Mountain Biking - Newbie Greetings!

Greetings from Western MA. Just getting back into riding after 6 years. Man, my cardio is horrible (worse than I thought).

Anyhow, any suggestions on ways to quickly improve my cardio? There's a weekly group ride I will continue to attend and some early am rides w/a co-worker, but I don't want to be the one slowing the pack.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

BUMP... I am sure there are opinions, let's hear them! No intent to start a flame war, really...

I guess all you can really do is keep riding. Start small and slowly increase your speed and time each time you ride. You'll be back in shape in no time. :)

I ride about 1-2 hours every night on the pavement (if I can't get to the trails). I try to keep a fast, steady pace 15-20MPH. You probably will not be able to keep that pace just yet but start out slow and work up to as fast as you can without getting sick.

You will not see results immediately. I will take some time but it will help when you hit the trails.

aerobic intervals ?

I apprecaite the suggestions! Thank-you!

Ride alot, use a faster cadence, go to the gym and use a treadmill, etc.

Greetings from Western MA. Just getting back into riding after 6 years. Man, my cardio is horrible (worse than I thought).

Anyhow, any suggestions on ways to quickly improve my cardio? There's a weekly group ride I will continue to attend and some early am rides w/a co-worker, but I don't want to be the one slowing the pack.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

So you live in MA?? I heard if you don't vote for Ted Kennedy your cardio will quickly improve.

Seriously though, nothing works better than just keeping a constant schedule and keeping track of your pacing, mileage etc so you can notice your improvements and see whats working. I was significantly out of shape awhile back and I designed my ride so it was focused around loads and loads of hills. It only took me about 3 months to get in some sort of shape and years later I'm in the best shape of my life. Hope to run a Marathon someday. Anyhoo just keep track for your own motivation and keep at it.

I know sometimes I feel tired and Ill think about forgoing my ride for the day but when I get out on my bike I notice I was just feeling tired and was not actually tired at all.

You might look at getting a computer for your bike to help track everything while you get back in shape. I know, personally, the computer helped me as I am a gadget guy. I like to check how far I have gone, how fast, avg. speed, etc. while I am riding. It really motivates me. They are pretty cheap, also. I like to check the odometer and see how many miles I have put on since I got the computer. It is nice to see it when you hit that 100, 300, 500, 1000 mile marks.

Pedal hard,fast and often. Welcome noob. ;)

Just getting back into riding after 6 years.

What's your excuse?

What's your excuse?

Work relocated me to AL, MS, TX, Mexico, China, AR, TX (with trips to Belgium) and they had another China tour-of-duty planned. I was not ready for another round, so I bolted back to MA...

The inside of my passport looks like a rainbow...

Running too.

Interval training has been proven time and again to be the most 'bang for your buck' cardio exercise you can get. I am a big proponent of intervals now that my work schedule is around 13 hours/day and doesn't allow 90 minute lunches in a 9 hour day anymore. 20-30 minutes for a workout using several 45 second to 6 minute max effort repeats sandwiched between slow recovery periods = cardiovascular goodness.

Took my second ride this mroning (6:00am, ouch). It was an "interval" type trail and I did better than my first outing. I look forward to future rides!

Thanks for the help!

Ye-haa! Did much more cardio in the gym last 3 days, ate a bit different on ride day and kept fully hydrated (2 "pit-stops" on the trail). No dying, no whining, kept up w/the pack. Lungs felt great, heart stayed in the right spot and legs stayed with me the whole ride. When I did tire, recovery was very quick.

Thanks for the advice!