Fifty Plus (50+) - Took the first ride on the new bike today, first impressions.

Took a first ride on the new bike today, since I'm off work for a day or two (the big plus of 12 hour shifts). Here's a run down, for the entertainment of those who have gone before:

First, clothing or lack thereof. I haven't bought any "cycling" clothing yet, not even a pair of lycra boxers to sub in until I can get some cycling shorts. So I was stuck with what was in the drawer/closet. Turned out to be a pair of cotton boxers, sweat pants, a cotton t-shirt and a nylon wind breaker (can't you say "it don't breathe"?) with tennis shoes.

Second, the route. I picked a route in my neighborhood that was a circuit having both ups and downs, a good bit of reasonable level distance, a turn and two cul-de-sacs. If I'm guessing right, had about a total of a half mile distance, but I'll have to figure out how to read my new computer to find out how to zero the computer, then measure the distance. Aggravating to have to know how to read an electronic device, after years as an Electronic and Technical Support Engineer in the telephone industry, I oddly prefer simple mechanical devices to gadgets.

Third, the experience - managed to complete the entire route and make it home without stopping, which for a fat guy, was somewhat satisfying. I was tired and breathing hard when I got home, sweating profusely and with wobbly legs. The good news is I didn't get sick and afterwards, there were no "negative, not normal" pains. All the hurt I felt was related to getting some exercise, no pulled muscles, joint aches, etc.

Finally, after effects and thoughts - I got a raw spot on my right leg where the boxers rubbed my leg, reminding me I need something different to wear. - I need to adjust my seat nose down about 1-2 percent from level to give myself some relief. I had them replace the "shock" style seat pin with a solid one because I didn't like the feeling the shock style seat pin gave of a tire with low air pressure, very distracting. When they replaced it, the shop forgot to put the seat back slightly nose down, as they'd had it when I was trying the bike out. Since I have both metric and SAE hex wrenches, this will be no big deal. - I'm happy I didn't get sick and completed the route I chose and glad there are no sore spots. I'll do that route the rest of this week and see about adding to it in the neighborhood as I can. When I can complete the entire neighborhood, I'll look at going outside the neighborhood. - I'm in a good mood and while I didn't get an endorphine release (something I am typically lucky to experience when I exercise for any extended period, such as when running), I am very pleased with this good start. - Going riding with the wife, same circuit, this evening when she gets home from work.

Pictures - will take pics of ourselves and the bikes tonight, for posterity and post them here as well. Then some in say, six months or so after there is some real progress from a physical fitness standpoint.

Congrats on the first step, errr, ride. Keep it up.

KB

Nice job, how far are you from the Silver Comet trail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQktfYqaEUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQktfYqaEUo

IF you are breathing hard pick a lower gear and spin.
You might even end up slightly faster.

You rock.

Well done.:thumb:

Excellent beginning.

Reads like you need to take a "Before" picture so a few months downstream(downroad?) you can look back and see What Was.

Nice job, how far are you from the Silver Comet trail?

Thank you for posting this. I googled it and it's over in Smyrna. A good distance from here, but not an impossible drive. Went to the website and over time, if we planned well, it might be a goal to ride that trail to one end and back to the start. We'd have to build up to it and do some camping, but it's a good long term goal.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

Excellent beginning.

Reads like you need to take a "Before" picture so a few months downstream(downroad?) you can look back and see What Was.

Going to do that tonight when the wife gets home. We were too tired last night when we got home.

Please Please Please


Forget vanity and how you will look--Gets proper cycling shorts-OR Bibs- and get comfortable. Doesn't have to be Lycra but mountain bike shorts do look wrong unless you are getting them covered in mud. You will come to this eventually in any case so don't worry about what you look like as no-one else will. Shorts are one of the things-Like all clothing- that has to be tried on before you buy--or at least let the LBS suggest the size for you. My LBS took one look at me for a very expensive pair of Bibs a few years ago and they fitted from the word go.

The only thing I would suggest you do not wear on a bike is cotton- unless it is up in the 90's and you need a bit of cooling from the moisture it will hold. That even includes socks and I do not have sweaty feet but I do have cold feet if the socks have a high cotton content.

But great that the bike is letting you know that it is there. Get the saddle adjusted out right and you won't know the bike is there- till a hill comes up.

Now just get out and ride and find out what else needs adjusting. gradually increase the mileage and you will look back on this post in a few months and realise how fit you have become. And the idea of a pic now and another a few months down the line sounds good.

" I was tired and breathing hard when I got home, sweating profusely and with wobbly legs."

Feels good, don't it?

Do. Not. Stop. Every second on the bike is another minute of life.
Enjoy the ride!

Excellent!:thumb:

You will get some good advice in this forum. Just ride, it gets a lot better (easier).

It has begun.

My first ride, after fifty years, I felt a little shaky legged. On my ninth ride, two days ago because it has rained ever since then, I rode more than twice as far and wasn't shaky at all. It grows on you that fast. I miss not having ridden in two days but the weather is supposed to be nicer tomorrow.

Well done! If you keep cycling regularly you will be amazed your progress in six months.

No need for you to go all the way over to Smyrna right now, the Big Creek Greenway Trail is 25 miles closer and more attuned to your current riding. The trail runs from southern Forsyth County into Alpharetta and then Roswell. It runs beside the creek the whole way so it's mostly flat. In addition, a lot of it is built elevated above the creek flood plain, an incredible ride. There is a 15 mph speed limit that keeps the trail more focused on familys walking and running and cruiser bikes. Silver Comet can get pretty crowded sometimes neer the Smyrna Trailhead plus the fast crowd blowing through traffic on $10,000 bikes.

Here's a link to maps (http://www.bigcreekgreenway.com/index.php/maps/) of the various parts of Big Creek. You access it from 400, you can take 53 out of Gainesville and then down.

Below that is a short youtube I did of a section of the trail. I was running slow, riding with one hand and trying to hold the camera steady.


http://youtu.be/VBcUnnPPrcs

Better work on your fitness -- you'll have to keep up with the wife pretty soon.... (Unless she's kind enough to stay one bike length behind...)

Good start!
As I recall from the years I spent in Hotlanta, you shouldn't have much Winter Weather to interfere with your riding. And, Spring starts very early.

This trail in Athens might be a closer and nearer term target.
http://athensclarkecounty.com/Facilities.aspx?page=detail&RID=23

Good for you David, sounds like you and your wife are enjoying he new bikes a lot. Our daughter, Betty lives in Atlanta and loves the Silver Comet Trail, it may be a drive but from what she told me it will be worth your time. One of the Moderators, RonH lived in Atlanta and had posted about the trail before, you can go a pretty good ways in it. I'd listen to what Blues Dawg and TomD77 said about Georgia riding places and their tips.

What Stapfam said are words to live by, we are 50+ and shouldn't care what some nut thinks thinks about wearing kit to ride. The right kit will make the riding more comfortable for both of you, especially the shorts, bib or regular, and tights. Best of luck with the new bikes.

Bill

I live right next to the Silver Comet trail and ride it regularly. It's 60+ miles one way from Smyrna to the Alabama state line with occasional restrooms and places to eat along the way. The Smyrna section gets crowded on the weekends with walkers and wannabe Tour de France riders, but once you get West of Powder Springs, it starts thinning out. The ride between Dallas and Rockmart is very serene.
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Thank you all for the encouragement and links. I've saved the links to bookmarks and read my wife the encouragement.

I'm picking up bike clothing as soon as it's reasonably possible to do so and have made some adjustments to the seat.

Took another lap with the wife tonight. It was a little easier than the first one, but only a little. After getting done, she wanted to do a second lap to keep up with the lap I'd done earlier. She's a much slower rider than I am, so I decided to wait for her, then got impatient and met her "down the hill." Not sure if that was wise or not, but finished the uphill back to the house and while the fat belly pushed on the lungs and made breathing hard, it was worth the exercise I think.

Great start! You might need to experiment with the seat angle as tilting the seat down can tend to have the reverse of the desired effect, causing an increase in crotch pressure. Which ever way you adjust, make small adjustments; a little bit goes a long way when it comes to seat height, seat fore/aft position and seat angle.

Here's a couple pictures of myself and the wife. I apologize about the quality, but it's from my cell phone. She got all riled up and refused to take a picture in her household comfortables, had to put on real clothes. I kept on the comfies, since I feel they better represent where I'm at now.

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Here's a couple pictures of myself and the wife. I apologize about the quality, but it's from my cell phone. She got all riled up and refused to take a picture in her household comfortables, had to put on real clothes. I kept on the comfies, since I feel they better represent where I'm at now.

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Very nice. Many happy miles to you both!

Way to go David! Take it slow. Cruise. Nice and easy time on the bike is what you need right now. You don't have to be out of breath to make progress. Report back on your experiences!

Excellent start. Many more safe happy rides ahead!

Way to go David! Take it slow. Cruise. Nice and easy time on the bike is what you need right now. You don't have to be out of breath to make progress. Report back on your experiences!

Unfortunately, it's real tough to cruise even in the neighborhoods, because the area I live in is so very hilly, including the neighborhood. Add to that the big belly getting in the way of breathing and it's really easy to be winded. But that's okay, as long as I don't get myself sick or real sore, I'm good.

Way to go David! Take it slow. Cruise. Nice and easy time on the bike is what you need right now. You don't have to be out of breath to make progress. Report back on your experiences!
+1, and be sure to keep the fun in it. It's much easier to stay motivated that way.

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Not too much to work on there--You should both fit Lycra very well by the spring.:innocent:

Just take the rides for a couple of weeks gently and just increase time on the saddle and mileage. You will know when the effort involved can be increased but just get used to the bikes and the gears. (And the brakes--and the steering and the dogs and kids in the area.)

Congratulations, David. Way to go! After a few close dog chases, you'll have a new appreciation for what a shot of adrenaline can do! Have fun.

Awesome! My first adult bike ride was on an old mt bike. I went 2 miles as fast as I could and thought I was going to die. The next day, it was 8 miles, then I met a cyclist on the road and he started pulling me around for 25 mile rides. I had no biking specific clothes and it was kind of hard to drop down $$$ on spandex but the rest is history and fond memories. Years later, I ride as much as possible and am a competitive racer.

While I was never a heavier person, I did lose 20lbs fast and turned my eating and exercise habits around and I am healthier and happier because of it. I was amazed when I started craving GOOD foods and vegetables and quit the multiple soda a day habit.

Sounds like you have a great start and a great attitude and that you like to suffer a little, which makes for a great cyclist!

I'm from North Georgia and know what the terrain up there is like, long 20%+ grades everywhere. My recommendation to you is to scout the area and find 3 or 4 places to ride where it is relatively flat. If you go out and start trying to bust lots of steep climbs on every ride as you're first starting, you will hate it and possibly not continue. Sustainability is the key and the key to that is that the rides have to be enjoyable. If you can find some flat places close by where you can knock off some 8-10 mile rides, even in a loop, you can build a fitness base where it won't be as painful as attacking steep hills on your first day. On my first day, a flat 4 mile ride kicked my b***. Four months later I was finishing hilly 50 milers with energy to spare. Believe it or not, after a time even the hills are enjoyable.

Find some bike trails. Did you ask at your LBS (local bike shop)?

Tom,

I did, but my LBS is down near Hamilton Mill. The guys there often bike up near my house, so they're biking where I live. I'm not sure where in this area you're going to have even a mile continuously relatively flat. Just a reality here I built into my plans to start.

keep riding and keep posting.

Tom,

I did, but my LBS is down near Hamilton Mill. The guys there often bike up near my house, so they're biking where I live. I'm not sure where in this area you're going to have even a mile continuously relatively flat. Just a reality here I built into my plans to start.

Any biking trails, especially the Rails to Trails, will keep the grades down. Any of those over Gainesville way? How about some flat roads circling Lanier, or along the river? The trails that I recommended oven in Fulton and Forsythe counties are too far for an every day thing but would make a good Saturday ride. As Bluesdawg pointed out, there are surely some in Athens. Something about that avatar makes me think he may have knowledge of the area. My college days were spent in DT Atlanta on North Ave.

The main thing is to get some mileage under your belt; I think the speed at which you gain fitness will surprise you.

I'm retired now and live in the Florida Panhandle, no problem finding flat roads down here but there are some areas that are surprisingly hilly. Because of family, friends and shooting competitions at my gun club up near Ball Ground, Ga, I'm up that way 6-8 times a year. I always use the opportunity to ride the Silver Comet and the Alpharetta Greenway on occasion.

Tom,

Kinda jealous you're down on the panhandle. Years ago, I always wanted to live down that way and was stationed just above it in Ft Rucker AL when I was in the service. Now I'm getting a bit too old to move around, but if I could, I'd head out to somewhere slightly warmer where I could fish and such all year.

Here's a youtube of me coming back from a fishing trip on my boat from offshore in the Gulf. For any of you who haven't experienced this, you've missed something. Though the Gulf isn't always this calm, it can get downright scarey. I've run from lightning storms and waterspouts and been caught out in high seas. No videos then, much too busy...


http://youtu.be/1fvEAKXzVyg