42 YO, Unfit and looking to start commuting!

Cycool

It feels like pressure points rather than rubbing. Almost like a bruising but obviously haven't checked it out visually. I guess I need to toughen up a bit having come from a nice spongy car seat and office seat. No pain, no gain and all that! Will try padded shorts when the weather warms up and I look a bit meatier than a stick insect!

BigLee1

Good effort Cycool
Jeans are really bad for riding, have you noticed that big seam you sit on

Buy some of these glasses too http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bolle-Silium- ... 1192317093 handy for deflecting freezing air from your eyes and yes, use strava, its excellent for seeing yourself improve!
Keep at it and you`ll be heading home the scenic route once the nights get lighter

Cycool

Cheers BigLee1 will look at the glasses. My Garmin Edge 200 has arrived this morning but will be a couple of days before I can test it. Looks pretty though! I think my next purchase will be some neck protection as that was
really the only place that got cold yesterday. I can highly recommend the Altura ear warmer band that I got, definitely keeps the wind out if you suffer from earache when cold. You may be onto something re the jeans. Mine have rather large back pockets and the corners nearest my crack (apologies for the mental image) is right in the middle of where it is hurting. May try the padded shorts sooner rather than later I think.

BigLee1

These are a really good buy, I`ve had mine for about 5 years and they`re hard wearing and you can wear them just as a pair of shorts in the summer and stuff the pockets with junk!
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/endu ... p-prod9356

Don`t look too much like a cyclist either

The Rookie

I do a 6.7mile commute and started when I was 42.....

I commute in normal underpants (for conveniance) and they are fine for that distance, if you have point aches your butt muscles over the 'sit bones' just need toughening up!

I commute in baggy shorts and put on knee warmers to protect the joints when it gets below zero.

Read parktools.com for how to fix stuff, going to a bike shop is costly, to satisfy your geek side, try the strava app on a smart phone, it is a cycling geek's best friend!

slowbike

Cycool wrote:

Will try padded shorts when the weather warms up and I look a bit meatier than a stick insect!

You can put a layer on over the shorts ... I do - I've worn normal trousers or jeans as well as the usual winter tights - with "normal" clothes on over the top nobody can tell the difference - if they're looking that closely at my lower half they better be my wife!

Cycool

Hmm yeah, was wondering whether that was feasible wearing normal clothes over the padded shorts but think I'll just bite the bullet and get some long thermal padded tights and dammit if people are jealous of my look! Took my bike in last night for service so am awaiting the price for fixing the gears. Hope it's not too much as already spent too much on this idea! Probably paid for it all though through not smoking! Can't wait to get back out there, was so tedious in car this morning again....

slowbike

Cycool wrote:

Can't wait to get back out there, was so tedious in car this morning again....

Good man!

Cycool

Bike fixed! Full complement of gears now, apparently just a cable adjustment needed. Will hit YouTube and start learning the basics I think. Cost me £30 for safety check and lube up so not bad to be fair. Good service from my local bike shop (East Street Cycles). Sadly my throat feels like it has had a rosebush dragged through it so couldn't cycle again today but gonna wrap up in the warm at work and hopefully live to cycle another day (Monday!). Feel sad to be in the car but I don't think I'd have survived the ride. Little baby has the cold too so is waking every 2 mins. Poor little mite was snoring like a tractor last night! Have a good weekend all.

BigLee1

Learning to fix your own bike ill save you so much cash over the years! I did a 2 day full strip and rebuild course at my local bike place and it was £40 more than a full service and I was taught how to do everything from facing a bottom bracket, fixing a broken spoke and truing the wheel to fine tuning the gears

Some jobs are best farmed out due to the cost of the tools and the frequency of the job but otherwise a fairly minimal toolkit will pay dividends
Theres bound to be someone to suggest some handy tools soon, my ideas would be,

A chain cleaner, park tools do a good one http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-cm52 ... n-cleaner/
Chain lube http://www.evanscycles.com/search?sort_ ... er_page=21
A multi tool http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/t ... ulti-tools

Hope you and the little one get well soon

RibTime

I'm 48 and shall we say robust and started cycling back in August. Find a pace that suits you and don't worry about how fast you go at certain stages or how long it takes, just enjoy the cycling and accept that some days it will be harder than others. What matters, is your on the bike putting the miles in and that will be improving your fitness.

Kieran_Burns

I have a mantra: "Cadence is King"

on the slow days just focus on maintaining a good cadence and let the speed worry about itself.

Cycool

My pace, at the moment is erratic (not erotic!) at best at the moment as I'm generally not in shape. My legs get
tired quickly, could be the lack of gears initially, so I don't really push too hard. My aim at the moment is to get to work and back without killing myself or anyone else. Hopefully as I get more used to it and fitter I'll concentrate more on riding style. My experience on the roads has been good so far with most cars giving me plenty of room and waiting patiently for me if the road narrows or cars are parked. I'm surprised, however, at the amount of cars that appear to hug the kerb at traffic lights. It's almost as if they're trying to block me from passing it feels. I've never done this when I'm in the car as I'm mostly just envious of their freedom, and want to see what they are riding so make sure to let them past. Just surprised me how many people did this on my 3 commutes so far.

slowbike

If you concentrate on pedalling more quickly, but easily it will help with the legs getting tired ... if you try and stomp at 40-50 cadence then your legs will tire quickly. Turn over at 70-80 or more and it'll be easier ... on your legs anyway! You'll still get fitter ..

woopidstanker

Really windy ride in this morning, as Kieran said above - just keep the pedals spinning at a comfortable rate!
I just hope the wind is behind me on the way home - it knocks a hell of a lot of time off the journey

Initialised

Cycool wrote:

I'm surprised, however, at the amount of cars that appear to hug the kerb at traffic lights. It's almost as if they're trying to block me from passing it feels. I've never done this when I'm in the car as I'm mostly just envious of their freedom, and want to see what they are riding so make sure to let them past. Just surprised me how many people did this on my 3 commutes so far.

When I see this I pass on the right and take the lane. On your commute it'll be the same cars at the same time every day, they'll soon learn to give you room if you don't let them mess you about.

bikes`n`guns

Never mind all this embarresed, how do I look crap.


Just think what it`ll be like in 6 months, when you are hammering along on a 4 grand carbon roadie, shaved guns gleaming in the evening sunlight,

Full on MAMIL in the making dude. stick in !

Cycool

Hello all. Sorry I've been absent, my little baby was unwell and screaming the flat down all of Sunday night. I got 3 hours sleep in the end. Poor little mite, it was heart-breaking to listen to and couldn't comfort him. He seems all OK now so must be more new teeth! Back on bike again today after horrible experience of road rage from some old folk yesterday, really shook me up and couldn't believe they were in their 50's from the look of them! My legs were a bit stiff after the ride this morning and my lungs started wheezing after about a mile so I slowed it up a bit and cruised in. Took me 33 mins to do the 6 miles but it was quite pleasant and I'm always pleased with myself when I make it. My aim now is to cycle in as much as possible as not happy in the car at all any more! I am well used to looking like a super bright xmas tree now and wore my padded shorts under my jeans which made it a far more pleasant experience. I feel my jeans are restricting my muscles on my legs now so will try just shorts on way home and see how it goes.

Bikes`n`guns - I doubt i'll ever have a 4k carbon road bike or shave my legs. ;-)

Cheers for all the support on here, it really is spurring me on towards my goal.

ukiboy

Well done for making the decision to cycle commute - you won't regret it. On days that you don't feel like cycling, just remember how long 6 miles will take for a car driver stuck in rush hour traffic! Your commute time will always be consistent but driving 6 miles in a car will vary from 10 ish minutes on a good day to an hour plus on a bad day!

I often regret taking public transport or driving but I never regret using my motorbike or bicycle

fatsmoker

Cycool wrote:

I doubt i'll ever have a 4k carbon road bike or shave my legs. ;-)

Don't speak too soon. Many others have said the same.

Kieran_Burns

Then n+1 kicks in.

Then the rules

Then the post "I'd like to do a sportive"

Eventually l'etape du tour gets into conversations....

Initialised

A few years ago I was a fat lazy slob, now I am become MAMIL incarnate.

How did it happen, deciding to commute by bike after trading some PC parts for a Bike with a former workmate, fixing up the bike and replacing bits as the wore out, second winter in I hit the Aldi cycling gear sale and decided to brave what turned out to be the worst winter for 30 years, sold my car that was slowly depreciating and rusting on the driveway, started extending the commute and cycling on lunch breaks, started going out cycling at weekends, noticed that I got cranky if I didn't ride enough, rode up (as much as possible of) a mountain, got some downhill MTB training and rode back down, hitting 51mph on an MTB.

Last year I started using Strava (turns out it's just like Burnout Paradise but in the real and on bikes!), bought a road bike after running my roadified MTB into the ground, shaved my legs, did a couple of sportives (both centuries) and a couple of other events (I didn't come last), got my first few Strava KOMs, clocked up 7000 miles, hit 57mph on a downhill and had my first taste of training on Turbos, Rollers and Wattbikes and decided I prefer the real thing.

If I can do it so can anyone, I'll never be the fittest or fastest, I can't climb well, but I really enjoy it. Only times I don't enjoy it is when I'm ill, even then I can do the minimum ride to work in a sedentary 30 minutes.

@KB, you forgot to mention going clipless and getting a Garmin!

Kieran_Burns

Initialised wrote:

@KB, you forgot to mention going clipless and getting a Garmin!

It was a quick list I didn't want to list ALL the intermediate steps 8)

Southgate

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Then n+1 kicks in.

Then the rules

Then the post "I'd like to do a sportive"

Eventually l'etape du tour gets into conversations....

Then you buy a turbo

Then you shave your legs

Then you get your licence and start racing

Then you run out of hours in the day so you stop seeing your friends

And finally the missus leaves you...

Big Ted

cycool - nice one. If you can do it this time of year, you'll be loving it when the better weather comes, that's for sure. All about making a habit of it. 8)

drummer_boy

Southgate wrote:

Then you buy a turbo
Then you shave your legs
Then you get your licence and start racing
Then you run out of hours in the day so you stop seeing your friends
And finally the missus leaves you...

Then shaving your legs becomes a conversation piece on the singles nights

LiveGiantly

Big Ted wrote:

cycool - nice one. If you can do it this time of year, you'll be loving it when the better weather comes, that's for sure. All about making a habit of it. 8)

+1....

joelsim

Yep. Bright wind/rain jacket. Roubaix bib tights. Base layers. snood. little hat. Warm gloves. Job done.

Cycool

Thanks again for all advice, been off the bike for a week due to health, not bike related but nasty business. Am awaiting results and then, god willing, will be back on the bike with a vengeance. Am very frustrated with it all. Will let you know when I'm teetering down the road again, red faced and sweating like a pig!

Cycool

Yay, health scare over! Seems I will be here for a while longer. Great feeling! So back to commuting on bike tomorrow. And am going to treat myself to a Road bike. Was looking at the Ribble Winter Trainer which I love the look of and would be my ultimate bike but 'The Boss' is off on maternity leave and has said 'No!!'. So am looking at either a second hand Allez or http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f95-sora-wiggle-exclusive/. Anyone have any opinions or advice for these bikes? Or maybe point me in the direction of a decent first ride. Low budget of £400 ish sadly but will have money later on for upgrades. I appreciate the B'Twin are good value but just not keen on the looks.
Just want something light and a good base for improving later on. Many thanks for any advice.