bah when do you know you are getting "fit"?

lesz42

i been riding 6 months now, and i know that i am getting better, rode with a mate, along a bridal way, full of leaves, ( about half mile long, 3% rise) totaly killed me at the end, the ruddy leaves were 4/5 inchs deep, was murder,



my mate said it was fairly hard, but he was fine, not even our of breath



bah :oops:

punctureboy

fitness is relative. your friend could be fitter than you, but it doesn't mean that your fitness levels havent improved. riding in thick leaves is hard work. in fact riding pretty much anywhere off road at the moment is harder than normal.
the best way to tell your getting fitter is to get a heartrate monitor. the best ways to tell your getting fitter is riding the same route once a week at the same effort level (heart rate zone) and watch the times drop. this can be affected by conditions though. also after a ride, time how long it takes your heart rate to drop to a certain level. this time will drop as you get fitter.

chrisb177

Yeah, the only thing you can really do that doesn't cost alot is just find a route do it one week then train for a month or so then do it again see if you faster and keep going. Another option is to see if some universities in your area are looking for 'subjects' and you might a free VO2 Max test out of it

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

remember there are different types of fitnesses. I was riding with a mate a while ago and his recovery times were brilliant compared to mine but my out of the saddle burts of pumping were longer than his. I recon you shouold be pretty fit after 6 months but if you haven't trained to ride through treacle it's gunna take it out of you.

I'ts like in REAL cycling like in the tour de france, some riders in the team will be there for uphills, some for time trials some for attacking when the rest of the bunch are knacered... it's about strengths, not strength

Drummond1

I find recovery is the best monitor for my fitness, I ride proffesionaly and sometimes feel like Im over training as my legs feel tired and heavy but gauge my actual fatigue by how quickly I'll recover from a climb or how I feel the next morning..... and hey its certainly the cheapest option!

Ian

BOYDIE

You have to remember the fitter you get the longer and harder you ride,so you typically feel just as knackered as you did when you started riding,but your recovery time will get quicker.I tend to mix shorter rides in during the week when time is short,I blast round for an hour hardly break a sweat and recover very quickly.Then on the weekend I go out for maybe 2-3 hours at the same pace and feel shagged at the end but recover quicky again.
Also your body and muscles tend to get used to certain types of exercise,so throw in a jog or a weights session just to spice things up,or go find a nice short hill a do some hill repeats.

Finbar Saunders

My resting heart-rate gives me a clue when at home, as does recovery time e.g. time for heart rate to return to 145 from 186 when on the bike.