Originally Posted by
Sr. Tortuga
So I got on my bike for the first time in seven years this weekend. Everything was harder than I’d remembered it:
- Felt like I was working way too hard to be going so slow
- Legs were already feeling the burn after 20 minutes (though I was able to stay in the saddle a total 45 minutes, 15 minutes longer than I’d planned)
- Took almost 15 minutes to relearn shifting
- Balance is all off, riding with no-hands used to be a piece of cake, now it’s wobbly and scary
- Paranoid around cars, fortunately didn’t have to deal with too many as it was super early and stuck to side streets
- My keister is killing me, as is my lower back – I’ve forgotten how painful the seat, and that position, is when you’re not used to them
On the plus side, I was able to snap in and out of the clips ok without falling, and I never really lost my breath – while the muscles were weak and tired too easily, my cardio held up respectably.
I wasn’t in unbearable pain or anything like that, but I definitely felt sore the rest of the day and into Sunday. Got it together to get on the bike again this morning for a 30 minute ride and was pleased to find that while the seat was still uncomfortable, it wasn’t as bad as Saturday’s ride, so I guess I’m already starting to adapt. My hope is to do 2-3 more 30 minutes rides this week and then do a full hour on Saturday; ride most days next week (30 minutes) and gradually keep adding on till I can commute to and from work by mid-August (18-20 miles round trip).
Any one else come back to cycling after extended time off? How long before I get my groove back?
Yeah, stopped riding in 1984 (bought a car, sold the bike, yeah I know, stupid), started riding again in 2005, so 3 times as long. Found the old saying that you never really forget how to ride a bicycle is actually true. You probably were mashing in too high a gear, which is why it seemed like working too hard for the speed you were going. Leg burn, often attributed to lactic acid, although they are not so sure anymore about that anymore. I had no problems with shifting, came back pretty fast. Balance, comes back, I don't know how long though, I have two bicycles and the mountain bike, I can't ride no hands for more then a second or two, the road bike I can ride no hands for hours, it has a lot more trail though. I've had it a much shorter time though. Cars, there are a couple of ways to deal with the paranoia, a good mirror is one of them, wearing at least something high-viz also helps, if you want something inexpensive, visit a place that sells to construction, and pick up one of those construction vests, in some ways it's better as cagers are familiar with them on road crews. The seat if it was comfortable before, will probably be comfortable again, it takes a while to get your kester back into shape, after all that time on soft upholstery.