First ride, so unfit!

moltomonty

I too am unfit after years of neglecting myself and just working and taking care of kids! No thought as to my health and fitness. My wife said a few weeks ago that she thought she would like to get a bike. This is not the first time she had said that in last few years. So I thought wow, great Christmas gift idea for her. So after looking at Walmart bikes and having a tough time finding one that I thought would hold up, I went to local bike shop and had her come down to be fitted for one. Long story short, she told me I ought to get one too! I dismissed idea at first, but then I thought, why not? We do everything together anyway, so I did! So day before yesterday I took my maiden voyage. I went to a reasonably flat road area in my community and gave a whirl. I must say I went further than I thought I would, which was 5 miles. Felt like it almost killed me when I got done though. But I survived and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when again I have day off and can go riding! Reading everyone's experiences here is quite uplifting and I appreciate it very much! So here's to a new day! One filled with cycling and health/fitness improvement for the new year 2013! I hope I can keep it up and it not just be another thing I start and not finish!
By the way, I got a Trek Navigator 1.0 and the wife a Trek strike 1 WSD? ,I think that's what its called..... Good luck to everyone!

djm501

Blimey that's a nearly identical story to mine except it was six months ago for me. I now cycle around 150 miles a week on average, have lost 4 stone in weight and now have 2 bikes. I got a hybrid at first then fell in love with the road and so have a road bike too - 600 miles on it and it's only six weeks old ;-)
And don't complain about the hills - I love 'em - and I 've got plenty around me here in Cardiff. They're painful but they are far the best way to improve strength and fitness in time I think and they give a real sense of achievement when you finally conquer a biggie that you coudn't do in the past.
Am very impressed at the 10 stone weight loss posted above. I was a fat git six months ago (some may still see me as that - I'm still 16 stone!) but even I don't/didn't have 10 stone to lose - great work!!!

moltomonty

How many pounds in a stone?? thanks in advance!

djm501

Fourteen

Mikey23

the equivalent of 28 bags of sugar you are not carrying around with you any more ... how cool is that

plumber1447

we all have too start somewhere the main thing is you have started.forget all the fancy kit you have the basics thats all you need.a pair of padded bib shorts should be your next purchase.in a few months you will be looking for routes with hills in to challenge yourself.i started aged 40 the weight has dropped off.i have gone from 5mile rides too 60mile rides.and i spend every bit of spare cash on clothes,kit,bikes,gps etc like i suspect most people on this forum do.

djm501

Mikey23 wrote:

the equivalent of 28 bags of sugar you are not carrying around with you any more ... how cool is that

I think I posted more or less that exact comment on facebook a few weeks back. Only it was 20 bags back the

An yes, it's extremely cool - especially when I have to play footie with the grandson! 'Tis a lot easier than it was six months ago!

#david2012

djm501 wrote:

Mikey23 wrote:

the equivalent of 28 bags of sugar you are not carrying around with you any more ... how cool is that

I think I posted more or less that exact comment on facebook a few weeks back. Only it was 20 bags back the

An yes, it's extremely cool - especially when I have to play footie with the grandson! 'Tis a lot easier than it was six months ago!

And for the record the weight of an average 6 yr old child! Lol
I've lost 3 1/2 stone same weight as my daughter

laughingcavalier

Me too.
I was a bit of a bike nut when much younger, but after 25 years of smoking, in the last decade I had not done more than gone to the park with the kids when they were small, done very little exercise of any sort at all. Finally gave up smoking 18 months ago, kept talking about starting cycling again. Finally shamed into it by going to the paralympics - seeing one-legged highjumper clearing a bar at the height of my nose - decided no excuses the next morning and just set off to work.
So 3 clear months now of commuting 10 miles each way, 3 or 4 days per week. Loving it. So much fitter. Lost about a stone I think though I didn't dare weigh myself I had ballooned so much since stopping with the weed - guess I got up to about 15 stone, so there is still a way to go.
Riding my 20 year old mountain bike (with road tyres) which to my shame has seen so little use it still has its original brake blocks. I dug out 20 year old cycling kit, found I had some shorts & old-style trackie tights which have not quite fallen to pieces but which I could never bare to throw away. Slowly upgrading, getting helmet then lights, expecting rain jacket for Xmas, then I want new shorts & a top to stop me sweating. Kit is nice but not essential.
Taking it pretty carefully, I don't want to get a tear or some injury that will stop me in my tracks, but feel a lot more confident about this than running say which puts so much stress on knees ankles & co. I feel so much better about my body and a lot happier with my working day (biggest problem currently is trying to plan my commute around my work not vice versa!). Then there is the freedom of the open road, and the pleasure of the wind in your hair....

Mikey23

I have mentioned this before but found it inspirational...

Was riding a sportive in the new forest in August and got chatting to a guy. 40 years old, wife and three kids, smoked, drank heavily and did no exercise. Had a heart attack and suddenly realised he might not be alive to see his kids grow up

Wake up call so got a bike and life was changed. And burned me off at the end of the ride!

Guanajuato

Good on you!
As a kid I was fit - sub 5-minute miles, 13 second 100m, Sheffield to Matlock & back in about 2.5 hours on a 5-speed 'racer'. Then did bugger all for 20-dd years. So a bit of a belly was appearing.
A couple of years or so back I started running to try & get a bit fitter and shake off the doldrums. Knackered my knees and ankles though. I probably overdid it a bit!
I'd been riding to/from the office for a while, only a mile each way. So I decided to get out on my bike more. But for longer distances (I'm talking 4 or 5 miles) my hybrid was really uncomfortable, so I bought a cheapy Carrera TdF. I started doing more decent rides in May this year - and I built up to 40 mile on an evening once or twice a week.
My first decent ride nearly killed me - about 12 miles, but with a bugger of a hill at the start & halfway round. I'll admit to having got off and walked up the 2nd (shorter) one. By August I'd taken 10 minutesoff the same route, 5 minutes of it on that 2nd climb, which I did entirely on the big ring. I still struggle with climbs - anything close to 10% and I'm in the lowest gear, huffing and puffing. Unfortunately, I live in Kendal and its tricky to find a route without at least one decent climb. There's a couple of sections I do at the start of a ride now, both with small hills where I can guage whether I've got my climbing legs on, which then dictates the route I'll try. One day I'll beat this one. :oops:
I've found Strava really helpful as a motivation tool.
I do seem to have hit a bit of a plateu since then, much of it down to not having as much chance to get out. But I've been going further. Generally, I'm feeling much better. A few weeks off the bike and I tend to feel rough again.
I'm with you on not bothering with all the gear. I do have some bib shorts for summer rides, but its tracky bottoms and either hi-vis cycling top or Red & white striped football shirt, plus windproof/waterproof as needed. And I discovered overshoes are needed a month or so back. Wet & frozen toes are not fun.

Despite what I say about climbing, I'd say my most enjoyable ride was up to Shap Summit. 10 miles of constant climbing to 1500ft. But the road is really nice to ride. It may be an A road, but the M6 takes all the traffic. So its lovely and wide, sweeping bends. I felt I acheived something. the descent was exhilerating. that's despite it raining.

No drastic weight loss - At my heaviest I was 14st and dropped to just under 13, but gone back up a few pounds since September. Whilst running I plateud at just over 13.5st.

So, keep up the good work. You won't regret it

Kieran_Burns

See this 'hill'?

http://goo.gl/maps/f1PwC

This is a flyover over the A50 at Hatton in Derbyshire. When I started riding again after a 10 year hiatus I would have to stop at the top to get my breath back.

It's now the start of my favourite 100Km route and I simply don't even notice it. I don't shift down from my flat road cruising gear and just tighten the legs slightly to maintain speed.

I'm not THAT fit, I'm still a bit overweight (damn you savoury snacks!) but I now get to enjoy moments like this:

http://youtu.be/7Ke2R4TJauA

Trust me. It's worth it. Every moment.

#david2012

I sooooooo cant wait till next year to enjoy the sunny evenings! Having only owned my road bike for 4 months I haven't experienced 'many moments like that'

Kieran_Burns

It's kind of odd... normally you only realise how good it was afterwards. That time, the moment I turned the corner and the speed started going up with no effort I knew I was in for a good 2 miles. I must admit I didn't quite expect it to be quite that sublime.

The next few miles on that route are just as good - quite little hamlet and virtually traffic free roads. When you're able to venture out those kind of distances you stumble across places like this.