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06-10-01, 08:40 PM
For you road warriors, this will be boring, but if you are a newbie like me, keep reading!
First, a little background. I am 52 years old, and last January, weighting in at 260 pounds, I got tired of looking like a bearded Buddah, so I started a diet. Next, I started working out with a bowflex machine. Then, in March, I decided that riding a bike to work might be a nice way to help me get into shape.
I got my first bike, a used Fuji Sagres hybrid, on March 31st. So, on April 1st, I took my first ride on a multi-speed bike. I rode 7 miles. The last 2 miles, a local road warrior rode with me, and I was huffing and puffing so hard, I could hardly talk to him. After a little more practice, I actually rode the 7 miles to work. Sometime during this period, I set a personal goal for myself to ride to McCook, NE and home, for a round trip of 70 miles, by the end of the summer.
After putting 317 miles on the Sagres, I was really having fun, and decided that maybe a road bike would be a good investment. A call to my wonderful LBS, and Patty actually had a used Fuji Roubaix in my size! The next weekend, I was on the road to pick up my first road bike! What a change from the hybrid! The road bike is so responsive, it still amazes me!
My very first ride on the road bike racked up 30 miles, and was a lot of fun. Then the next weekend, I took off and rode 48 miles. I was none the worse for the wear, and figured that the next chance I got for a good ride, I would do that again.
This morning, I got up, ate a light breakfast, and started getting ready to ride. I topped off the air pressure in the tires, filled up my hydrapak, strapped on my MP3 player, made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, put on my helment and gloves, and headed west.
It was a perfect morning for a ride. Very light breeze, temperature in the 70's and perfect blue skies. As I pedaled along, I enjoyed the smell of the freshly mowed hay fields, and the sounds of the Meadow Larks and Mourning Doves. I knew it was going to be a good day when I rode by a big feedlot and the breeze was blowing the odor away from me! I stopped in a town park 25 miles from home, and munched on a quarter of my sandwich. To the west were 10 miles of hills, or I could go east and back home. I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go for McCook!
I actually handled the hills with very little problems. My Roubaix is an older model, so it only has 2 chain rings, therefore it has no real low gearing, but I didn't really need it.
I made it to McCook, and stopped at a convenience store for a Gatoraide and another fourth of my sandwich then headed back home.
Once again, the hills weren't much of a problem, but I did find that I was not charging up them as fast as I had the first time! I was sure glad to come down the last one, I can tell you that! The temperature had steadily been climbing, and was now in the upper 80's. Then I had mostly flat terrain for the rest of the ride home. I found that my legs were getting pretty tired, but I kept pushing along. Before long, 4 miles from home, I came to "The Hill." One last big hill to do and then it was all downhill to home! To my surprise, I managed to keep a good pace, and went up the hill at about 11 miles per hour!
When I parked the bike at home, I had added 70 miles to it in 3 hours and 35 minutes, with an average speed of 17 MPH.
Today, I accomplished something that I thought would take me all summer to do. I owe at least part of this to the encouragement that I have gotten from the members of this forum. Other factors are that I am not pushing around as much of me as I used to (todays weight-208 pounds) and of course my great bike!
If you are new to road bikes, read all you can about them, and don't hesitate to ask questions on this forum. Set up a decent training program and before long, you will accomplishing goals faster than you ever thought possible!!
First, a little background. I am 52 years old, and last January, weighting in at 260 pounds, I got tired of looking like a bearded Buddah, so I started a diet. Next, I started working out with a bowflex machine. Then, in March, I decided that riding a bike to work might be a nice way to help me get into shape.
I got my first bike, a used Fuji Sagres hybrid, on March 31st. So, on April 1st, I took my first ride on a multi-speed bike. I rode 7 miles. The last 2 miles, a local road warrior rode with me, and I was huffing and puffing so hard, I could hardly talk to him. After a little more practice, I actually rode the 7 miles to work. Sometime during this period, I set a personal goal for myself to ride to McCook, NE and home, for a round trip of 70 miles, by the end of the summer.
After putting 317 miles on the Sagres, I was really having fun, and decided that maybe a road bike would be a good investment. A call to my wonderful LBS, and Patty actually had a used Fuji Roubaix in my size! The next weekend, I was on the road to pick up my first road bike! What a change from the hybrid! The road bike is so responsive, it still amazes me!
My very first ride on the road bike racked up 30 miles, and was a lot of fun. Then the next weekend, I took off and rode 48 miles. I was none the worse for the wear, and figured that the next chance I got for a good ride, I would do that again.
This morning, I got up, ate a light breakfast, and started getting ready to ride. I topped off the air pressure in the tires, filled up my hydrapak, strapped on my MP3 player, made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, put on my helment and gloves, and headed west.
It was a perfect morning for a ride. Very light breeze, temperature in the 70's and perfect blue skies. As I pedaled along, I enjoyed the smell of the freshly mowed hay fields, and the sounds of the Meadow Larks and Mourning Doves. I knew it was going to be a good day when I rode by a big feedlot and the breeze was blowing the odor away from me! I stopped in a town park 25 miles from home, and munched on a quarter of my sandwich. To the west were 10 miles of hills, or I could go east and back home. I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go for McCook!
I actually handled the hills with very little problems. My Roubaix is an older model, so it only has 2 chain rings, therefore it has no real low gearing, but I didn't really need it.
I made it to McCook, and stopped at a convenience store for a Gatoraide and another fourth of my sandwich then headed back home.
Once again, the hills weren't much of a problem, but I did find that I was not charging up them as fast as I had the first time! I was sure glad to come down the last one, I can tell you that! The temperature had steadily been climbing, and was now in the upper 80's. Then I had mostly flat terrain for the rest of the ride home. I found that my legs were getting pretty tired, but I kept pushing along. Before long, 4 miles from home, I came to "The Hill." One last big hill to do and then it was all downhill to home! To my surprise, I managed to keep a good pace, and went up the hill at about 11 miles per hour!
When I parked the bike at home, I had added 70 miles to it in 3 hours and 35 minutes, with an average speed of 17 MPH.
Today, I accomplished something that I thought would take me all summer to do. I owe at least part of this to the encouragement that I have gotten from the members of this forum. Other factors are that I am not pushing around as much of me as I used to (todays weight-208 pounds) and of course my great bike!
If you are new to road bikes, read all you can about them, and don't hesitate to ask questions on this forum. Set up a decent training program and before long, you will accomplishing goals faster than you ever thought possible!!