Just Got a Road Bike, After A Week Cycling Got Harder?

Frice

Hi I come from riding a mountain bike for most of my life, but when I decided to get a new bike I wanted to try out a road bike. I am pretty overweight and unfit so I thought it could help me lose weight. At first I started biking around 10 miles a day which was a lot for me but was not tiring. After doing that everyday for a week I started getting tired. From barely biking a mile I am sweating a storm and can barely breathe, can someone explain what is going on? When I ride my mountain bike everything is fine, I can go even farther than 10 miles, why is it that I can't ride my road bike? If it helps it is a used Sciwinn Phocus 1400.

kesa

Easy. You are just tired. I was the same as you when i started on a road bike from mountain biking - I made the mistake of riding too much too often without getting adequate rest. Also i noticed looking back at my mountain biking i can see that i overestimated my fitness level. I think you have have done the same.

I think a good solution for you is to be progressive. By that i mean ride 3-4 times a week and gradually add km's to your weekly total to build up your base fitness. Maybe 10km per week? Also make sure you are rested before a ride. I always have a rest day between rides and only ride when i feel like it. I never ride 2 days in a row.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

As above, you are over-training for your level of fitness, this was me back in Feb.

Grab a heart rate monitor and the Stravistix plugin for Google Chrome along with Strava if you're not already on there. Use the the HRM for all your rides and Stravistix's "multisport fitness trend" will give you an indication of when you are over-doing it.

StillGoing

Your back brake binding or gearing incorrectly? I don't see that you can still ride your mtb but can't ride the road bike equates to over training. If it were, you wouldn't be able to ride either.

fenix

Yeah - pick up the bike and spin the wheels to make sure they're going round OK. Must be a mechanical thing. My money is on back wheel has slipped and is rubbing on frame.

stormsedge

I agree it is probably something binding or rubbing on the new bike. That said, I caused myself some pain on my new bike over the last month trying to push bigger gears than I was used to...had to get that speed to qualify the purchase price. When I refocused on my cadence and heart rate the ride and recovery became much more pleasant. You may also find that you need to ride some number of miles or minutes to get warmed up before pushing harder. For me, (over 60 yo) the magic number is 10 miles...when I reach that with my heart rate under control, I am pretty much good for anything, but if I let my heart rate get too high or I can't get it down at or around the 10 mile mark, I head for the house-a 20 mile day. Your thresholds will vary based on conditioning, but pay attention to your heart rate (and cadence)...AND rest when you need rest. When I started riding in January, I seldom rode three days in a row...now I might go four days in a row, but two of those days will be limited to 20 miles. Btw, if you've changed your diet for better fitness, that may be a factor as well.

steve91

Can't emphasise resting any more than what others have, but I know that after commuting up and down hills daily during the week, I feel so much better on the following monday if I haven't ridden the weekend as opposed to if I'd ridden on the saturday.

Frice

philthy3 wrote:

Your back brake binding or gearing incorrectly? I don't see that you can still ride your mtb but can't ride the road bike equates to over training. If it were, you wouldn't be able to ride either.

stormsedge wrote:

I agree it is probably something binding or rubbing on the new bike. That said, I caused myself some pain on my new bike over the last month trying to push bigger gears than I was used to...had to get that speed to qualify the purchase price. When I refocused on my cadence and heart rate the ride and recovery became much more pleasant. You may also find that you need to ride some number of miles or minutes to get warmed up before pushing harder. For me, (over 60 yo) the magic number is 10 miles...when I reach that with my heart rate under control, I am pretty much good for anything, but if I let my heart rate get too high or I can't get it down at or around the 10 mile mark, I head for the house-a 20 mile day. Your thresholds will vary based on conditioning, but pay attention to your heart rate (and cadence)...AND rest when you need rest. When I started riding in January, I seldom rode three days in a row...now I might go four days in a row, but two of those days will be limited to 20 miles. Btw, if you've changed your diet for better fitness, that may be a factor as well.

Fenix wrote:

Yeah - pick up the bike and spin the wheels to make sure they're going round OK. Must be a mechanical thing. My money is on back wheel has slipped and is rubbing on frame.

Yea this was the case, my wheel was loose which caused it to sway when I biked. That lead to it hitting the brakes which made it harder to pedal. Thank you for solving my problem, I really appreciate it you guys.