As a newbie myself....I started about 4 months ago and was riding a 40 mile route once a week. I thought I was gonna die at 160 BPM at 16 MPH. It was pretty flat and straight with virtually no traffic.
As the months went by I backed away from the 160 bpm mark and went to around 145. That's mostly at the advise I read in these forums. (Thanks guys) I dropped 20 pounds and I can breathe again. In Los Angeles that's a novel thing. Speeds way up and I do 70-110 miles on the weekends with minimal pain or a lot of recovery time. Two 30-40 mile rides after work in the mountains or the flats. I mix em up. Heart rate is up to 170 bpm on the hills.
I don't push the 80-95% thing. It was counter-productive.
What they say about listening to your body is dead on. In the obverse though, if you think that you're not doing enough when you slow down? Don't believe it. You're increasing endurance, body strength, mitochondia count, lung capacity, heart strength, raising your LT, and lowering your blood pressure.
As the months went by I backed away from the 160 bpm mark and went to around 145. That's mostly at the advise I read in these forums. (Thanks guys) I dropped 20 pounds and I can breathe again. In Los Angeles that's a novel thing. Speeds way up and I do 70-110 miles on the weekends with minimal pain or a lot of recovery time. Two 30-40 mile rides after work in the mountains or the flats. I mix em up. Heart rate is up to 170 bpm on the hills.
I don't push the 80-95% thing. It was counter-productive.
What they say about listening to your body is dead on. In the obverse though, if you think that you're not doing enough when you slow down? Don't believe it. You're increasing endurance, body strength, mitochondia count, lung capacity, heart strength, raising your LT, and lowering your blood pressure.