Road Cycling - New Member and New Road Bike

Just joined this forum. Some background. My first foray into biking began 3 years ago when I bought a Schwinn mountain bike. Rode mostly pavement. Last year bought a Schwinn hybrid and put over a thousand miles on it. Recently I bought a Bianchi "Brava" my first real road bike. Now I have to learn to ride all over again. First I have to get used to clipless pedals. Also have to get used to shifting again cause now I gotta do it by feel instead of by sight. The bike is a 24 speed. Skinny tires. Real skinny. I have never had a flat since I have been biking, but my bike shop says not to worry now, cause I will get one. BTW I am 72 years old. Any thoughts, opinions, recommendations on this thread.

Rider,
Why the "thumbs down" on your message? I think it is great that you are riding. You are an inspiration to us 51 year old kids. :-)
Regards,
Raymond

I ust have hit the wrong ICON. It should be thumbs up

Rider,

Congrats, My Gradfather rode every day until he was 85. The one thing that was hard for him to get used to was cars passing closely. He eventually ended up riding mostly on the beach to avoid the cars. He rode a road bike on the beach at that. So you know he must have really enjoyed it. One thing I learned is that if you have a rear rack on the bike or the ability to fit one. Do so, that way you can mount on side of a pannier on the left side of the bike, cars see that and give you a little more room. This month's bicycling has a photo of this arrangement under training by commuting. One professor I had in college rigged a small flag to stick out on the left side. I went to college on an island and the bridge was quite narrow. As for the clipless pedals, were those your choice? You may not need them. Yes they increase your efficency but if you have trouble getting used to them go back to platform pedals and toe clips at least that way you can enjoy riding. As for the shifting, yes to some degree it is by feel. But there are cyclocomputers on the market that will tell you what gear you are in, Flight Deck, and the Avocet TT 45 are two. One way that works for is to use a cyclocomputer that measures your cadence and try to keep the cadence realtively high. For me around 95 rpm is comfortable, you may have a different comfort zone. But that way you can tell when your cadence drops off, it is time to shift.

Good luck and keep pedaling,

DonTx

YES I FEEL YOUNG AGAIN, I THOUGHT I WAS OLD, IAM 52 BUT NOW, WHEN RIDER SAID HE WAS 77, I FEEL VERY HAPPY FOR HIM, NOW I CAN ASPIRE TO BIKE FOR ANOTHER 30 YEARS, THANX RIDER 77,

Stay off the shoulder, and watch for thoes little patches of gravel on the road, they all contain flat making material.
I rode over 15 years without a flat doing this, some of the time with tubelar tires, I`ve had most of my flats on the mt. bike off road.!! Oh yes i`ll be 61 next september that`ll give me another 16 years.

Keep on ticking-----Steve.!

Thanks everyone for the tips and the encouragements. Very much appreciated. Can`t wait to hit the road.However right now looking out my window all I see is a snow covered road

weather is getting warmer up here in toronto, hope it will be this way until my next day off, thanxs

:) Welcome to the road. I think you made a good choice with your new bike. It may take a while to get used to clipless pedals. Try practicing clipping in and out with your bike mounted on a trainer. Of course you can expect to fall at least once. It's part of the "initiation" into clipless. My first fall didn't happen until I had been clipless for 6 months. Then I did something dumb and fell as a couple of cyclists passed on the opposite side of the road. Talk about red-faced :)
I ran across a quote a few weeks ago about cycling and being old that I like. It is: You don't stop bicycling when you get old, you get old when you stop bicycling!
Keep riding so you don't get old! I'm 56, but cycling keeps me young. I feel as young as I did when I bought my first bike as an adult at age 40.

Ron

Welcome!

NOthing like coming to the party 4 1/2 years late....Wonder if this guy is still riding at 76-7

Wow, the original poster is 56 years older than me and we're both learning only for me it's the first time.

Rider72:

I was feeling like an overachiever as a 43 year old. You truly are an inspiration, and I hope I can help you in some way with any inquiry you may have. Welcome to the forums, and congratulations on the new ride.

Tim