I’ve been riding a bike (road and mountain) for some years in the past, I have found at the hard way that developing better skills is not as simple as pedal as hard and long as you can as often as possible…. I started riding a mountain bike by doctor’s recommendation after a kidney stone surgery 6 years ago, I liked it so much that I started to ride almost everyday, of course very light rides, then I went to road biking and loved it to… after some time I started to see improvements in my body resistance and started to leave the leaders behind (not professionals, just a pack of friends) we made some 30-40 miles rides occasionally and everything seems to be perfect, I thought I was ready for the tour de France….Than I switch jobs and had a co-worker that is an actual thri-athlete, in the first ride with him I came back to earth, after the first half mile I never saw him again until he was coming back. After some advices from him I discovered the heart rate monitor, the 5 zones and the meaning of them. I got the most simple polar Heart rate monitor and started to follow a very simple program where I started to ride at 90 RPM at different levels of the heart zones, I was very discipline during a couple of months, that year I won a bet to a friend (he was self claimed the king of spinning) as he won some resistance contest at his gym (like 3 hours marathon of spinning class), that year we ran the Rosarito Ensenada 50 mile race, I got 32 minutes earlier than him to the finish line (Apr 2005). This is the last ride I can remember, after that I started to get lazy and gain some pounds, I fall into a depression lapse without any apparently reason, I started at different gyms weight lifting, spinning, boxing, yoga and so on, I never last more than 2 days or classes…. during this last year nothing seems to be motivational enough to continue. I received a visit from a friend a month ago, we used to play in a rock band some years ago, we went over some old pictures where I was 185 lbs and 31 inches waist without any exercising at all (age 20-25), then I said ^%@#$% I need to do something before I suffer a heart attack or something. I am 35 and I was 274 lbs 2 weeks ago and 40 inch waist, I went to see a nutrition doctor and after 2 weeks now I am 266 still 40 inches at waist but feeling much better, according to her, I need to get to 190-195, now I’m determined on not quitting the nutrition program and never go back to junk food and potato couching again, I started Yoga and is helping in keep the momentum to continue, but of course where I feel great is into cycling, I took out my Yety Mountain and Cannondale Road bikes, I got some new apparel, helmet and garmin 301 heart rate monitor with GPS as I want to explore the Sonora-Arizona mountains and back trails, my goal is to ride 40-70 miles by the 3rd quarter of 2007 and of course some more weight off my body. I need some help on finding a training program that shows you how to train using the heart rate zones, I know it can be developed by myself but I definitely will feel more confident if this is a tested program, or if some of you expertise guys can advise on a weekly training program I’ll really appreciate it (one hour during weekdays 2 hours on weekends), specifically to loose weight as a beginner, endurance will come much later…. I have learned to have patience…. Thanks for your patience and comprehension, I hope I haven’t bored you with my silly story but….I feel better now just by writing it.
