New to MTBing any tips welcome

Dinkie1981

Hi all, just thought id introduce myself, im new to this Mtbing lark, but having the weight steadily creeping up i decided it was time to do something about it, and seen as my work introduced a cycle2work scheme i thought why not, so anyway got myself a Boardman comp today and went for my first ride tonight, not too far mind just to ease myself into it .
So any tips on how to improve my fitness and technique? think thats how you spell it, oh and any tips on how to help with the pain in my backside lol.
Thanks in advance, Darren.

GT1984

I'm in a similar position!! Will be keeping an eye on this thread with interest!!

Good luck and stick at it!!

Dinkie1981

Will defo be sticking at it, cant wait to be fit enough to head for Dalby and the likes.
Just never remember been this tired when i was a lad after going out on my bike, but that was some 15 years ago!!

GT1984

Im the same about 11 years for me, basically once I could drive, stopped riding the bike, occasionally going out on the bike with the mrs etc, but time to get into it properly, i'm gonna start doing 3 or 4 rides a week, starting at 8-10 miles, what are your plans?

quattrojames

I'm about two months ahead of you guys, at first my legs were screaming and my ar*e too! I generally go out in an evening when the smaller family members have gone to bed, so I only get an hour or so of daylight and ride from the house, usually between 6 and 10 miles. I average 3 times a week probably, and the improvment in my fitness and technique in that time has been very encouraging with minimal effort.

drumandguitar

Just get out and ride. Sounds flippant but it will sort out your fitness, skill level and sore arris. No magic wand really. Worked for me anyway. I just hit Llandegla every week. Plenty of hills to climb and nothing too technical at first. The hills killed me at first. Now I can fly round Llandegla (12 months on) and am loving the more technical stuff at Coed y Brenin/Penmachno etc.

Best of luck.

felix.london

Yep - I'm two months in and started with fast 8km rides most days, then up to 12km - now doing 16km-20km rides pretty much flat out everyday - and that's at 1300m-1500m altitude and up some pretty steep and rough terrain. Just keep at it and the fitness & technique will follow

Dinkie1981

GT1984 wrote:

Im the same about 11 years for me, basically once I could drive, stopped riding the bike, occasionally going out on the bike with the mrs etc, but time to get into it properly, i'm gonna start doing 3 or 4 rides a week, starting at 8-10 miles, what are your plans?

Gonna try and get out 4 times a week on the evening for about an hour if poss! and go from there.

ricicle

I'm in the same situation, after owning a bike that has lived in my shed for too long, I started riding for fitness/weight loss about 2 months ago. I try to go out each week night for about 8 miles and also further on weekends. It was a killer the first time but now I find myself wanting to ride further and further, the only downside is the nights are drawing in now. Although I haven't shifted any weight, I certainly feel fitter and better for it.

GT1984

Ricicle wrote:

I'm in the same situation, after owning a bike that has lived in my shed for too long, I started riding for fitness/weight loss about 2 months ago. I try to go out each week night for about 8 miles and also further on weekends. It was a killer the first time but now I find myself wanting to ride further and further, the only downside is the nights are drawing in now. Although I haven't shifted any weight, I certainly feel fitter and better for it.

Have you tried correcting your diet? because i'd have thought that if your increasing excercise and improve diet, weight should come off.

Unless your building muscle, which weighs more than fat, could be better to measure rather than weigh.

Anonymous

Dinkie1981 wrote:

So any tips on how to improve my fitness and technique? think thats how you spell it, oh and any tips on how to help with the pain in my backside lol.
Thanks in advance, Darren.

Basically, just keep at it.

skullthaw

get some padded undershorts/ lycra under baggies/ shorts etc they make the world of difference

cycle monster

I started three years ago at 18.5 stone from a standing point of no exercise and loads of lard. Without any drastic change to my diet I lost four stone in a year. This was with little effort on the diet front, no change on the drinking front and only about twenty to thirty miles a week. Life changing stuff. By now you will have the bug and are stuck with it. My boys aged nine and five are mtb crazy which helps enormously.

trailpuppet

If you are uncomfortable on the bike it may be a set-up issue. Trawl through the tabs ^^^^ and I am sure there is a bike set-up guide.
The padded lycra/shorts advice ^^^ is good.
There is no substitute for getting the miles in. Just make sure you do what you think is acheivable otherwise you may lose motivation. Mix your routes up, sometimes flat & fast then throw in some hills. Try and vary it.
Use your gears, keep the legs spinning.
If you want to make it interesting create a short loop, say 5mls. time yourself on this as a benchmark. Then do the same again in say a month -6wks time and see if there is any improvement.
You could try improvising this stuff;
http://www.cyclingtraininguk.co.uk/cycl ... icles.html
http://easycycling.com/?p=2640
Play around with google for more

grenw

Seems there are a few of us in the same situation.

Like the above post, my bike (Carrera Kraken from around 2001) has sat in the garage for around 7 or 8 years. Decided to pump up the tyres and see if it worked okay. Apart from a puncture on the 3rd run out all has been great.

So the last 3 weeks have seen me do 3 x 1 hour rides every week and am loving it. I'm lucky enough to live right by some nice tracks on Surrey Heath so after 5 mins of riding I'm in the forests and up and down some nice little hills. The incentive for me is I've promised myself a new bike for Christmas if I keep it up.

Bought some padded undershorts as someone's already mentioned and they have made a world of difference to the sore backside, can't recommend them enough. Dhb ones from Wiggle.

bartimaeus

quattrojames wrote:

I generally go out in an evening when the smaller family members have gone to bed, so I only get an hour or so of daylight and ride from the house, usually between 6 and 10 miles.

I also try to get out one or two evenings a week. With the nights drawing in you should look at getting some lights as it will allow you to keep riding through the winter. It's the best investment I ever made, as it has doubled my use of the bike. With the option of cheap-but-bright lights (18650 based torches or Magicshine) you can kit yourself out for under £50. Have a read of 'What Lights' and the 'Basic Guide to Lights'.

felix.london

If you've gotta smartphone with GPS download the Endomondo app and sign up for an account at

http://www.endomondo.com

then you can see routes near you, upload your own routes and keep track of your riding - speed, distance, elevation, altitude, calories burned, set yourself different goals etc etc. Really helps with motivating you to get out and improve...

Anonymous

Pish with all the training nonsense. MTBing is about having fun, not recording mileage or calorie usage.

felix.london

Anything that gets you out there dude! - And as the OP has specified he wants to get back on the bike to lose weight - motivation might be an issue.

But - yeah I agree, it's all about having fun..

Also if you have any aspirations of maybe taking part in some form of competition or racing - keeping an eye on your times and distances isn't a bad idea

Wallace1492

Ride more - you get fitter.

Body gets used to doing same thing every day or every other day, so vary route and time done. Throw in a 15 miler before work. Do a fast ride, find a really hard hill and session it. Hurt yourself climbing and doing speed.

That way you will get far fitter/lose weight and feel better.

However don't forget the skills, you need to practice more technical stuff as well, and this is in addition to any training you want to do. A lot of guys I ride with are far more technical than me, but I can whip them on any hill climb.

Decide what you want to do and practice that.

Dinkie1981

Hi Guys, went out for second time tonight, realy enjoyed it just tried to keep pushing myself and also got some padded shorts, WOW what an invention! can see myself getting the biking bug bad.
think i did about 7 -8 miles but not sure, came home and cleaned the bike. felt a bit better after than my 1st ride yesterday.
Also can anyone recomend a good innertube sealant?

mintedox

Another here who has recently rediscovered biking. Hadn't been on a bike in 10 years untill four months ago so my fitness was terrible to start with. Local trail centres were a killer so i started going out on roads and public paths in the evenings and the difference now is amazing, i feel great. It wont take long untill you suprise yourself Keep it up

Annoyingly, i moved from the denbighshire moors six months ago to a concrete jungle.

hurstg01

I'm new to this too, having bought the cheapest new Boardman a few weeks ago, and then spending half as much again on getting all the gear [helmet, pump, tools, cycle computer, basic lights, clothes, glasses etc]. I mainly wanted to go offroad, but having a belly and lack of general exercise over the years [I've just turned 38 and last went on a bike about 25 years ago!] made me realise more stamina is needed. I've got a good mate who is really into it, and have had a few good offroad jaunts with him - he lives about 7 miles from me, so I rode to his house then did a 10 miler off road up [Everest! ] a hill and round some old Army ground near Upper Hale, and Aldershot / Farnborough. I've done a few rides on-road, ranging from 8 miles to last nights 23 miler and loving every minute of it, wanting to go further and further each time. Hopefully the more road miles I do will make the shorter offroad miles easier [I tend to fade going up a long gradual offroad hill so more lasting-strength in the legs, arms and back are needed].

I've begun to buy some bits and bobs for the winter rides too - Exposure lights, longer shorts, more riding tops, Camelback with high-vis cover etc etc to keep me motivated when it's cold and wet

My body shape is changing but not the weight yet - I've always believed that watching your weight doesn't make you feel highly motivated, but feeling how your clothes fit after a period of exercise does wonders for the self esteem

So for me, sticking with it through the winter months will make me want to carry on into 2012 and beyond, and the price of the bike and the ancillary items makes me want to get my moneys worth out of it

dudleypipe

Dinkie1981 wrote:

Will defo be sticking at it, cant wait to be fit enough to head for Dalby and the likes.!

I live about 5 miles from Dalby so pretty spoilt in that regard - but all I do it present (3 small people under 2, so time is tight!) is go and ride in Dalby. Its approx 45 mins from Hull though - but the entire first third of the red route runs near to the main forest drive, so at the end of most sections there is an escape route - getting back to the car is pretty easy once you've had enough.

Even if you get tired after 4 or 5 sections, you can use the escape route, go grab some refreshments and then if you don't fancy more red route, you can drive up to Dixons hollow where you can session parts of the bike park to build up your technique, and there's a pump track there too. Thats the great thing about Dalby. For £7 you could probably take it really steady and get a few hours riding (with plenty of rest time in there too!).

I was amazed the difference each time I went - I did the first section of Dalby (visitor centre to Dixons Hollow) and was nearly dead at the end. The next time I went, it was significantly easier. Now, after 2 years going once a fortnight on and off (a lot more off than on!) the first section takes less than half the time, and I can do it without stopping which is quite an acheivement for me!

I'd say just get on your bike and do it - stick to a grade of route that you're comfortable with and keep at it!

TrailGuru

I agree with all the comments about just get out and ride as much as possible... you'll quickly build up fitness and technique.

As a general rule of thumb with technique, just stay loose, try not to tense up when approaching technical features or drops etc... look ahead down the trail, not at your front wheel.

Work on tweaking your bike setup to make it as comfy as possible and keep it well maintained and running smooth. Its frustrating if your bike has niggly problems and can really affect the quality of your rides.

Also try to ride a range of different trails... if you are able to head to Wales, my new trail guide website might help you out to choose rides which are matched to your ability and confidence level. Check it out and let me know what you think. http://www.trailguru.co.uk/

But most of all, have fun!!!

Happy riding,
Kev