Originally Posted by TrailRider
Labarum - interesting our similarities! I began riding 2 weeks ago - 56 years of age, 6', 195 lbs, Atkins last year but still 15 lbs or so overweight, riding a new Miele Tuscana1 hybrid. Yesterday I biked 20 miles to work in 90 minutes, so averaged 13.5 mph or so, with an heart rate of 140-145 bpm on gently undulating terraine, 165 climbing out of a tunnel under a canal. But with a headwind of 10-15 mph I took 5 or 6 minutes more to get home. Although I thought my heartrate was a little high, there was no discomfort other than aching knees when I pushed hard. Overall I was tickled, actually a little elated, to have accomplished the ride in my first 2 weeks of cycling.
My problem isn't my arms or shoulders - but my tailbone and a numb seat by the end of the ride. A premium gel seat and moving the seat backward helped some - but it's still a problem that's starting to spoil bike riding. So that still needs attention.
Good luck and have fun!
Both Trailrider and Laburum are at the same stage of the riding experience and both seem to be around the same level of fitness and speed. To be quite honest I wish I hade been at the same level as them 2 weeks after I started riding around 14 years ago.
Luckily I don't have a weight problem but just to give you both heart- I am in training for a big ride, and I do not follow the Atkins diet, and in fact with my training, I am on the reverse Atkins as With the extra training I am doing, I have to replace the Carbs that My training is using.
I have still lost 8 lbs in the last 5 weeks to get down to my fighting weight of 145lbs. In 5 weeks time, even with the extra training, but necessary as I will be carbo loading, I will be back up to 150/152lbs. This will be lost During the event or within a couple of days of it, and I will then start the slow progression back up to 155 again.
If you train hard enough, you will see the weight fall off you, but please ensure that you are fit before you push yourself that bit harder. I have been doing extra training since January, and I have only really been able to push myself since the end of March.
On the butt problem, when you get over it, let us know how you did it. Some of us still suffer from the problem after 12 hours in the saddle