Cycling at 20 weeks pregnant

Blonde

My Majorca training camp/holiday is coming up in two weeks time when I'll be 19 and half weeks pregnant. When we come back we're in the UK three days (when I will have my 20 week scan) before we go to the Sierra Nevada region in Spain for a ten day cycling trip. Does anyone have any experience of cycling at this stage and also, what on earth can I wear? I am struggling to fit into my existing winter kit already, but I'm hoping to wear my stretchier summer kit when we're away and hoping it still fits in a few weeks time. I have seen belly bands for about a tenner which may work under the cycle jersey if it fails to meet the shorts and I have seen Terry and Specialized maternity padded cycling shorts available via internet/mail from the US, but I really hope to avoid the extra expense of shorts, as I don't know how much wear I'll get from them - I've no idea how I will feel in a few weeks time or beyond. I am also worried about the feet sweeling/cycle shoes problem as there is no way I can afford to buy larger cycling shoes when I might only wear them a few weeks. My feet seem fine at the moment but I dont know what they will do in a few weeks time... Any advice/experience on this would be welcome.

Barrie_G

Ask your doctor or health visitor / midwife, as although light exercise is normally recommended there may be underlying issues which may need further consideration and an internet forum may not be the best place to seek advice on something where there could be serious consequences.

Ands

Congratulations!

I stopped cycling during pregnancy so I can't offer any advice (I came off my bike at speed on the way to work one day and then found out about 2 weeks later I was pregnant so I was too nervous to ride after I found out). There is a lady on the women's section of the mtb forum who rode right up until about 38 weeks, and she had a thread going about cyling in pregnancy - it's probably still on page 1 or 2.

I did exercise right the way through pregnancy and the hardest thing I found was sticking under the recommended max heart rate - which was something like 135bpm (a bit of a random figure that I was given and not relevant to me or my fitness at the time). I didn't stay below that level, but I never maxed out by any means. As previous poster said, get some advice - your best bet would be from a medical professional who has experience of cycling/exercise during pregnancy, and not necc your GP.

FWIW, I never had a problem with swollen feet or ankles.

Blonde

Thanks for your replies. I haven't any underlying problems, my midwife is very enthusiastic about me cyclng as it is good for the health of the baby as well as for me, and Dr James Clapp's book on research findings about exercise during pregnancy basically concluded that it's a good thing - that's not a problem. The max HR depends on what level you start at before you get pregnant and is also sport sepcific as well. I must say that at the moment the only things that concern me is the general fatigue, stopping me going to the velodrome in the evenings after work, as I'm in bed by 8pm, and what on earth I can wear as the bump grows!

Pross

Ands wrote:

Congratulations!

I stopped cycling during pregnancy so I can't offer any advice (I came off my bike at speed on the way to work one day and then found out about 2 weeks later I was pregnant so I was too nervous to ride after I found out). There is a lady on the women's section of the mtb forum who rode right up until about 38 weeks, and she had a thread going about cyling in pregnancy - it's probably still on page 1 or 2.

I did exercise right the way through pregnancy and the hardest thing I found was sticking under the recommended max heart rate - which was something like 135bpm (a bit of a random figure that I was given and not relevant to me or my fitness at the time). I didn't stay below that level, but I never maxed out by any means. As previous poster said, get some advice - your best bet would be from a medical professional who has experience of cycling/exercise during pregnancy, and not necc your GP.

FWIW, I never had a problem with swollen feet or ankles.

So my parents lied to me all those years ago talking about birds and bees and storks it's really down to falling off a bike :shock:

Seriously though I would have thought it is as much about your own comfort as well as medical advice plus your own assessment of the risks if you fall off.