Hi
I know most of this subject has been covered in a lot of previous posts-and maybe I am after some serious encouragement here-but I need some basic advice about starting again with riding a bike after almost 20 years. I rode a bike a lot as a kid (a long time ago ago now as I am fast approaching 55). I went back to it about 25 years ago but then moved to a new town in 1995 and since then havn't ridden at all!!. I need to build up my stamina as my weight and level of fitness has deteriorated really badly since I took redundancy from a long term job three years ago (think I was so stressed in that job that I burnt off a lot of calories-though not a healthy lifestyle at all). I've tried gyms over the years and went through several periods of going for a few months then stopping, then repeating the cycle over again. My diet has been terrible the last few years too...and this is something I am now addressing and eating a healthy balanced diet, and not eating all the junk. So I am tackling this at all angles. I am about 20/25lbs over my correct weight and boy do I feel it.
I don't have a fancy bike: actually I recently won it in a competition and after months of sitting around in the shed have just taken it into a local newly opened bike co-op shop-they have just sorted it out and got it up to speck. I know its just a hybrid MTB but it will get me started again. Maybe by next summer I will change it up to a better speck bike.
I've been in touch with my local council here and they are sending me local maps of this area with all the bike routes marked on it - many are off road specific bike lanes (riding on roads with car/other heavy traffic isn't something I want to do). There's plenty of beautiful countryside around here, and I live not far from a forest which itself has many miles of bike trails -though it'll be a while before I can attempt anything there (other than the blue type routes)
Guess I'm just looking for advice. I do suffer from asthma and a number of quite bad food allergies but I know this is something I can really enjoy doing as it can be linked to being outdoors which is something I love to.
Thanks
I know most of this subject has been covered in a lot of previous posts-and maybe I am after some serious encouragement here-but I need some basic advice about starting again with riding a bike after almost 20 years. I rode a bike a lot as a kid (a long time ago ago now as I am fast approaching 55). I went back to it about 25 years ago but then moved to a new town in 1995 and since then havn't ridden at all!!. I need to build up my stamina as my weight and level of fitness has deteriorated really badly since I took redundancy from a long term job three years ago (think I was so stressed in that job that I burnt off a lot of calories-though not a healthy lifestyle at all). I've tried gyms over the years and went through several periods of going for a few months then stopping, then repeating the cycle over again. My diet has been terrible the last few years too...and this is something I am now addressing and eating a healthy balanced diet, and not eating all the junk. So I am tackling this at all angles. I am about 20/25lbs over my correct weight and boy do I feel it.
I don't have a fancy bike: actually I recently won it in a competition and after months of sitting around in the shed have just taken it into a local newly opened bike co-op shop-they have just sorted it out and got it up to speck. I know its just a hybrid MTB but it will get me started again. Maybe by next summer I will change it up to a better speck bike.
I've been in touch with my local council here and they are sending me local maps of this area with all the bike routes marked on it - many are off road specific bike lanes (riding on roads with car/other heavy traffic isn't something I want to do). There's plenty of beautiful countryside around here, and I live not far from a forest which itself has many miles of bike trails -though it'll be a while before I can attempt anything there (other than the blue type routes)
Guess I'm just looking for advice. I do suffer from asthma and a number of quite bad food allergies but I know this is something I can really enjoy doing as it can be linked to being outdoors which is something I love to.
Thanks