1st new bike in 20 yrs...

[Kiloton]

Greetings all, G'day mates...

Just wanting to say hello to all who visit the forums here frequently. I purchased new bikes for my wife and I last week for the first time since I was about 14. A Giant OCR 2 Compact Road in Silver/Black/Yellow for me and my wife didn't want a serious road bike so she got a Giant Cypress DX in Green and Silver. I'm now 34 and I badly need to improve my fitness level before its too late. I'm 5'11 and weigh 182 lbs. My max weight has been as high as 192 lbs. When I was younger say early twenties my weight avg. was prolly 160 lbs. so I've gained about 30lbs over the last 10 yrs or so. Too much computer and video gaming for me. Can you say "I've been seriously inactive" for awhile now. hehe...

I'll have to admit that Lance Armstrong has motivated me to start cycling and he is an American Hero in my opinion.

Wow I cannot believe what I have been missing all these years of not cycling. My first week is now in the books and I was able to get in about 35 miles of riding and Wow was it fun fun fun I loved it.

If anyone has any good web site links related to cycling please post them here as a reply I need to read up on the sport as well as how a beginner should approach it. Great web forum here by the way...


Thx from Kentucky, U.S.A.

 

[dallasbikr]

Welcome Kiloton....

I too am back to riding after a long layoff (6 yrs). 2 weeks ago, once around the block almost killed me. Last night went 10 miles at 16mph and was only mildly winded .

I'm abot the same size as you but a little shorter. No new bike though...sluggin it out on my old one from '87...

Keep it up and don't go to hard too fast...you'll pull something

DallasBikr

 

[Kiloton]

Hi dallasbikr,

Thx for the reply...I'm trying to take it nice and easy for awhile. Been riding about 7 or 8 miles a day at an avg. speed of 11-12 mph so far. Gonna have to look into one of those fancy HRM's soon I guess.

Thx
Kiloton

 

[dallasbikr]

Why? Stick two fingers against your carotid artery in your neck and count the beats for 6 seconds. Multiply by ten and you know your beats per minute.

I've logged over 15K miles on various bikes over the years (not counting all the BMX racing), and never needed the really fancy stuff. Seems more fit for someone WAY more competitive and training seriously for an event....but that may just be me

 

[daviddobedoe]

Hi dallasbikr,

Thx for the reply...I'm trying to take it nice and easy for awhile. Been riding about 7 or 8 miles a day at an avg. speed of 11-12 mph so far. Gonna have to look into one of those fancy HRM's soon I guess.

Thx
Kiloton

The following are some notes I have writen with my brother who runs fast marathons for people starting out with running, i don't think there is a huge difference for cycling, the key to this is to not work to hard, build up gently and use a 'fancy' heart rate monitor to help you do this. You don't need a fancy one but you mind find it fun to have all those funky features to play with. Its not your speed on the bike that counts, its the effort your putting in. Good luck keep it up.

The key principle of training is progressive adaptation to stress. Any increase in the volume or intensity of your training needs to be gradual to allow your body to adapt. A well structured training program must include rest; without it, your body will not consolidate the fitness and strength gained through training. Rest may take the form of inactivity, alternative low intensity aerobic exercise or easy running. It is the combination of the stress provided by the running and the recovery that leads to fitness gains.

The most important thing is that the bulk of your training should be low intensity. In terms of perceived intensity you should be able to comfortably hold a conversation.

Low intensity in terms of heart rate can be thought of as 70% of your working range.

e.g. My Little Bro
Resting Heart rate 45 bpm
Max Heart 195 bpm

Therefore the working range is 150 beats
70 % of 150= 105 plus rest rate of 45 = 150

Hence for Little Brother's low intensity training his heart rate should be below 150 bpm.
If this means that he has to mix running and walking to keep below 150 bpm he does so; it is better than going too hard.

 

[jon_stewart]

Have to completely agree with David (above) Going too hard in an unstructured manner is too easy, and doesn't produce gain. My 70% is about 140 - my doctor also suggested anything above 140 was ineffecient (he was right).

I started 3 weeks ago with 3 endurance runs a week (tue, thu, sat) Started at 10km and added 4 Km to every ride. Am now at 38Km. I feel pushed the same degree every time, as I stretch out and try and do further. This routine works for me. On off days I might take an easy ride of 5-10Kms, but nothing harder.

HRM's need not be expensive. I see one of our local supermarkets is selling one at £12 GBP; just does the basics, but so what. Constantly feeling your neck while riding is just a distraction, whereas glancing at the hrm on the bars aint. I'd recommend them!

So keep it slow and keep going!