I'm unfit.

stickygreen

I've been going with some freinds to brechfa but they are all super fit roadies,i can't keep up with them they push so hard on the climb that it is taking all the fun out of it for me.My fitness will get better i know, but they went out tonight and i really could'nt be botherd.I much prefer the down hill side of it all and like to climb at my own pace.

Dazzza

I wouldn't worry too much just get out and enjoy your rides, it's never any fun when you end up being the back straggler.

You will become fitter in time because the more you enjoy your rides the more you get the itch to nip out for a quick spin.

Raymondavalon

You're not alone
My mate is a roadie and every singletrack path, forest road or hill is a sprint to him
He leaves me standing and often ends up waiting for me to catch up and I do, out of breath, sweating with my heart rate going like a drum solo..
However down the hills I can keep up and often am in the position to pass him, but I don't

A few weeks back we rode at Swinley and he followed me, he said it was interesting to see how much dirt tyres kick up and the lines of other riders, as he's used to being up front
He also noticed that when riding slower he was making more use of the gears, as he usually just sticks it into a highish gear, keeps his cadence going and uses the momentum to tackle the hills.

I am not too fussed about being slower at all, I enjoy the scenery and ride at my own pace.
Sure the hills shag me out, but my current lifestyle doesn't allow for me to ride in the week, unlike my roadie mate

Anonymous

Maybe if they were proper friends they'd hang back and natter away with you whilst going uphill?
What's their hurry?

RealMan

stickygreen wrote:

My fitness will get better i know

stickygreen wrote:

but they went out tonight and i really could'nt be botherd.I much prefer the down hill side of it all and like to climb at my own pace.

Contradictions, unless you're still young. Sorry, but if you can't be bothered to go out and ride, and you don't push yourself you wont get much fitter then you already are.

Going out with people faster then you is brilliant for your fitness. The hardest step is the one out the front door, but after that you just have to pedal. Unless they're complete assholes, they probably wont leave you behind somewhere. But if you want to get fit, you've got to want it.

I've been going out with a group of guys who are all rigid SSers, but they're some of the fittest guys I've ever seen. I still get dropped now and then if I'm not paying attention, and they just fly off. Going out with them has made me much fitter then I was. But we do get guys who come along now and then, and just don't really try. They take the climbs at their "own pace" and never turn up if its raining. Sure, they're riding, but they don't get fitter.

After 3 hours of hard riding, and its raining, and its cold, and you're on a horrible climb and you cant seem to find the right gear, and there's still 10 miles to go, and you feel absolutely dead, attack. Its only your mind holding you back.

Anonymous

^^What he said
Although I am also a proponent of going at your own pace if you just want to ride.

RealMan

I find going at a slow pace kinda boring. Especially on climbs. And descents. And some flat bits. I only have one pace for the hills, unless I've already cracked.

I do like how I ended with a rhyme last post, anyone else spot that?

Anonymous

You mean "attack, it's only your mind holding you back"?

That can't have been planned, surely.
And it would have been far more impressive if every line rhymed.

See, my posts, if read in the right pattern, reveal the secret of ever-lasting energy sources.
Well, they will when I finish writing them, there's about 5 years left to go.
It's called the Yeehaa Code.

RealMan

yeehaamcgee wrote:

And it would have been far more impressive if every line rhymed.

Sounds like a challenge.

**** what rhymes with challenge

Failed already.

paul.skibum

You wont get fitter or faster if you dont try - find a flattish route of about 10 miles that you can knock off after work each night (even if its on road) and do it everynight - it wont be enough to mean you cant do a proper ride at weekends or one evening in between but it'll build you fitness fast and you can do that sort of distance with the saddle low and do it standing sprints and grinds for the hills.

Or alternate - do it one day mainly standing the next do it in a highish gear pushing a low cadence rythmn to develop power in the thighs. Or join a spin class a few nights a week - I did and they do wonders.

lochussie

RealMan wrote:

**** what rhymes with challenge(

Depending on how you say it, either Stonehenge or sponge.

passout

RealMan wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

And it would have been far more impressive if every line rhymed.

Sounds like a challenge.

**** what rhymes with challenge

Failed already.

Your unfit, your unfit but, by gosh, don't you know it - M.Skinner...kind of.

passout

You dream of been speedy,

Just get off your arse,

Don't be so needy,

Make yourself sparse,

Ride your bike.....don't be so weedy

Anonymous

Welcome to poetry corner!

Best thread derail ever!

Anonymous

I ride to be more like us
Something I dont like
Forever is the leader

Anonymous

^^what the hell is that?

Anonymous

yeehaamcgee wrote:

^^what the hell is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku

Anonymous

Oh THAT'S what Haiku is.

Seems like a load of bull to me - rules seem very very vague.

If you want some genuinely high-brow poetry styles, look no further than "englynion"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englyn

passout

GmanUK101 wrote:

I ride to be more like us
Something I dont like
Forever is the leader

Hmmm....arty but lacking in comic value ......said Russell Harty and Michael Askew.

welshkev

keep it up stickygreen, the lad i go riding with is an ex team gb road rider he beat bradley wiggins in the british junior championships ffs. he used to destroy me on the climbs but now (after 8 months!!!) i'm hanging onto his coat tails - just - and hammering past him on the descents

my fitness has got so much better than had i gone out on my own or with someone of similar fitness. there's a hill i used to climb, about 1 mile of steep, rocky double track that used to kill me. i did it last week for the first time in about 2 months and was at the top before i knew it thinking "that was easy". it's hard work at first being dropped on every climb, but keep it up 8)

ride_whenever

just keep at it. I have a similar issue when mtbing with my somewhat fitter friend. He's a rower/roadie though so i take him apart when it comes to descending :twisted:

When I ride with my housemate it's interesting, he's got more power than me but i'm fitter and more technically adept whereas he tends to plough through everything. If we're going for a short ride then i take my singlespeed. That way he pushes me on the flats and then i take him apart on the climbs and we both get the benefits.

Your best option is to start doing some training on your own to pick up your fitness, you could even try the tabata that the roadies are going on about on their forum here. Or try and get them to do routes that have more descending.

Anonymous

just try and keep up with them, that way you will get fitter... I'm so slow at accending it's stupid, but it's a good chance to chil out and enjoy the view instead of going "must get to the top, must get fitter."

for me it's not about that, it's about riding, relaxing, enjoying the view...leave the serious thoughts for work and those who wanna race.

lochussie

shout out to passout
and yeehaamcgee
this is freestylin
offroad poetry
don't need no fox forx
don't need no carbon
to get faster at riding
just pile the miles on

Gotta love Friday afternoons in the office...

ride_whenever

a pertinant quote:

steve fairbairn - Mileage makes champions...

RealMan

What did I unleash.

:shock:

Anonymous

lochussie wrote:

shout out to passout
and yeehaamcgee
this is freestylin
offroad poetry
don't need no fox forx
don't need no carbon
to get faster at riding
just pile the miles on

Gotta love Friday afternoons in the office...

YEAH!! that's more like it!

boogercj

Bbrrrrrap! :P

RealMan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

?

We should make the MTB version. I'm working on lyrics now.

Hmmm... lets see,

It's all about performance, that's the name of the game, I pump up my fork and I polish my frame. It's all about performance, that's the name of the game, Brady Kendall who? Remember MY name.

I run tubeless and you can't hang, I got hydro brakes and quick-link chain. Step up to line, I'm off the front of the pack, I get air off the jumps and leave tread on your back....

Ha just amusing myself.

:shock:

passout

lochussie wrote:

shout out to passout
and yeehaamcgee
this is freestylin
offroad poetry
don't need no fox forx
don't need no carbon
to get faster at riding
just pile the miles on

Gotta love Friday afternoons in the office...

Respect

passout

There was a young man called Sticky Green
He wanted to become increasingly lean
Bike Radar said strap on your Kyles
It's just a case of gettin' in the miles


Time to go...