bought my first bike about 4 weeks ago and opted for something fairly cheap (Marin Pioneer Trail) not knowing if I was going to get into riding. Shockingly I found myself getting addicted from early on once I'd got over feeling a bit self conscious on a bike and having zero clue where to go or what I was capable of. I put in small rides from the first day which were only about 6-7 miles although the route from Davenport to Bramhall along Bramhall Lane South has a few hills which burned my legs in the early days. Building up from this I generally do from 10-15 mile rides each day depending on time and weather (bloody raining all the time at the mo).
My longest ride was after having been cycling for about 2 weeks. I rode from davenport to Macclesfield which is mostly flat. Then attempted to ride up from Macc to Whaley Bridge climbing from something like 400ft to nearly 1200 ft over about 3.5 miles....This is where I found my limit and having ran out of snacks and fluids started to chicken out as my imagination worked over time imagining the embarrassment of having to get a taxi home or something
Having made 1200 ft I rode back down Blaze Hill to Bollington and back the way I came. I think the entire ride was about 29 miles and I was fairly happy but have no idea if I should be pleased with that or not.
From a health perspective I'm 35, luckily not over weight but was quite out of shape. I am a smoker and fairly heavy drinker which I understand is something that will hold me back and will endeavour to cut back the booze a bit and try to stop smoking.
So that’s my story so far how do you think I am doing?
And secondly I've been reading magazines and the net and seem all these great looking XC trails people ride on...would a beginner like me be ok on them?
Finally if anyone knows a good club that would cater for a novice but would allow me to learn and improve my performance I would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
Just wanted to introduce myself to the forum and get a little advice.
I'm a 35 year old male, who has been working in the oil industry for the last 6-7 years and as I work away from home half the year I always found it hard to get in to the gym etc I used to swim but found it tedious. I finally decided that cycling would be more fun and as the wife uses my car for work give me a mode of transport as well. I live in Davenport which is close to Stockport.
I bought my first bike about 4 weeks ago and opted for something fairly cheap (Marin Pioneer Trail) not knowing if I was going to get into riding. Shockingly I found myself getting addicted from early on once I'd got over feeling a bit self conscious on a bike and having zero clue where to go or what I was capable of. I put in small rides from the first day which were only about 6-7 miles although the route from Davenport to Bramhall along Bramhall Lane South has a few hills which burned my legs in the early days. Building up from this I generally do from 10-15 mile rides each day depending on time and weather (bloody raining all the time at the mo).
My longest ride was after having been cycling for about 2 weeks. I rode from davenport to Macclesfield which is mostly flat. Then attempted to ride up from Macc to Whaley Bridge climbing from something like 400ft to nearly 1200 ft over about 3.5 miles....This is where I found my limit and having ran out of snacks and fluids started to chicken out as my imagination worked over time imagining the embarrassment of having to get a taxi home or something
Having made 1200 ft I rode back down Blaze Hill to Bollington and back the way I came. I think the entire ride was about 29 miles and I was fairly happy but have no idea if I should be pleased with that or not.From a health perspective I'm 35, luckily not over weight but was quite out of shape. I am a smoker and fairly heavy drinker which I understand is something that will hold me back and will endeavour to cut back the booze a bit and try to stop smoking.
So that’s my story so far how do you think I am doing?
And secondly I've been reading magazines and the net and seem all these great looking XC trails people ride on...would a beginner like me be ok on them?
Finally if anyone knows a good club that would cater for a novice but would allow me to learn and improve my performance I would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
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Comments
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So long as you're having fun, does it matter how you're doing? (29 miles is quite good going
)
Trail centres usually have green & blue trails which are for beginners, you could always keep an eye on the rides section & tag along with local riders to improve your skills too.
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Hey I live just up the road from you (near the big roundabout at Bramhall Park), I generally head out to Wilmslow/Alderley Edge/Bollington for a ride. Sounds like you're heading in the right direction for getting better and fitter.
Picking up my new bike at the end of the week and should be then hitting the road and trail a lot more, I'll give you a shout in the next couple of weeks letting you know of any rides I'm on see if you want to come along (and vice versa).
As for local clubs, I new to the site and only just stepped up my interest in cycling with the purchase of my new bike so wouldn't mind finding a club also. Here's a couple of links I've found, don't know if they're any good as not really looked into them yet. Wanted to get a few miles under my belt before I join a club. Going to start cycling to work much more and got a few races over the summer lined up.
http://mountainbikes.meetup.com/118/
http://fancyaride.org.uk/cms/index.php0 -
Thanks for the comments so far, Andy you're right that the important bit is to enjoy myself which I am doing. Really looking forward to getting offroad more. So far I've done a 16 mile round trip (dragged poor wife out) on the middlewood way lots of mud but fairly boring ride. She wasn't very forgiving as I forgot to turn us around and do the promised 8 mile ride!
Platti I'd definately be up for riding with you mate, would be fun! Let me know when you are up for it.
I've looked into Stockport Clarion who do rides on wednesday and sundays and also Bog Trotters look really fun but their ride starting points are harder to get to with out a car.0
