sevenmag

She has a small hybrid/mtb that she never rides but keeps tellin me she's gonna start soon. So after a short ride this afternoon I talked her into a pedal about the neighborhood. No concept of gearing or where to ride if there's any traffic but we got in a nice half hour ride. Hopefully it's a start and hope I keep her interested.

jammer.11

My $.02,
Let her gain mastery skills where there's no traffic or other distractions
Add 10-15% time to each ride.
Let her lead....her pace to start.
She'll feel more comfortable if you're not 5km ahead.

My wife rutted out on a railway crossing and went over the handle bars.
That was 25yrs ago...never touched a bike since.

Last weekend we did 22km rides on sat/sun.
We.re learning how to draft each other.
She told me she's so focused on my back tire that forgets about her anxiety.

Small steps.....good luck.

nuttygrandma

My late hubby and I use to make "bike dates" to bike around town in the summer time, before picking the kids up from daycare. Of course, that meant we had to flex our work hours a little but an 8-10 mile ride was the norm a few times aweek. That was many years ago.

I'm just returning to biking. I bought a cheap comfort bike last weekend and by Wednesday, I realized it was not gonna fit my needs by the time my soon to be 11 year old granddaughter and I hit a 16 mile trail in September. She started this all by asking me if I ever rode a bike. Talk about out of the mouths of babes.

We hit our first trail on Memorial Day. I thougth I was gonna die by the time I got back to the car. Total distance: 1 mile. So, I've been riding my cheap bike around the streets all week. I got up to 2 miles total distance. I really thought it was gonna take me all summer to get up to 16 miles. At the same time, I've also taken the advice from many here on the forum about finding a LBS. I checked out the closest one earlier in the week but I really wasn't that comfortable with them. Today, I drive to another town and found another bike shop. Needless to say, I just did one of the most important things I know about for biking. I bought a bike that actually fits me. At the same time, they took the time to explain to me, in terms I understood, how the bike works. I have been riding bikes off & on since childhood. I didn't even get a driver's license until after I turned 18, not because I lived in a city either. I grew up in the country. If it was within 15 miles of home, I rode a bike during the summer. So, I'm not totally new to biking, just reentering. I bought my last bike, 11 years ago. It was an 18 speed. The gears confused me so much that it was a chore to ride so I put it up. My new bike has 21 speeds. What is the difference? The bike shop owner took the time to explain the deraileur drivetrain, in terms that was not confusing. Do I understand it better? Absolutely. I took the bike to a rail-trail and actually rode it with 1 1/3rd miles all an incline. I found my cadence and that incline was a piece of cake. Of course, what goes up, must come down and I haven't quite found my cadence for pedaling on the decline but that's alright. Up until today, even the slightest incline was an issue, just because I didn't understand how the gears work. I suspect your wife may find more enjoyment in biking if she understood how the drivetrain actually works, what to do with all those different gears and how to find her cadence.

Also, you might want to find some short trails. Streets with traffic can be intimidating unless the street has a bike path. When my late hubby and I biked together, we lived in a small city that had bike lanes so it was not an issue. I have been able to do 2 different trails this week and the week isn't over yet. As far as riding around my neighborhood, I've done that too. What has made that better for me is putting a mirror on my handle bar.

Just keep encouraging her and enjoy your time together.

Doohickie

Yep, my wife and I are going down a similar road- bike dates and such. You can read the whole long story here. She can do about 20 miles now, but still at a very slow pace. We didn't make it home today; we started late and the sun got rather hot this afternoon, so I had my some come pick us up with the car. It was still a good ride, though.

micronaut

good job! getting her to ride in the first place is 80% of the battle.

Not that doing something that's fun and good for you is a battle... but you know

jbrow1

My wife is on her third bike. It's been a progression, the first POS bike nearly ended it all! That was before I was actually into biking myself. Now she's on an older flat bar'd roadie I put together for her with knobbies so we can do dirt roads too. We each pull a kid (twins, 3yo) in a burley and it's a family deal. On wed. we hit the farmers market in the morning, then a paved rail trail to a place with picnic tables for lunch we brought, then to a park for the kiddies. It was nearly an all day affair even though it was only 13 miles I felt like a bike tourist which is very different from the normal race type crowd I ride/race with. I loved every mile of it

straykat71

I wish I could get my wife out but then she is a busy gal.