Originally Posted by
nathan.johnson
I fell in love with cycling when I bought my second bike.
Interesting. I biked a lot when I was a kid, and when I got a MTB as an adult, it didn't really click for me until I had a blowout and decided to replace the knobby tires with slicks. All of a sudden, cycling was fun and easy again!
She told me that she would like to work up to biking to work one or two days per week and maybe riding along the multi-use path on weekends. The commute is around 5 miles each way, which is well beyond her abilities right now.
That really is a great goal, and if she works up to it, it shouldn't take long to get up to that. I would guess that if the route is flat enough, 10mph avg should be attainable for even an out-of-shape person in less than a month, which gives a half-hour-each-way commute. Hopefully her work has showers. It also helps to plan ahead by stashing clothes/towel/etc the day before. Maybe also try riding to work one morning, getting a ride home and a ride back to work the next day, and riding home the next night.
I would say, encourage her to look for closer/shorter opportunities to ride her bike places in her neighborhood. Does she need a bag of onions? Ride instead of drive to the grocery store, bring them home in a backpack (or pay a little $$ for a front basket). How about a trip to the library? Blockbuster?
Also having a fiancee as a training buddy is good. I find it's a lot easier to stick with fitness goals (or other obligations) if they are really obligations, if someone else is depending on me. They should set aside one or two evenings or mornings a week to ride together. Map out a few-mile loop from home and gradually expand it.