New to Cycling - Advice Please

I myself am a newbie as well and have asked the same questions on other forums. What I found that helped me the most was joining a club and going out with them to pick their brains. I have found that for me carbs is the way to go, I realize this goes against all wieght loss ideas most people have but when cycling for distance you need carbs for energy to burn, also are you eating while riding. People in the club advised me this is very important and it has made a huge difference in my average speed, distance and recovery time, what you eat is up to you but I find granola bars and dried fruit work the best for me, and remember to drink lots of water, on a 3 hour ride I'll typically drink 3 liters water and 750ml orange juice, some people like sports drink but it makes my stomach upset and slows me down. Hopefully this will hwlp but remember I'm a newbie too.🙂

BigUgly said:

I myself am a newbie as well and have asked the same questions on other forums. What I found that helped me the most was joining a club and going out with them to pick their brains. I have found that for me carbs is the way to go, I realize this goes against all wieght loss ideas most people have but when cycling for distance you need carbs for energy to burn, also are you eating while riding. People in the club advised me this is very important and it has made a huge difference in my average speed, distance and recovery time, what you eat is up to you but I find granola bars and dried fruit work the best for me, and remember to drink lots of water, on a 3 hour ride I'll typically drink 3 liters water and 750ml orange juice, some people like sports drink but it makes my stomach upset and slows me down. Hopefully this will hwlp but remember I'm a newbie too.🙂

Thanks for that. Sounds like you are going very well. I am well away from a 3 hour ride, but I drink on the ride but do not eat, so this may help. Appreciate your response.

* amazon.com105 7937933 8488423Open ↗

* Raw honey with water and 1/5 Gatorade (during and immediately after ride), PBJ per hour

* Not thinking about it pace is to slow, breathing out of control pace is to fast push it but stay in the "sweet spot training" range as much as possible, ride 1 to 4 hours depending on intensity you choose. Choose rides that allow you to keep pedaling.

DavidOz said:

* leads on good articles / books to establish a training plan.
* Dietary advice for early morning rides - I ride at around 5am midweek before work (what should I eat before and after).
* I cannot seem to increase my speed very much at the moment. Average speed is around 24km/h, but a relatively flat area. Should I increase distance or avge speed first.

I love cycling and can't wait to get out each time, but I seem to need my recovery days, particularly after weekend ride - must be old!!!

Any advice appreciated.

Riding more is always good as would riding more often be. But that depends on the time you have available.

Suggest you pick some sections of the ride (say a 5km section) where you push yourself quite hard just for that section (say 8-10 minutes at a time). Then recover easy and try again 10 minutes later. Doing "intervals" like that where you go fast for shorter periods is a good way to balance the slower endurance effort and get much fitter. A hill climb would be perfect if you have one that long nearby.

Do them as part of your currrent training loop once mid week and throw them into the longer weekend ride as well. The other mid week ride, try to generally ride steady but keep pushing your own effort level up (sweet spot training as has been mentioned before).

Find a steady hill to climb and time yourself. Then do it again after one month of trying these "interval" efforts and see the improvement.

Most important - do what you enjoy and make sure you are comfortable on the bike. That way you'll want to ride more, which is a good thing.

Good luck!

DavidOz said:

Any advice appreciated.

Nobody has yet suggested you get a power meter and/or a coach. Perhaps they assume you can't afford it or are not serious enough to justify the cost. But I will assume you have got some spare cash and are serious about getting fitter. Therefore you might want to consider getting a power meter (I've got a PowerTap SL that I think is great), some software to record and analyze the data (I think CyclingPeaks WKO+ is the best) and a coach (there are several here in this forum, but Ric is my choice). I'm not a newbie to bike riding, but I have only been training with the above for less than one year and I can see a real difference in my performance. I'm older than you by the way.
There is a separate forum here on Power Training.

I think you can find more answers to your questions by searching this forum.

Good luck.

JungleBiker said:

Nobody has yet suggested you get a power meter and/or a coach. Perhaps they assume you can't afford it or are not serious enough to justify the cost. But I will assume you have got some spare cash and are serious about getting fitter. Therefore you might want to consider getting a power meter (I've got a PowerTap SL that I think is great), some software to record and analyze the data (I think CyclingPeaks WKO+ is the best) and a coach (there are several here in this forum, but Ric is my choice). I'm not a newbie to bike riding, but I have only been training with the above for less than one year and I can see a real difference in my performance. I'm older than you by the way.
There is a separate forum here on Power Training.

I think you can find more answers to your questions by searching this forum.

Good luck.

Nice thoughts. BTW - for my sins I became an RST Associate Coach!

Alex Simmons said:

BTW - for my sins I became an RST Associate Coach!

Hi Alex, Yeah I know, 'cos my coach seems to be suffering more from your "little" accident than you! 😄 Anyhow, good luck with the rehab.
JB.

JungleBiker said:

Nobody has yet suggested you get a power meter and/or a coach. Perhaps they assume you can't afford it or are not serious enough to justify the cost. But I will assume you have got some spare cash and are serious about getting fitter. Therefore you might want to consider getting a power meter (I've got a PowerTap SL that I think is great), some software to record and analyze the data (I think CyclingPeaks WKO+ is the best) and a coach (there are several here in this forum, but Ric is my choice). I'm not a newbie to bike riding, but I have only been training with the above for less than one year and I can see a real difference in my performance. I'm older than you by the way.
There is a separate forum here on Power Training.

I think you can find more answers to your questions by searching this forum.

Good luck.

Thanks J/Biker and others for your input. I have started speaking to some people at LBS regarding coaching and assistance with training. Will investigate the power meter as well.

Regards, David

DavidOz said:

Thanks J/Biker and others for your input. I have started speaking to some people at LBS regarding coaching and assistance with training. Will investigate the power meter as well.

Regards, David

If you do look at the power meter possibility, then I would strongly recommend a book to read: "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by Allen & Coggan. Best few bucks you can spend even before going the power route.

amazon.com1931382794Open ↗

Indeed it's a good investment anyway as it talks though all the training principles as well as provides good advice on the various technologies available. (I have no vested interest in the book's sale - it is just the must have book on the subject IMO).

If you get a coach, then one well versed in training with power would be recommended. If you get to that stage, then by all means contact myself or Ric Stern at Richard Stern Training, we would be happy to discuss helping out. Details are all listed here:
cyclecoach.comcyclecoach.comOpen ↗

wiredued said:

* amazon.com105 7937933 8488423Open ↗

* Raw honey with water and 1/5 Gatorade (during and immediately after ride), PBJ per hour

* Not thinking about it pace is to slow, breathing out of control pace is to fast push it but stay in the "sweet spot training" range as much as possible, ride 1 to 4 hours depending on intensity you choose. Choose rides that allow you to keep pedaling.

Thanks for your advice - would you mind giving me the idiots version of 1/5 gatorade (is this 20% strength) and "PBJ per hour?
Also, how is intensity defined? Sorry mate - appreciate your time.

Dietary advice for morning rides:

For me it depends on how long or how hard I plan on going. Less than 2 hours I wont eat at all before, but will use Cytomax and maybe a goo on the ride. If I plan to do efforts, ie intervals or climbing I'll eat a bar as well.
Afterwords get in some leam protein and some good carbs, oatmeal, healthy cereal, fruit etc.

Increasing speed: Intervals are a good way to improve speed. Increase your intensity by increasing cadence, use a bigger gear, or increase how hard you are turning the pedals for a given time. Say 10 to 15 min warm up then add your intervals. Ie 5min work, 10 min rest, then repeat 2 or 3 times to start. Intervals times and intensity's depend on a lot of factors. One I like to do is while riding a climb. Stand for a 1min, sit for 1min, stand for 2, sit for 2, stand for 3, recover for 10 repeat.

Another way to increase speed is to drop weight if you need to. Power to weight.

Recovery is probably the most important aspect of training so take those days when you need to. Riding lower power and or HR zones is away to do active recovery as well.

DavidOz said:

Very New - Got a Trek road bike about 2 months ago, and have been riding about 3 times per week. 25km mid week X 2 and 1 x 35-40. Would like some help. I am 40yo and wanting to get fit - not sure about racing at all.

Questions:-

* leads on good articles / books to establish a training plan.
* Dietary advice for early morning rides - I ride at around 5am midweek before work (what should I eat before and after).
* I cannot seem to increase my speed very much at the moment. Average speed is around 24km/h, but a relatively flat area. Should I increase distance or avge speed first.

I love cycling and can't wait to get out each time, but I seem to need my recovery days, particularly after weekend ride - must be old!!!

Any advice appreciated.