Training & Nutrition - My First Ride

Greetings... I have been lurking here for a couple months and finally registered earlie this month. I am an "ultra" clyde weighing in excess of 300#. I have been lifting weights for 9 months now and have seen small loss of fat <20 pounds>, but needed a way to kick my cardio in its @ss. I can walk 2-3 miles at 4mph, but I started trying to jog and really put a hurt on my knees, so...... I am here.

I bought a Trek 7200 FX and rode for the first time over 30 years today. <I am 45>. I found out that I am not as good a bike rider as I once was, but was suprised at how soon balance and old memories came back to me.

I live in rural South Dakota on a gravel road, so my first challenge was to negotiate the gravel. The first quarter mile is downhill and I spent the whole way on the brake...... thinking I am going to regreat this.....

Fast forward.... I rode 5 miles of gravel and one mile of blacktop, and though you with miles behind you will not be impressed, I stopped only twice, once at a stop sign and once to adjust the seat. I made it averaging 9.5 miles an hour <woohoo>. Remember I have not ridden in 30 years and was mostly on gravel. I was smart enough to plan the loop to end into a 10+ mph wind, but with the majority of the last 2 miles down hill.

I was whipped when I got off the bike, but recovered quicky and am planning on going again tomorrow. It was great, the best cardio workout I have had in years.

OK boring as heck, but I am so pumped about the ride I had to tell someone.

Thanks for letting me ramble and I am glad I found the site. Heading up to read the weight loss thread now. :)

I lost a whole bunch of weight on my bicycle. I wish it were a Trek, but I could only afford a Schwinn. O well...

Good luck and keep up the good work

welcome to the site

Greetings... I have been lurking here for a couple months and finally registered earlie this month. I am an "ultra" clyde weighing in excess of 300#. I have been lifting weights for 9 months now and have seen small loss of fat <20 pounds>, but needed a way to kick my cardio in its @ss. I can walk 2-3 miles at 4mph, but I started trying to jog and really put a hurt on my knees, so...... I am here.

I bought a Trek 7200 FX and rode for the first time over 30 years today. <I am 45>. I found out that I am not as good a bike rider as I once was, but was suprised at how soon balance and old memories came back to me.

I live in rural South Dakota on a gravel road, so my first challenge was to negotiate the gravel. The first quarter mile is downhill and I spent the whole way on the brake...... thinking I am going to regreat this.....

Fast forward.... I rode 5 miles of gravel and one mile of blacktop, and though you with miles behind you will not be impressed, I stopped only twice, once at a stop sign and once to adjust the seat. I made it averaging 9.5 miles an hour <woohoo>. Remember I have not ridden in 30 years and was mostly on gravel. I was smart enough to plan the loop to end into a 10+ mph wind, but with the majority of the last 2 miles down hill.

I was whipped when I got off the bike, but recovered quicky and am planning on going again tomorrow. It was great, the best cardio workout I have had in years.

OK boring as heck, but I am so pumped about the ride I had to tell someone.

Thanks for letting me ramble and I am glad I found the site. Heading up to read the weight loss thread now. :)
Great job pals!! I am also an uberclydesdale (364 lbs, 6'7"), and have just discovered biking. Don't discount the accomplishment of 6 miles ... that's HUGE! I started at just over two miles, and have sloooooooooowly worked my way up (I am riding 30 miles today. Congrats ... keep up the good work!

I am really proud of you. That is wonderful.

Keep up the good work.

BTW, running is absolutely one of the worst things you could be doing right now. It will ruin your knees.

Gentle walking is great, and the 2-3 miles you are doing is good, as long as you don't feel too strained. Keep that up also - do both the biking and the walking.

Hey, everybody starts somewhere. When I first started biking (at age 58), I thought 7 miles was wonderful. When I did my first 15 mile ride I was in heaven.

Regarding the gravel, the larger the tire the easier the ride.

I woke up to this exciting post, and it will make my day.

You should be stoked about that ride! Sure there are many here who ride many more miles than you, but we all started where you are right now. We understand exactly how you feel and understand your excitement. It is a great cardio activity and not boring like a lot of others. Keep pushing those pedal as much as you can and you will see great results.

Congrats again for getting in the saddle. Enjoy the ride!

Keep it up!

Remember also, that anything worthwhile will probably not be easy. You will go through stages of different aches & pains as you progress. Don't let them derail your progress.

One of my favorite quotes by one of my time trial teammates is " Pain is only weakness leaving your body!

So keep on looking forward to getting stronger!

Congratulations! In our 40s, we don't recover as quickly as in our teens, so don't try to push too hard too fast. STEADY regular riding is the key.

That sounds like a very ambitious first ride. Congratulations. As a couch potato in recovery, I agree with the commentary above about anticipating some aches and pains. They do get better though, through bike adjustment and the body adapts. I had lots of hand/wrist problems at first, but went to Lowes and bought some closed-cell-foam pipe insulation, cut it to size and added it to my handlebars..creates a larger surface area to distribute the weight...worked like magic....for about 3 bucks.

Those Trek's are nice. Good choice.

Keep us posted on your progress. You may enjoy posting on the Weight Loss club.

Denver way cool sig man!

Thanks for the encouragement, it has rained here the last 2 days and I am not ready to tackle that. I am going to run the same track tomorrow morning, unless it is still muddy on the gravel, if it is, I am headed to the blacktop to ride there, I found a piece of blacktop that is not driven on much and is realitively flat. I will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again for the encouragement. :)

Hey Pals, great job on that first ride! What part of SD? Black hills area or the flat part?

LOL I have to start on the flat part. I live about 20 miles west of Sioux Falls. My idea of hills on a bike will change in a couple months, but right now that 500' drop over 1/2 mile is a killer. I am thinking about riding the MS 150 in the hills next fall, It would be awesome all on old rail grade, the first day is more up than down and the second day is almost all down hill. I think it goes past Rushmore and Crazyhorse. It would be a great ride.

The Black hills are misquito<sp> free...... and gorgeous.

Palsdude, keep going man! If my experiences are a guide, you'll be amazed at how fast you progress. Three years ago I bought a hybrid and began riding on gravel roads, too. I was at about 360 lbs (down from 375 a couple of months before). After a few weeks of intermitent rides due to bad weather I was able to begin riding three times a week. I was able to ride six miles each time, and I kept working to ride faster get my average speed up to 12 mph.

Jump forward to this past Saturday. I rode in a charity ride with some friends. At 300 lbs, I'm still one of the biggest riders out on the course, but we rode 75 miles at just under 15 mph. (We were planning to ride a full century, but my riding partner had a scheduling conflict so we cut it short.) Afterward I was tired, but not wiped out, and I finished thinking that I could have done more.

The best thing I did was find a few people to ride with, and then set a regular weekend long ride. The rides are more enjoyable, and having others expecting you to show up makes it difficult to blow it off. The other thing that's worked for me for the past three years is to register for organized rides a few months out, at a mileage that would be a stretch. I announce to my group what my goal is, and then we work toward it.

BTW, I'm also in my forties, but I feel like I'm getting younger each cycling season.

OK Ride #2 is in the bag, and as I get older I seem to get wiser. I learned lots today.

First, I learned that I read my cyclometer wrong and was not as fast as reported here. The first ride was 6 miles at an average speed of 8.85 miles per hour. I could care less about speed, I just wanted to survive it.

Second, I learned that gravel roads suck..... We had over 2 inches of rain over the weekend, and the roads though not muddy were soft. Miles 2-4 were on a road that felt like I was riding on a pillow top matteress. There was no coast at all, pedal or fall over........ it sucked.

That being said, when I finally got to the blacktop, I went an extra .6 of a mile just to compare the surface to the gravel and decided that I am going to haul the bike to the hard surface until I get into better shape, or the road gets firm.....

And finally, I have learned that bike seat techonology may have come a long way, but they were not thinking of my @ss when they designed seats. All in all my butt is not sore, tender, but not sore. I rode the same route, but added .6 of a mile to it and covered it in a longer/slower time, but I blame it on the surface.

I got off the bike at the end of the ride and my thighs were all done. I could barely get down the stairs to the basement to type this. I do however feel great and think that I have found a form of exercise that I can live with........

Thanks again for the support, it is apreciated.

It would be awesome all on old rail grade, the first day is more up than down and the second day is almost all down hill. I think it goes past Rushmore and Crazyhorse. It would be a great ride.

Steep windy roads there! My wife is from Rapid and has family throughout the area. It is indeed a gorgeous part of the country.

Palsdude,
Congratulations and welcome to the forums. I am not a clyde, 5'6" 166lbs. but I have got to tell you, I began riding seriously this spring. Always had a bike, just fooled around with it, some years never touched it. My point being when I started this spring my ride was 6 miles and I thought it was amazing. So we begin at the same distance point. I now ride my excersize ride of almost 11 miles in the time it used to take me to do 6. On weekends I ride 30-40 miles sometimes well over 50 miles. With that said I think you have made a great beginning. It gets better and don't forget, it's already fun.
Keep us all posted.

Congrats! Keep it up.

You may find it easier to drive to paved roads and start from there. You may be more dedicated than I, but riding in gravel would beat me down.

Don't worry about speed right now. Concentrate on getting in regular rides and on increasing your distance slowly.

Once again, congratulations. Keep us posted.

BR

You rock. All I can say is that as long as you tick to it the miles pass by realy quickly. My first real ride (last year almost 40 lb. ago) as 10 blocks. I felt like I had ridden the TDF. The next major hurdle, riding to work (6 miles each way). Then there was the 20 mile, the 50 mile, the 100 mile marks.

Then it was the I've never climbed this place or that place.

Just keep it as your thing and keep it fun (advice from BF also helps a lot) and the rest will follow.

SWEET!!!! Good job. Remember, there's about as many different seats as different butts around so keep looking until you find the right one. It will probably change as you lose weight also.
I was in your area last year 4th of July but on the Harley. Love it there but the winters.... BRRRRRR. :beer: :D

Keep up the great work. You will find as you keep riding, it becomes addictive....you want to push further, go harder, and get out more. Before you know it, with a healthy diet and regular rides, you will see the pounds melt off. BTW, how does your diet look, and approx. what is your caloric intake like per day? With the right diet and exercise, imagine being 80-100 pounds lighter this time next year, and in the best shape of your life :D.

Another thing you might want to do is create a log of all your rides, so you have something to track and compare....plus it's fun to do.

I have been keeping my eyes on the diet most of the summer. I try to eat around 2500-2700 calories a day. That is about 500 calories below my maintence intake. I have divided it 40% protien, 30 each carbs and fats. I am loosing a pound or 2 a week. I lift weights 3 times a week, trying to exchange fat weight for muscle weight.

I do not care what I weigh at the end of this journey, but I would like to get the body fat below 15%, so I am not focused on weight loss, but rather, fat loss. I try to track my intake on fitday, and have signed up with one of the bike journals online (can't remember the name right off) They are both good motivational tools.

I guess it is time to just add miles to the Trek and git-r-done!

Rained here again today, I am only getting to ride every 2-3 days, but that is not so bad as I get back in shape.

Thanks for the encouragement.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=16127&subcategory_ID=4120

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=12089

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=15834

:D

Nice job man. keep it up. And hey everybody starts somewhere and thats a pretty good start. Especially for not riding in 30 years.

Thanks, I brought the bike with me on the road, but it has been rainy and wet, and I am not ready to ride in the rain. I am sure I will ge there. I will ride into the winter as far and I can get, then either move it inside with a trainer, or I will get back on the treadmill.

I am going to loose weight, one way or another.

Thanks again.