Big hello from me!

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Comments

  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Mhrock86 wrote:
    Most important thing is that you do what you enjoy. I love the gym, and now I am beginning to find a new love in cycling. It doesnt mean I will never go to the gym again, it just means I will replace some sessions with cycles, in the hope that the extra cardio will keep my ever growing man belly in check as I age and my testosterone levels inevitably drop, and my weight sessions seems increasingly more difficult.

    Cheers!

    Diet for weight loss, exercise for fitness. You can of course do both.

    I've discovered the hard way that it's still possible to eat and drink more calories that you burn regardless of how much cycling you do.
  • Mhrock86 wrote:
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.

    3 stone :shock: wowee. Well done! That must have been a lot of hard work.

    How often were you cycling to lose that much weight if you dont mind me asking?

    According to Strava I have done 125 rides this year, dropped from 14 to 11 stone.

    To be fair on the days I don't ride I always do something, walk, manual labour etc, not one who can sit still and relax.

    Was always about 11 stone until I had to give up football and that is when the weight went on. Still love my beer and food though!!
  • shiznit76
    shiznit76 Posts: 640
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.


    Were you dieting also? That's a fair ammount to shift in a year
  • shiznit76 wrote:
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.


    Were you dieting also? That's a fair ammount to shift in a year

    No shiznit, love me food. The weight just seemed to drop off, must admit even thought I may be Ill at one stage but feel fine.
  • Mhrock86 wrote:
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.

    3 stone :shock: wowee. Well done! That must have been a lot of hard work.

    How often were you cycling to lose that much weight if you dont mind me asking?

    According to Strava I have done 125 rides this year, dropped from 14 to 11 stone.

    To be fair on the days I don't ride I always do something, walk, manual labour etc, not one who can sit still and relax.

    Was always about 11 stone until I had to give up football and that is when the weight went on. Still love my beer and food though!!

    How long were these cycles? My God! On your Strava app, what's the distance?
  • bianchimoon
    bianchimoon Posts: 3,942
    Welcome Oli, glad you're enjoying cycling, lots of good advice above, just to add my bit. As you've been doing a lot of weight training, strong legs etc you'll probably be inclined to push a harder gear, I was the same for years, but one of the best bit of advice I ever received was from a respected local cycling veteran "when you find the gear you're comfortable in, go up one so you spin a little faster" as cycling performance is mainly cardio that's the muscle to work.
    I wouldn't expect to get much better flexibility without off the bike stretches/yoga type workouts. Keep it going!
    All lies and jest..still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest....
  • Mhrock86 wrote:
    Mhrock86 wrote:
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.

    3 stone :shock: wowee. Well done! That must have been a lot of hard work.

    How often were you cycling to lose that much weight if you dont mind me asking?

    According to Strava I have done 125 rides this year, dropped from 14 to 11 stone.

    To be fair on the days I don't ride I always do something, walk, manual labour etc, not one who can sit still and relax.

    Was always about 11 stone until I had to give up football and that is when the weight went on. Still love my beer and food though!!

    How long were these cycles? My God! On your Strava app, what's the distance?

    Just shy of 5k. Although I did start mixing up the rides, instead of just going for a ride I would do some interval training and hill reps, found this to be very beneficial for me, may not work for all but I felt it helped.
  • Mhrock86 wrote:
    Mhrock86 wrote:
    If I could just add my for what its worth reading the cycling / bib shorts.

    At the outset I would not overspend on these. In a year of cycling I lost three stone and all my shorts ended up being way to big. So much so that I have bought new cheaper ones, unpicked the pads from the ones which are now to big and sewn them into the cheap ones thus getting a double pad and they are incredibly comfortable.

    3 stone :shock: wowee. Well done! That must have been a lot of hard work.

    How often were you cycling to lose that much weight if you dont mind me asking?

    According to Strava I have done 125 rides this year, dropped from 14 to 11 stone.

    To be fair on the days I don't ride I always do something, walk, manual labour etc, not one who can sit still and relax.

    Was always about 11 stone until I had to give up football and that is when the weight went on. Still love my beer and food though!!

    How long were these cycles? My God! On your Strava app, what's the distance?

    Just shy of 5k. Although I did start mixing up the rides, instead of just going for a ride I would do some interval training and hill reps, found this to be very beneficial for me, may not work for all but I felt it helped.

    That's an average of 40km a ride???? That's like two hours, or just short, every time you go out? Chaos. Respect from me.
  • Welcome Oli, glad you're enjoying cycling, lots of good advice above, just to add my bit. As you've been doing a lot of weight training, strong legs etc you'll probably be inclined to push a harder gear, I was the same for years, but one of the best bit of advice I ever received was from a respected local cycling veteran "when you find the gear you're comfortable in, go up one so you spin a little faster" as cycling performance is mainly cardio that's the muscle to work.
    I wouldn't expect to get much better flexibility without off the bike stretches/yoga type workouts. Keep it going!

    Thanks Bianchimoon!

    Great response, and you are completely right. I am definitely finding myself comfortable in harder gears, pushing to go quickly through. I feel so strange in higher gears pedaling like mad, it kind of feels inefficient?

    On the flexibility front, I could barely get my leg over the bike before, now I am comfortable getting on, during and getting off - mostly. ;) I wanted to also improve balance, coordination etc which I am most definitely doing, after almost falling off several times since starting, but it seems my old days as a kid cycling for 10 years between 4 and 14 have come back to me, as I am really getting back into my vibe recently. More confident about where I am planted, where I am going etc. A couple of close shaves made me realise/learn how well my bike handles and gave me confidence to push the corners a bit more, but there is loads of room for more!!
  • keef66 wrote:
    Belgian cap is a must for me at this time of year; peak is handy for keeping rain off specs and for ducking behind if blinded by oncoming dickhead with lights on main beam, ear flaps are vital if you don't want to freeze your ears off, but can be folded up if it turns out warmer than you thought.

    I have a Castelli Difesa which is windstopper and fairly water resistant, but the cheaper ones do pretty much the same thing.

    You can never have too many buffs.

    Cheers Keef! I had no idea what a Belgian cap was until I just googled it. Great advice, thanks so much!

    Ear flaps.....this is exactly what I was looking for, especially considering the evenings right about now are dropping to 0.

    Thanks mate! :)
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,974
    Re winter caps, this is a little beauty, and around £20:

    https://www.wiggle.co.uk/rapha-pro-team-winter-hat/

    I had a brand new Pactimo winter cap which was too big for me, and only sold it a couple of weeks ago for a fiver, could have been perfect for you :-(
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • Hi Oli, enter a sportive, it will give you something to aim for,
    https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... ay_of_week[]=1&day_of_week[]=2&day_of_week[]=3&day_of_week[]=4&day_of_week[]=5&day_of_week[]=6&day_of_week[]=7&resultsperpage=30&series_only=0&online_entry_only=0&zuv_bc_event_filter_item_id[]=7
  • mac111051 wrote:
    Hi Oli, enter a sportive, it will give you something to aim for,
    https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... ay_of_week[]=1&day_of_week[]=2&day_of_week[]=3&day_of_week[]=4&day_of_week[]=5&day_of_week[]=6&day_of_week[]=7&resultsperpage=30&series_only=0&online_entry_only=0&zuv_bc_event_filter_item_id[]=7

    Thank you Mac! I have been looking at Ride reigate but can't decide 50 or 100k. Need more training for the 100 I reckon. It's in July tho!
  • Daniel B wrote:
    Re winter caps, this is a little beauty, and around £20:

    https://www.wiggle.co.uk/rapha-pro-team-winter-hat/

    I had a brand new Pactimo winter cap which was too big for me, and only sold it a couple of weeks ago for a fiver, could have been perfect for you :-(

    Nice one Daniel cheers mate! Got the hat off the CRC app! Free delivery !! Yessss
  • yiannism
    yiannism Posts: 345
    For the bibshorts i suggest endura FS-260, maybe the best shorts that you can buy under 100, and in general Endura products have great quality on a fair price.
  • YiannisM wrote:
    For the bibshorts i suggest endura FS-260, maybe the best shorts that you can buy under 100, and in general Endura products have great quality on a fair price.

    Thanks so much Yiannis :)

    A tad pricey for a beginner, but I will definitely take a look and see if I can see any sales on!