Metropdx

Took the Enterprise (my nickname for my bike, I am a lover of Star Trek) out today for her shakedown cruise- due to my physical shape and the fact that it was closer to late afternoon and have to get ready for work tomorrow etc. I rode about 1.5 miles- this was a HUGE first step- I made it!!! The Enterprise is all systems functional and my legs are sore (in a good way ). I even rode with my back pack on- some light weight items my cell phone, wallet, a pocket knife and other little knick knacks.. Learned a few things my first time out- like a dummy I had zero water not really anticipating needing any for such a short trip- WRONG- you get thirstier than you think especially when the sun is out so Ill break out my camelback and fill up about halfway for the next trip out.

I need to work on my gear selection when hitting hills- I loose momentum about halfway up and usually have to walk most of the grades. Down hill braking is an art form (do you just pump the rear brakes or ride em? My bike has mechanical disc)- on that note it was pretty cool seeing people's reactions to a 400 pound dude zipping down hill on a mt bike one guy looked at me like I was nuts- I just laughed- to much fun to be had worrying about what ppl think!

My plan is to do this 1.5 mile (3 miles total actual counting the return trip home) a several times a week to build up my endurance and legs. My goal is to be able to ride to farmers market this summer about 8 miles away! Wish me luck any suggestions you have on geari selection for hill climbing and if I should pump my brakes down hill would be appreciated

1speeder

Fantastic!, You have your head in the right spot! Brake wise for your weight, I would alternate your braking to using the front, then the rear to keep your speed where it is comfortable for you. By alternating your braking front to rear, you will hopefully eliminate any over heating of the brakes. I ride a tandem and our team weight is 350 ish pounds at the moment and this is how I brake (not using disc on this bike). Gearing wise, it is hard to tell with out knowing the steepness or percent of grade. You are new at this, so just play with the gearing to make it the whole ride with out walking. Once you accomplish this, you can start adding mileage. Keep it going and please ask for advise as this forum is wonderful to keep you motivated.

Keep riding, Mike

Bent Bill

If you ride three times during the week and once on the weekend
you wont have any problem riding a lot farther than the farmers market
before the middle of summer

OneLessFixie

And I thought I was a geek. Takes one to know one, eh?

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
--Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu

Good on you, my friend. Most people don't even take that first step, hell, most people don't even un-ass themselves from the couch!

I would suggest that you look at an under-seat bag or a back rack (no, not that kind of back rack, you've been looking at too much People of Wal-Mart!) with a rack-top bag. Also, carry a multi-tool, a patch kit and tire levers. Also, extra food as cracking sucks, doubly so when you're a ways from home. Personally, I'm a newbie clyde cyclist who's a good 150lbs lighter than you and I would not want even another ounce of weight on my hands from a backpack.

A "??" worthy blunder (any chess players in the group?) Get a couple of water bottles and carry them in cages on your bike.

As my drill sergeant was fond of saying, "We do not want you to become a heat casualty and do the funky chicken!"

If I know I'm hitting a hill, I just go for the lowest gear and try to keep the spin going.

DO NOT ride the brakes downhill! It's just like a car - riding the brakes causes Bad Things(TM) to happen such as brake fade-out, overheating of the rotors, etc.

Good plan. Remember at this point that you are training to train. Don't overdo it. Listen to your body. And at your size, I would suggest that you see your doctor.

OneLessFixie

OT, but time to start a geek fistfight: TOS, TNG or other? Which movie is best?

eja_ bottecchia

Congratulations. It is sometimes easy to forget, For those of us now used to riding long distances, how hard those first few miles were.

Keep on riding and ride safely.

Erwin8r

Your front brake is your most effective brake--learn to use it in conjunction with your rear brake in order to scrub speed downhill. You're fortunate in that disk brakes are much less prone to fading and handle stopping us bigger guys so much better than rim brakes. Practice makes perfect.

With respect to going uphill, well, that too will come with practice--roll up to it at a decent clip, shift into a lower gear near the base, and spin your way up. It becomes more intuitive the more you do it. It is harder to shift halfway up.

Congrats on being out there, and good luck!

tjax

Congrats! My very first ride, when I bought my road bike was 2 miles. I thought I was going to die, that was a year ago, since that time, a 30 mile round trip has been attainable before I had my surgery. I am now starting over again. I think you will find yourself doing rides you didn't think were possible in a couple months. You build up endurance faster than you think you do.

kc0bbq

After a few (million) hills you'll figure out which gear gets you to the top. It'll change with time as you get stronger or your body deals with the ache of climbing better.

If you can learn to love to hate hills you'll really start improving. The problem is that it is hard to see the improvements because they are so gradual.

And climbing a hill means you've earned your descent. And descending is one area Clydes have it good. Gravity loves Clydes and wants us to get back to the bottom of a climb really fast so we can do it again.

You'll really want cycling glasses if you embrace the descents, though. Starting at about 35mph the tears from the wind make it tough to see.

Black wallnut 

I too started with 3 mile rides. The first few are hard and slight upgrades seem unbearable and require downshifting. With time you will get used to it and gain strength. I was ready for longer distances way before I tried them, I just did not know it at the time. Congrats on getting started! Enjoy the ride!

Metropdx

Already ahead of you on that one! I got such a good deal on the bike that I was able to get a pair of Uvex sports glasses with interchangeable lenses



UOTE=kc0bbq;16649946]After a few (million) hills you'll figure out which gear gets you to the top. It'll change with time as you get stronger or your body deals with the ache of climbing better.

If you can learn to love to hate hills you'll really start improving. The problem is that it is hard to see the improvements because they are so gradual.

And climbing a hill means you've earned your descent. And descending is one area Clydes have it good. Gravity loves Clydes and wants us to get back to the bottom of a climb really fast so we can do it again.

You'll really want cycling glasses if you embrace the descents, though. Starting at about 35mph the tears from the wind make it tough to see.[/QUOTE]

tjax

Kc0ngg here, by the looks of your call sign you live close to Colorado?

REDBEARD_WS

Friggin A! As another 400lbr I promise if you keep up the rate you plan on the farmers market will be a short trip in no time!!!! Congrats man!

OiS

Congratz on the ride! Keep at it, the most important part of progression is to keep up the frequency of just getting out on the bike. Speed and distance will come easily as long as you keep getting out there!

MikeRides

Congratulations! Now keep up with doing regular 3 mile rides every other day and you'll be able to ride the 8 miles to the farmer's market this upcoming season. My first ride on my new bike last spring was only 1 mile, so you're already ahead of me I moved up to 5 miles after a week, then 10 miles, 15, 20, 25, 30...until mid-August when I rode my first 50 miles. This going from barely being able to ride 25 miles on a mountain bike the year before. Time in the saddle will determine when you are ready to bump it up a notch, and don't worry about the weight thing, that'll come down as well

kc0bbq

MN, but the license is lapsed. I need to get motivated and go test again, you get better priveleges now even without code. Had the old tech+ license, yay 5wpm morse code. KC0BBQ is a bad callsign for morse code, maximum possible number of dots and dashes.

Metropdx

TNG; Voyager and the Dominion Wars of DS9; movies of all the TOS movies the "Trilogy" 2 to 4 is the best; I can't stand Five, and Six was Well Done too. First Contact and Nemisis; Did not really care for Insurection

REDBEARD_WS

LOTR > all nerdom

photogeekgirl

Great name for your bike! I love naming inanimate objects. My bike is Suzie and my camera is Henry! lol

Congrats on your first ride! I'm just starting out too (today was my 5th time out) so I know how great those miles feel! The hills are for sure a challenge, so I'm just trying to push myself a little further each time before I have to get off and walk.

Anyway, please keep updating how you're doing!

awfulwaffle 

Would that be the NCC-1701F? Congrats on the ride! Just keep at it and you'll make your goal with time to spare.

awfulwaffle 

phaser > sword, though I'm not sure if ship's sensors could penetrate the ring's cloak.

Pamestique 

the assumption is that every hill can be climbed by powering up it... I tried my darnest to gain as much speed as possible and I would attack every hill. Sometimes I was sucessful and sometimes not. When I started mountain biking... this strategy did not work well. Hills were too long, too tough or technical and too steep. A good friend gave me the best advice ever... "rest up a hill". What he meant was unless the hill is very short, assume you need to drop into a small/low gear and just spin... now I can gage if I can power up a hill or if I need to drop the gear and spin up it. If the hill is long (and in mountain biking 8 - 10 mile hills are not unusual) I know immediately, drop the gear and spin up working on keeping my breathing under control, cadence steady and pedal stroke smooth. I actually love doing hills and hate a flat ride. Time, practice and experience... you already have a good start - keep at it.

PS on braking: best to feather (ie lightly off and on to avoid rotors overheating...) both rear and front, keeping steady pressure ongoing... I know some people will give you the advice "use only the rear brakes" but keep in mind your front wheel steers so you need to keep that under control. In addition, the rear only drags so likely too much reliance will cause the wheel to lock up. You have a front and back brake for a reason - use them both.

If confessing bike names... my mountain bikes are "Superlight" (not creative - what it is), "Julie" (also not so creative its a Juliana), road bikes: Lemond (OK I am not that creative) and "Hello Kitty". "Hello Kitty" is a fully custom Landshark which I spent a good sum of money... on my first ride, as I was getting myself ready, a woman came over and said "wow pretty bike (it has a custom paint job). Where did you get it - WalMart?" Thus, now the "Hello Kitty" bike.

mrodgers

I had the opposite last year. I was lofting my heavy Walmart mountain bike onto my bike rack at the trailhead and an older fellow stops his car on the way out and asks, "What does something like that cost? $600?"

LOL, no, $99 at Walmart!

Little Darwin

Congrats on getting the first ride out of the way... and keep paying attention to your body for thirst, and rest...

After a few seasons of virtually no riding, I am enjoying the process of building up too.

MillieKY

Awesome! My riding buddy and I are always saying "remember that FIRST ride where we could barely make it around the neighborhood and our quads were just killing us??" You'll be going much farther before you know it!

Also... my bike is a Firefly class bike.