newbie-endurance questions

Hi Taz, I know how you feel, I'm about the same weight and have just started cycling again to loose it. Going up hill really kills me and I have to get off and catch my breath 🙁 I have noticed that over the short time I've been cycling, I'm now making it all the way up the hill where I used to get 2/3 and walk. So I guess perserverence and making note of achievements is the way to go.

Dex

Attack the hills !!!

I dodged riding of the hills at great economic expense - read driving to the trail - whilst I neglected myself from the challenges and joys of being the King Of The Mountain in my own mind 😄

If you have an athletic mindset you will become an athletic person.

CHARGE THOSE HILLS!!!

That is right .... Charge without fear and dont stop pedaling on the way down. Push anyway you can. If sometimes you do 70 ppm, do it. If sometimes you can push 100 ppm ...do it too. Charge charge CHARGE!!!

Thanks; I figured that if I did attack the hills that I would eventually get to where I could do them better. My husband is powering through them and leaving me behind, so it's making me work harder to catch up with him.

Did a hill this weekend that must have been about 7% for about .25mile. I know, not long at all, but when you've not done them, it's hard as [censored]! I made it up the hill, never stopped, just kept on pedaling! I'll have to do this one more often🙂. I will be King Of The Mountain!!!

huhenio said:

Attack the hills !!!

I dodged riding of the hills at great economic expense - read driving to the trail - whilst I neglected myself from the challenges and joys of being the King Of The Mountain in my own mind 😄

If you have an athletic mindset you will become an athletic person.

CHARGE THOSE HILLS!!!

That is right .... Charge without fear and dont stop pedaling on the way down. Push anyway you can. If sometimes you do 70 ppm, do it. If sometimes you can push 100 ppm ...do it too. Charge charge CHARGE!!!

Hi Taz, I'm finding it easier each time I go for a ride. Parts of the track I had to get off and walk I'm finding I can now power through. What I do is set challenges along the way. Look for a marker like a tree, mound of dirt, whatever and then push yourself to make it that far before stopping. After a couple of days, go beyond the mark and keep extending.

Dex

Here is a link that I found for Mountain biking workouts, hope it helps!

www.athletes.com/fun/issa21.htm

When starting an endurance sport, there is not quick fix to getting fit. The work has to be done and the workload has to be built up over time.

When you first start riding, you are in the base period. The bes thting you can do is ride and ride as often as you can. Get comfortable about the bike and your handling skills. Work on trackstands and bunny hops and wheelies to get confident on the bike.

In a couple months, take the distance you've been riding on average and double it one day. Just take enough food and water and go for it. It'll hurt, you'll feel like crying, but after that day, you'll never g back to your previous average, it'll just seem so easy. Soon after that double distance day will be your average ride. A few months later, double it again!

Of course, you need to emphasize sprint and interval workouts after a while, but to start, just ride! Have fun!

:eek: I don't know if this is the best place to post this question, but I need some advice from all you crash experts. 23 year run of cycling without any accidents came to an abrupt end last night. A suburban made an illegal left hand turn from the opposite direction and didn't see me. I slammed into his mirror, put a two foot dent in the door, and shattered the bug deflector. I don't know how I managed to wind up standing when it was all over, but man was it hard to breathe. Today, I'm feeling better (thanks to loritab). No broken bones, just some very painful bruised ribs. The policeman kept saying, "I can't belive the damage you did to that car."

In the split second before impact, I managed to get the front of my bike turned so that it wasn't a direct head on on the front wheel. My rear rim has a slight hop in it from hitting the curb and my front wheel looks O.K. except for needing some slight truing. I'm running Zipp carbon fiber hubs in a Mavic CXP30. I love these wheels, they've been my best friends for thousands of miles, but I'm concerned about what the crash may have done that I can't see. What my best course of action? I really think the wheels should be retired. I just don't want to hit 50mph on the mountain and have a stress fracture take me out. Should I be worried about this? Also, the front fork doesn't look like its been bent, but should I press for a replacement. I'll be talking to the calim adjustor on Monday.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sore and lucky in SLC

I would get the stuff replaced! That sounds like it was a hell of a blow!

Who knows what kind of damage could have been done that you can't see. Good luck with it and it is good the hear that there was no broken bones!

konaman132 said:

I would get the stuff replaced! That sounds like it was a hell of a blow!

Who knows what kind of damage could have been done that you can't see. Good luck with it and it is good the hear that there was no broken bones!

I can't believe I came out of it with just a few scrapes and buises. Thanks for the advise; I'll push for replacing the fork and the wheels.

well taz i would like to inform you that going a hill that way can cause sirious injuries to your health such as heart problems, when you force to much your body to go up a hill with your bike you should do it with an order, first of all you should maintain a general pace, what usually people do is that they go straight up changing gears fastly while they are ascending these makes your heart pump harder and when your body is not used to it problems can occur, you should mantain a same rhythm during the whole track the first times you try it and when your body gets used to it you should start playing with your bike...

Hi I am Cat !
Well I need some help please. I`m feeling very sad. In fact I was quite overweight (79Kg for 1m66)
about 2 years back but I did a diet and finally reach 54kg after about one year. During my
diet I cut out completely on sugar and did 1 hour cycling everyday. Now the problem is that
I was so happy of my new body that I am constantly afraid of returning fat and during my last
holidays I started being very obsessed of this 🙁. What I did was that I cycled more than
4 hours a day (7/7)on my stationary bike (resistance 4). And one day I even reached 9 hours 🙁.Finally when
university started again after this 3 months holidays, I could not do that much so I am actually doing 1Hr
and some times more .Now the problem is that I do`nt know why,a bit before Uni start (Before I did average 1 hr),
I have got a rapid raise in weight (5Kg) and now it has increase by 5 kg more 🙁!. But strangely, even after this raise in 10 kg, nobody seems to notice
it. When I ask, they say me you are still the same ! The only thing I notice about my body is that I feel my legs have become
bigger because when I put my trousers, it becomes quite tight just about the legs.

I am so sad. I do not know what to do. I do not eat much fat, try to cut on sugar, eats lots of fruits and veggies,
no fast food,only whole bread, oatmill and everything I know good for the body and still then I am afraid my weight increase
again. Because for me, in my head, I am becoming fat :,,,(. Please help me...I really need some advice... Please...

Taz: NXT is making a very good and imprtant point. I took up serious cycling 2 years ago: I was 205 lbs and am 5'6" in height. I started doing tough hill climbing routes and in April did a 400 miler for charity (over 5 days). I was delighted with my progress, as my legs became muscular and I really enjoyed getting up the previously unclimbable hills around here.
However my weight stayed the same, and to get up those hills I was running at about 85% to 90% of my max heart rate (MHR) for most of my cycling. I burned no fat as this rate is way too high to be replaced by fat stores.
3 weeks ago I had a heart attack: this was mild and I expect to make a full recovery but the hammering I gave my arteries did not help. I'm 43 years old. Since the attack I've had a lot of advice and the following are the main points I'd like you to consider:
To burn fat you must keep your heart rate under 65% of MHR.
It takes a deficit of 3600 calories to lose 1 pound of fat.
Hard cycling burns about 600 calories per hour, but not of fat if you go above 65% of your MHR. The calories burned will simply be replaced by an increase in appetite.
Exercise helps in a very minor way towards weight loss: the only efficient way to lose weight is to restrict calorie input.

Get a Heart Rate Monitor and keep under 65% MHR, and even on climbs do not go above 80% of your MHR until you are well below the obese (over 30) BMI value for your height.

Even when you are down to a reasonable weight, make sure 75% of your trainign happens below 85% of your MHR.

Think of a this as a long-term plan rather than hitting the hills for a quick fix: if you have a lot more patience than I had you'll gradually lose weight, firm up and be able for anything within 2 years.
Ironically I had come to realise most of this recently but it was too late to prevent the heart attack, so that's why I'm sharing this with other cyclists.
Best of luck.

cats_files said:

I am so sad. I do not know what to do. I do not eat much fat, try to cut on sugar, eats lots of fruits and veggies,
no fast food,only whole bread, oatmill and everything I know good for the body and still then I am afraid my weight increase
again. Because for me, in my head, I am becoming fat :,,,(. Please help me...I really need some advice... Please...

Cat:
Please see the post I submitted to TAZ: basically you won't lose fat unless you are running at 65% or below of your max heart rate, MHR.
This is roughly 220 minus your age: for a 30 year old it would be approximately 190. There is a lot of info out there on MHR and training zones so take a look at some of the reputable training sites. 😎

Hi Cod,
first of all sorry for the late reply.
I can imagine that this must have been a sad and hard experience for you. I hope you are feeling better now...
Thanks a lot for all the advices. This will help me a lot. You have share your experience with me and I appreciate ...
Take care of you and thanks again.

don't eat lean cusine, it'll just make you more hungry in an hour.

Just a thought...hows your hydration during all your training? I used to hate hills when I started as well. Now I drink 48 ounces of bottled water 30 minutes before I ride. I don't use energy bars etc. The fact that you get so well hydrated beforehand lets you use the water you bring along with you as your energy supplement. You are able to sip the water slowly throughout your ride, even in the heat of the day, rather than have the feeling that you need to drain the bottle.

You should be much better prepared to climb hills and lose weight this way!