Training & Nutrition - Starting

Hi guys,

Im new to these boards, and am here in search of advice.

I'm 21, male perhaps not very fit but reasonably healthy. Im not overweight, or seriously unfit or anything.
Anyhow today I decided to go for a cycle in the nice Irish countryside on my Raleigh Max (which has been used infrequently over the last few years.) I cycled about 7 miles and found I could manage it fine and really enjoyed it, but I had no clue of how far *I should* be able to cycle or what sort of speed I should be cycling at. I suppose I need a speedometer for starters.

Can anybody give me some idea of what would be a good target to be able to do? I want to get the most out of the next few months of pleasant weather. I suppose, I would like to be able to push it a little bit too, not to be a pro just to do a bit more than crawl around the countryside.

There are a few cyclists in this town, and every summer they cycle a few hundred miles for charity. There may even be a little club. It is a good spot for cycling around country roads.

Can anyone give me some advice? Today I was trying to remember little things like gears from when we cycled around as young kids...

Thanks

BadBreaks

You are starting out correctly. Taking it easy and getting a feel for the bike and your fitness level.

A goal might be rides which are 20-30 miles in a weekday, and perhaps 40-50 miles on a weekend. Eventually a century - 100 miles in one day.

To get there, you need to gradually increase your distance and speed, while allowing for plenty of rest and recovery. The rest and recovery is even more important than the riding, which some folks have a hard time accepting. That is when your muscles recover and grow. Perhaps going to 10 miles next time, and increasing as your body tells you that you can.

For instance, you might fiind yourself going 20 miles easily one day, but the next being very tired and sort of hating the bike. That is a good day to rest and let your muscles recover and build up.

Don't worry too much about speed right now. Go with whatever is comfortable. Get some miles in, and then you can concentrate on improving form and getting faster.

Be sure to keep fully hydrated, and keep your energy level up with good nutrition.

I am sure others will have more, and perhaps different advice, but that is what works for me.

Good luck and have fun!

In the meantime, you are definitely on my "good" list, having spelled "advice" correctly, instead of "advise" as seems to be increasingly common around here! :D

Thanks for the "advice" I appreciate it.

RE: Rest, is it nessecary to have a day on then a day off? Or perhaps a "hard" cycle one day, and a much shorter one the next?

BadBreaks

Thanks for the "advice" I appreciate it.

RE: Rest, is it nessecary to have a day on then a day off? Or perhaps a "hard" cycle one day, and a much shorter one the next?

BadBreaks

I think each person is so different.

I generally ride daily, some days hard and long, some days short and easy. Yesterday I took the day off, because of personal things I had to do, and I felt sort of tired.

It sort of depends on what you mean by "hard," also.

I think you will get into a rhythm which sort of makes sense for your level of fitness. I like to try to push myself real hard sometimes. - I even go out looking for hills, as I enjoy the challenge of riding them.

Also, age (I am 64 and you are a lot younger), fitness, time available, and especially goals make such a difference. At your age, you should progress very rapidly.

If you wnat to do bike racing, there is a forum just for that, and one of our members, Ric Stern, is a professional bicycling coach and is extremely knowledgeable and seemingly quite willing to share his knowledge. Thanks, Ric.

If you are going to be a "recreational rider" then a different set of training paradigms would be appropriate. And so on and so forth.

And, your goals may change considerably as you get more and more into biking.

I started riding in March at age 58 with the specific goal of wanting to "Ride the Rockies" in June, 3 months away. Like 85 miles in one day over two 9-10,000 foot passes.

http://www.ridetherockies.com/

I rode like crazy those 3 months of training (1100 miles, as many passes and hills as I could find) and did the RTR at the end of June. Pretty intense. Your goals may be quite different.

Good luck - remember to have fun.

hey BadBreaks..

I started back up cycling about 2.5 years ago... I was in decent shape... not great.. but decided that I wanted to give road biking a go again (I use to ride a lot in High school)... I was pretty excited that I could go out, and ride 8 miles... then 10 miles... then 15... then 25... then 40... it's taking me this long and I can easily go out and ride 65 miles without any undo stress or really straining myself too much... I am doing my first century ride on Sept. 11th...


One of the best things I did was, after getting comfortable riding 25-30 miles or so, ws to join a club... they are not for everyone (just ask my wife) but I found that riding with a bunch of people can relly help push you towards riding farther, faster. (if that is your goal). And you leanr a LOT about cycling and technique just hanging out at lunch with some of these guys...

Good luck with everything.. this forum has been great, and an amazing source of info for me the past couple years...

see ya around

jeff

Bad Breaks,

Like SipperPhoto, I am starting the same way. Been riding a "bent" for about a year took about six months off in the middle of the year, then three or four months ago the bug bit and bit hard. I'm mid 50's and started riding again by going around the block a few times and now I'm up to 16 miles plus, in the AZ early morning heat (temps low to mid 90's at 6:00 AM) riding only twice a week, is not bad. It's a great feeling as I zip by a former turn around point I struggled to get to a few weeks ago.

Slowly but surely I will be adding both miles and rides as the temps drop around the middle to the end of next month. My goal is a metric century by mid February 05 and a Century by the end of May 05. Mean while I'm increasing the mileage a few miles each weekend, this weekend is 18 miles, by months end 20 miles.

Slow and steady, at my age that's all I have left!!!!

I only did my second 7 miles today because it was raining the last couple of days but this time it was harder. The first 3 were pretty hard but then it just even'd out and I probably could have done more than 7.

My tips to myself are never ride without water and lip bloc.


BadBReaks

I only did my second 7 miles today because it was raining the last couple of days but this time it was harder. The first 3 were pretty hard but then it just even'd out and I probably could have done more than 7.

My tips to myself are never ride without water and lip bloc.


BadBReaks
There should be no problem riding without water in Ireland. It comes down in bucketfuls! :D

You need to get some wet gear and do some pedalling in the rain as well. Once you get started it's not as bad as you micht think

Today was tough but I think I was a bit faster.

The dog attacks really spooked me though. And my privates were getting beaten off the saddle on bad roads. There are all these little things...

BadBreaks

Badbreaks,

Can't stress the importance of water enough. No matter how much rain you ride in the only part of your body getting wet is the outside. You should be drinking often. Some riders mix fruit juices with water, others drink plain water. I prefer plain water.

There will always be little things (the weather, the time of day, other people, etc.) forget them and just concentrate on the ride and improving your technique, the rest will follow.

I am just starting riding too. I have no idea how far I'm riding though. Maybe 7-10 miles, where could I get decent not to expensive speedo?

I'm currently living on the Jersey shore but moving to Phoenix,AZ the end of Sept. I was wondering how much water is enough to bring for about a 20 mile ride. I hope to be up to that distance fairly soon and now I just bring one bottle maybe 38-32 but usually don't finish it.

I'm 24 in decent shape. I used to run distance(12-18miles) but have not run in a little over a year.

I lived and worked in Ireland for a year. There a good shops in the larger cities, but few in the small towns. I did find clubs all over the place and I would suggest you find a riding club. Maybe you don’t want to ride with them yet but they will be one of your best info sources. I lived I Ennis and they had a nice club.

Base line there is no right distance or correct speed. Get on you bike and do what feels right. Don't try and to the Kerry loop the first month! Are you wearing cycling shorts?

Enjoy the ride.

Cheers

333,

I'm in Scottsdale, just east of Phoenix.

Water is a must out here regardless of season. Unlike the Tri-State Area the humidity rarely ever gets above 50% and thats during Monsoon season (mid to the end of June to the middle of September). Most of the time the Humidity is in the single digits or very low double digits. We've done plenty of days with temps at 105 and the humidity at 6%.

You'll find you will be drinking much more out here whether you ride or not, it's just part of life out here. I sleep with a bottle of water next to the bed. Even in office buildings it's not uncommon to see people walking around with a container of water or having water bottles on their desks. Oh, by the way tap water out here is horrible, most people unless they are natives drink bottle water. Many of us, myself included have the 5 gallon water coolers in the house. If theres one thing I miss about NYC it's the taste of good tap water.

I just did 20 miles this morning in about 90 plus temps, went through a 16 ounce squeeze bottle and a 1.5 liter Camelbak both filled with water.

When you first starting riding you should carry as much water as you can, as it will take a while for your body to get use to the lower humidity and it will probably need more as a result.

Have not done too much riding in Phoenix, mostly Scottsdale. But there are plenty of well maintained trails and paths. Lots of bike lanes on the streets too. Try getting up on the City of Phoenix web site and see if they have a Bike Map. The City of Scottsdale does www.ci.scottsdale.az.us/transit/bikeprgm.asp. Remember speed is king out here, most main streets have posted 45 MPH limits while the highways are posted 65 MPH. Speed limits out here are a number to see how far you can exceed, you need to keep that in mind while riding.

When you move out, please PM me, I will be more than glad to be of help.

Thanks for the link Bob Bop. I actually sent you a PM a little while ago. I did a search for Arizona on here and saw a reply you posted saying you're in Scottsdale.

I'm actually in South East Phoenix bordering up against Scottsdale/Tempe, the 85008 zip code.

I was out there last August for a week dropping a friend off at ASU(I drove 36 hours straight, never again). It was brutal hot last year then, I know it's always hot there but he said it was even worse last year or maybe he's more used to it now. Well I thought it was beautiful out there and a lot less expensive. I'm sick of the NJ shore it's to crowded, to expensive and the winters are to bitter.

I'm going to have to invest in a camelpack I guess. I figured this much I'm just glad I'm moving out there in the fall so I can get used to the temperature change gradually. I'm a big water drinker myself, me and gf buy bottled water in bulk from Costco/Sam's and I'm hardley ever seen without a bottle in reach. I have to buy a helmet though, I was thinking I should get white to help me keep cool.

What are some good bike shops out there?

Dusk,

Im not wearing cycling shorts just a pair of sweats or regular shorts whatever is at hand. I dont want to be the person who has all the equipment and then gives up after a weeks riding. I want to get a few miles under my belt first.


BadBreaks

I understand not wanting to send a lot and then find out you don’t want to continue. Just keep in mind that part of keeping cycling will be determined by how comfortable it is. A lot of people think that a bike is a bike and it should just fit you as it is. A centimeter move of the stem, seat and other things can make the difference of comfort or pain and shorts can make a big difference. I do know that in Ireland bike kit was dear (costly to us in USA). Only you can judge the cost to the value it makes in your ride. A Cycle club might have someone with some old kit could sell you cheap or let you try some old shorts and then you can better judge.

Cheers

It's not the money, it's the psychology. If I thought they would be of advantage to me, I will buy them next week. Im also facing into winter here....

BAdBreaks