Total Beginers Guide



CAgan

New Member
Feb 24, 2005
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I am looking for some tips as a total beginer. It has been almost 10 years since I was last on a bike, and this week my new Trek 7200FX will be in. It will be delivered and fitted at the bike shop and ready for me to ride in about a week. I know I will not be able to go out and hit 20 miles on the first day, as my excercise has been slim to none over the last 6 years.

Important points:
a) I am not looking to start racing, at all. Period.

b) I am intrested in group rides and fundraisers and such, but that will be the extent of "long rides"

c) I am looking at this as a fitness and weightloss method. (Currently 5'8" 215lbs, linebacker build)

Questions:
a) I currently eat what I want in moderation, what foods should I move away from (I am not a bad eater, I dont eat junk food to speek of, but I have pasta and fish and steak and chicken... lots of chicken, and a wide assortment of veggies)

b) I am looking for a 6 day routine, moderate rides on monday, wed, friday(we will see how many friday rides happen). Light rides on tuesday, and thurs, with a long ride on saturday, pushing 20 miles. Is this an ok method for a fitness rider?

c) What clothes should I have on? I live in East Texas and even in early march we are above 70^f in the afternoons.

d) If I hit the road and do 4 to 5 miles the first day out and come back dead tired, and very sore the next day, what whould my course of action be?
 
Hey, first welcome to the club! Second, if you are getting your bike from a good shop, they should be able to answer most of these questions. They should be able to tell you about beginner/instructional groups rides. Those are pretty common wherever you go now, and they are a great way to learn the ropes. A bike is a great tool for purposes of general fitness and weight loss. And you will find plenty of folks doing the same thing that you are interested in doing.

In terms of weight loss, the key is to burn more calories than you are taking in. And the good news is that if you ride at a moderate pace, you can end up burning more fat than not. Just start to understand how many calories you are taking in each day. Limit the garbage calories where you can, or be prepared to be disappointed in your results. Your indicated diet looks pretty good, which will really help.

I was in about the same situation as you about 6 months ago. The best thing that I ever did was to get The Lance Armstrong's Performance Program - Seven Weeks To The Perfect Ride. I'll bet that your bike shop even has it. This book has a lot of really good information for the beginner rider. Even better, it has suggested 6-day per week training programs that cover 7 week periods. There is a beginner program, intermediate program and an advanced program. I started off riding the beginner program, and did that a couple of times. Then I tested my progress, and finding that I had mad some really good improvement, I moved up to the intermediate program. I did that as my primary fitness workout ever since. Lately I have been mixing in a bit of the advanced elements and am still finding that my fitness and abilities are improving.

As for clothes, you can ask your bike shop what they would recommend. The smartest thing that I ever did was to get some bikes shorts. That little bit of padding makes a huge difference, especially when you are first starting out. I wore the combination bike shorts that come with a padded inner layer and baggy shorts on the outside. I also got some good basic riding jerseys. They help to manage sweat really well and I could see after the first ride why guys use them.

As far as what to expect, a lot of that depends on what kind of shape you are in and how many of your riding muscles you are currently using. I rode really easy for about the first month, even before attempting to begin the Performance Program beginner plan. When I first started, I couldn't make it a couple of miles before my legs gave out. I was sore for most of those early days too. Just the process of getting used to sitting on your bike is going to do that. The smartest thing that I ever did was just to give my body that chance to get used to being on the bike, and all while doing easy paced rides. Did I get tired, hell yeah. Were there times when my muscles burned, you bet. I remember having to skip this one mondo hill in my neighborhood all together at the start. It just was more than I could do. A couple of weeks later, I decided to give it a go and to my surprise found out one day that I could climb it. The next week, I climbed it up and back 4 times in a row just to show it who was boss. Did my muscles hurt the next day, you bet. But it was the most satisfying hurt that I could have possibly felt. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Once I got my fitness level up, and had learned how to be safe and competent on a bike again, I was ready to test/benchmark my fitness as the book suggests and start their beginner training program. In the six months since, I have gone from not being able to complete the 2.5 mile loop around my neighborhood, to having just completed my first 75-mile ride. When I started I was a good 25 pounds over-weight. Today I have lost all of that and am having no trouble keeping it off.

You are definitely on the right track, and you are smart to be asking these questions. Good luck with it! Hope this helps. ;)
 
Thanks for the answer. I found out that a local community college instructor held a world record in distance cycling. And I kinda know the guy. So I am going to send him some emails as well. The Bike shop is Wolley G's Bike and Fitness in longview texas. They seem to know what they are doing. They could have sold me a much more expensive bike, but I think they have helped me select the right bike, i am sure there will be upgrades in the future.. but lets work to that point and not try to move too fast.

Saturday looks like the day when I can pick the bike up. I am in dallas today, so i am going to hit a few places and start picking up some gear and such. Thanks for the info.