'bike fit'

dan1983

How long did it take you guys and girls to get 'bike fit' - i.e. able to ride up steeper climbs without lungs collapsing and legs feeling as though they've caught fire?

I havent been biking long so still at the beginner stage with regards to fitness, skil etc (which explains why I ended up over my handlebars today!! :shock: )

I consider myself reasonably fit and I've started going biking 3 times (or more) a week. This has only been the last few weeks due to time constraints, laziness, crap weather etc.

I can feel myself getting fitter during general riding (long-ish ride yesterday on flat-ish terrain was easy), but today I did the black run at Hamsterley, and I could still feel the burning etc on the climbs. :oops: Hence the question.

Cheers

grantway

Dan dont worry your not the only one, had not been on a bike for two years
and when I started boy hard going.
You must at least ride 3 times mid week to gain any improvement in your
speed and riding.
What I do is ride for only two hours per one ride and that will be going up hills and rolling back down and going back up again.
Dont pick one killer hill but a good long gradual hill and you should see a better
Dan when you go for the weekend ride.
Also doing sit ups in the morning will help too,

Good luck

OllyUK

When I first started, I was riding 3 times a week, and I could feel the difference after a couple of weeks. Now I actually enjoy hill climbing

gs3

To quote a famous cyclist of recent times

"...it doesn't get any easier, you only go faster!"

and how true this is. Even when you get the miles in and that big hill seems 'easier' to climb, you'll only try to do it quicker or in a bigger gear no-matter what you try to tell yourself.


.

norco forever

joy of single speed i have a set pace up the hills lol, yet to find one i can't climb, managed to complete 'the step ladder' that defeated almost everyone on a recent charity ride.

but back to getting bike fit at the end of january i was incredibly unfit however after a few months of riding almost every morning up the same hilly route i find i can go faster and longer than almost any of my mates even on their xc bikes. just givve it time and don't do too much at once take it slow and enjoy your steadily improving fitness

Thewaylander

Gs got it right, you will find it will always be hard as you will always try to ride to your limit, you will just be faster, when you notice it is when you ride with someone less fit so you go a bit steadier. and then you don't hurt at all makes you feel good

Nick Dastardly

I've been back into it for just over a year now and I've really noticed the improvement.

Agree with gs3's quote as well though, I'm just as knackered after my regular 2 hour ride now as I used to be, but I'm doing an extra loop round the woods in the same time.

MontanaGMT

I say about 6 months of pushing yourself on most rides 2-3 weekly and some running here and there.

Swimming is also great for increasing lung capacity.

Anonymous

Well, it doesn't really matter, as long as you're enjoying yourself doing it.

NikB

Like the other's have said it never gets easier. However you might look down and all of a sudden you realise you're 3 or 4 gears further up than you were when you first tried. It's only possible to become easier if you don't try hard enough and then you're cheating yourself. You'll also find that even though your lungs are bursting and your legs are about to drop off, it won't be anything like as long until that feeling passes. Even top athletes feel this but their recovery and ability to deal with it is what separates them from the rest of us.

Anonymous

Ooh, remember that most of it is in the mind as well!

I can make my unfit friends ride much longer if I keep them chatting, and just generally talking bollorks. then they don't notice how much more uphil there is to go, or how steep it is - and they don't get the whole "argh, i'm halfway up a steep hill, time for a breather" thing going on

it really does work!

Rich Hcp

As above it never gets easy!

Some days you struggle, others not, it's just the way it goes

You'll find that you climb faster, in a higher gear, but still breathless at the top!

The recovery time lessens as you get fitter, you can recover your breath on the bike, rather than bent double calling for an Ambulance, which is what happens at the start!