Training & Nutrition - New to riding.

I am new to riding, and have been doing to it for a couple of weeks now. I have been doing 3-4 mile rides and today I did 6.5 miles, I just ran out of daylight. Is there any thing I can do to help get me up to my goal of doing the Livestrong challenge next year. I am currently riding a Nishiki Mtb. with 1.75" comfort bike tires on it. I am looking at getting a road bike but the nishiki is going to have to work for a while until I can get the money for a decent road bike.

Welcome!

Welcome to the addiction. Sometimes, it seems worse than crack.


Check out the For sale area for your next roadie. Lots of great people here. Some not so great too but they usually get weeded out by the fine staff.

Word up.

Change out the tires. Put on lighter, narrower, HP tires like these:
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/pritms/ritchey_tom_slick_tire/pp.htm
You will definitely notice a difference. That will make it more fun while you work on increasing your mileage. Which is what you do: try to increase your weekly mileage. Start a log and keep track of it. At first, try to increase it 10%/week. After a while, that may be too much. You'll just have to see how your body responds. And you'll be back.

if you are just starting out I would just spend a couple months riding the bike, get your body used to cycling, slowly increase your ride times. I don't think tires or a new bike are important in the beginning... just ride.

oh and don't spend time on this forum it's a terrible addiction. some days i spend more time talking about riding my bike than doing it.

I started out with a hybrid and my first change is the tires. Skinny tires do allow you to go faster. Its such a neat feeling: going faster with about the same amount of effort.

maybe invest in some lights and get yourself looking like an overdone christmas tree so you can get a little more done at night. there are bike products for just about anything to the only thing keeping you off your bike is your job, family and willingness.

I'm not sure where you live, but until you get really cold weather (unless you don't) try riding in the morning while you have more light. Perhaps a short ride in the AM and another in the evening after work? Is it possible to try to commute to work at least once a week? To do errands on your bike on the weekends? Can you take your bike to work with you and get a ride in over lunch hour?

I too did my whole first year of cycling on a hybrid. It'll be great when you finally get a road bike, but it's not going to hold you back much now.

Just figure out the best way for you to try to ride a little further each week. When I was first starting out I made sure that I arranged things so that I got a ride in every other day. Even if you have to repeat the same distance for a while for whatever reason, riding regularly will make it possible to ride longer distances before you know it.

Welcome, and good luck!