GlennCoco

So I took the bike to the mall the other day. It's probably about 1/4-1/2 mile each way. I couldn't make it. The little hill killed me, each way.

Today I woke up at 6am, with the expectation that I would ride 30 minutes. I made it 7 minutes total

I guess my goal on Thursday is 8 minutes.

Scummer

Don't hang your head in shame. You did the right thing. You started biking! Now keep on going your 7 to 8 minutes, don't let yourself get deterred and you will be extending your milage eventually.

Pwnt

Little steps. Before you know it that hill won't even be an issue. You'll fly right up and be looking for bigger hills. Chin up....you'll get there!

Mike_Morrow

Believe me I know what it's like to overestimate your fitness level or conversely to underestimate how out of shape we are. I know before I got my act together simply walking to the mailbox would leave me winded.

Keep doing a short stints on the bike eventually the time you can ride will go up. Might I suggest you also add some walking to your fitness routine. Walking is excellent as you can totally control the exertion required. I would suggest trying to get in at least a 30 minute walk daily until you can build your cardiovascular fitness. Walking with my primary form of exercise while I dropped the majority of my weight. I love to bike but I suspect that I might have been discouraged early on by my poor performance at biking than my only activity.

Your mileage may vary, congratulations on starting your biking adventure.

BeckyW

Reminds me of when I first started - I couldn't do more than about 10 minutes either, and all the little rises on my MUP seemed like hills. Now I barely even notice them. Keep at it - you'll get there.

+1 to walking.

KingTermite 

Now you know where you are at. It will be much easier to make goals now as you know where your current limit is.

Bionicycle

Hey, I know where you are coming from... We all have to crawl before we can walk. Heck I had to figure out how to roll over, before I could crawl... Do what you can, and soon you will look back at it and laugh.

Good luck to you.

Caincando1

When I started, I would ride half a mile then take a rest on the bench. Keep at it and you'll amaze yourself.

Tom Stormcrowe

Agreed with all above! No shame at all....you've got your starter mark!

3 years ago, I could only ride a quarter mile and I was ready to collapse.....now I do long rides by nearly any standard other than a RAAM rider

Bill Kapaun

You made the first important step by getting on the bike!

Do you have the seat adjusted properly? Even a 1/2" too low is noticeable after riding with it set properly. 1-2" too low is murder and bad for the knees.
A pretty good "ball park" way of setting the height is to get some speed on the flat. Put your HEELS on the pedals and slowly spin. Your leg should fully extend itself without your hips rocking. This will get you extremely close.

I found this from your previous post-
"I usually have it on the hardest gear to pedal (is that high gear or low gear), I was getting that burning feeling in the quad. I LOVE that feeling. It's almost pain, but not quite, and in the good way. WOW!!!"

GEAR DOWN! Pushing hard wears you out in no time.

CliftonGK1

Everybody starts somewhere.
8 minutes will become 10, then 12, then 15...

Terrierman

Well you know what? You HAVE a goal and that is the good part. Hang in there and you will get better fast. Faster than you think. Maybe not as fast as you would like, but still, fast. Good luck and hang in there.

tomdaniels

Go for it. My first ride was 1/2 mile or so and I was shot.

Now, this fat 360lber can do 30 miles and do anything I want the next day.

Pamestique 

I can remember when 10 miles was such a long distance and was my goal. It took me quite awhile to get there. Now I routinely ride centuries.

Every little pedal push is a stroke in the right direction. Never get down on yourself for trying. Many barely get off the couch. Push your body just enough each time. You will get stronger and thinking back to when a block was such a long distance.

chipcom 

Every cycling journey starts with one small minute.

Just take it one minute at a time and before you know it them minutes will turn into hours.

evblazer

After taking a few years off and gaining way too much I took a ride around the block and was sore for days. It wasn't even a big block it didnt' even have much of an incline.
This morning I did 30 miles on my commute to work (10 miles normally but new office is 20 so I'm "Practicing" that commute in the AM) and other then being a little hungry felt no ill effects. If you go off a few more times I think you'll find yourself improving but don't get discouraged when it kind of platues for a while it will continue to get better.

My wife never rode more then a couple miles and thought large distances were impossible. She did 25 with me in the Hotter then Hell 100 this year a couple weeks back with 27 miles the next day around town. She wants to do 50 next year but wants to shove me off to do the 100 myself so I'm thinking of looking into a recumbent tandem so we can ride it together and not have to wait for eachother so much.

solveg

I remember when I was doing about 7 miles as my max, it was long enough to realize that the first 15 minutes are the hardest! It's almost like running a car in the winter without warming it up first. In the beginning you're all sloggy, and your legs feel heavy. But then, you warm up and start to purr!

The problem is that in the beginning, when you're going short distances, you never get to experience the "warmed up" period!

Remember to use a nice low gear when you're starting out... think car in winter again. You want to spin easily and just get all the parts moving without hammering it or going up some giant hill.

webist

Look forward to the day your daily ride is 10 miles and it only takes you 40 minutes or so. You'll look back at today's ride and marvel at how quickly you progressed. I know this to be true.

Terrierman

That is some really good advice that we should all heed.

Stujoe

You will pick up quickly if you keep at it. You are already on the way!

synergy

It took me about two weeks to see a difference in my strength and abilities. For me, what started as hardly able to walk after 2 miles and 25 minutes is now hardly able to walk after 7 miles and 30 minutes (one month later). Keep working!! Ride everyday that you can!!

Bionicycle

I love this analogy… But, I only got one dang gear.

rideorglide

Take it easy, one step at a time. It'll come, there are plenty of us here who started again from a tough place.

PS. Sometimes those little hills pack a big punch if the gradient is steep. Any idea what it is?

Either way take it slow, don't over do it, but don't give up. We'll be here waiting for ya.

jaxgtr

Keep up the great work. You have to crawl before you walk.

jmarkley710

Another word of advice. Make sure you are hydrating enough. Drink enough water throughout the day and a large glass of water about 20 minutes or so before your ride (gives it a minute to settle before riding). A common way doctors tell if you are dehydrated is by your resting heart rate. If you don't hydrate enoguh your heart rate runs higher. In turn it spikes a lot faster too. Which makes it hard to ride longer because your body starts to feel a little queezy.