grwoolf

My wife has never really been interested in cycling, dispite me suggesting she might give it a try. I've never pushed the issue, but this week she decided she wants to get a bike and ride 1-2 times a week with me and see how she likes it. I'm all for it since we are usually so busy with the kids/work that we don't spend as much time together as either of us would like.

Went to the LBS today (big spring sale) and dropped some $'s on the works for her. I somehow ended up with a new Zipp front wheel and an s-works helmet for myself, so it was a bonus situation for all involved.

Anyway, I want to ease my wife into this and we're thinking we can ride together on Sundays (I'll an easy/recovery day as needed) and maybe another one of my recovery days during the week. We live in a hilly area (got her an apex group with compact and 11/32 cassette), but I know it will take her some time. She's always been very fit, but completely uncomfortable on a bike.

We bought shoes and speedplays (just to get the sale price), but plan to have her ride in running shoes for at least a few weeks getting comfortable on the road. I was also going to do at least a couple weeks in the neighborhood before going out to any main roads. We might also do some group rides where there are multiple groups with different abilities.

Any advice from people that have taught beginners (particularly spouses)?

lemak

dont let her get discouraged!! dont let her see you make hills look easy!! take it easy on her for a while and let her come up to pace with time. watch the kids for her sometime so she can go do solo rides.... just because shifting is easy for you doesn't mean she will catch onto proper shifting right away (i know that one all to well).... do everything possible to make this enjoyable for her so that way you can enjoy it together for years down the road...

JoelS

First off, don't get frustrated! Take it slow and let her pick pace and distance. Make sure to deal with all the mechanical issues that come up. When she's ready to go on rides without you, make sure you teach her to deal with a flat.

Don't get frustrated! And most of all, make sure she's having fun.

ericm979

Take the bikes to a flat low traffic place to ride for her first rides.

McLoki

Take your time and go slow. When riding with my wife I usually ride my mountain bike. It is much more relaxing for me - it's just to hard to ride at 10 mph on my road bike and have fun. If you ride with her and always want her to go faster, she will pick up on it and not want to ride with you.....

Enjoy.

zonatandem

Tandem?! A great equalizer!

urbanknight

That was my first thought. I tried to get my wife into cycling when I first got back into it after a long time off, and she didn't like it. Now that I'm faster and go longer distances, I don't really care to have her try it with me, because I'd have to slow down for her... unless we got a tandem, where the combined power is divided equally between the two.

However, here are some words of wisdom I heard once: "Which ever way your marriage is going, a tandem will get you there faster"

sd790

I just started with my wife last week. I took the fixie and let her go at her pace. It was all about getting her comfortable and having a good experience. I think we averaged 12 mph. It must have worked because SHE wanted to go to the bike shop and gear some jerseys, gloves, etc. Uh-oh!

JoelS

And it starts....

engstrom

Along with all the great advice I'm got a list of things you shouldn't say and things you should:

clydeosaur

I did this last year. Make the experience as positive as you can. No sufferfests (until later) short , easy but fun rides. Say, pick a destination to ride to. Use positive reinforcement & comments. As she builds confidence & endurance, extend duration / exertion. My wife loves doing rides now, and has even jumped on the trainer here and there as well as moved from a hybrid up to a MTB and started trail riding. Now that she sees the benefits & has self confidence, she has become intrinsically motivated. Now we have something else we can do together at times (win,win situation).

bostongarden

Brilliant, enjoy every minute of it.

MerckxMad

Take up ping pong.

Homebrew01

You can use the Waterrockets fitness tip of purposely making your brakes rub so you get a workout even at low speeds.

Brazos

My wife showed some interest this past fall so I did a budget build on a Synapse. That bike sat there for 6 weeks (granted we had some bad weather) then one day she said lets go ride. I'll be dammed she like it. She saw the light. No more sore knees, shins, toe nails falling off from jogging. She even feels she gets a better work than jogging out w/o getting beat up. Now for the things I noticed. Shifting was not an issue. I figured that would be the most difficult thing for her but no real complaints. The saddle was an issue. The saddle I started her on was a man's saddle. So I bought her the best woman's seat I could find. The other issue she has finally got over. That was clipless pedal. I gave her my old KEO Easy pedal (easiest pedal to use ever). She still fell numerous times. It had nothing to do with the pedals but her fixation on having to get clipped in. Instead of clippling in one pedal and building up speed before trying to clip in the second pedal she kept trying (losing all foward momentum) until she fell over. We have not got to ride together often due to the kid (one of us has to watch her) but she seems to be doing well. Her average speed is impressive (16.5-17.5 mph) considering she just got started.

Northwestrider

Always have her ride in front, that allows her to set the pace. Never tell her she is going too slow, instead tell her how well she is doing. If she wants to stop for coffee, always say sure. If she ever shifts while pedaling under power, politely mention it is better to do it another way, then when it happens again, just smile. When ever she wants to ride with you, always say, lets go. If you feel like you need a more serious work out, fine, go for a ride after your ride together is over. And if she wants to buy some unnessasary and colorful clothes for riding, be happy. Hey it works, and makes for a nice time.

nycphotography

I'd restate that as: "Which ever way your marriage is going, cycling together will get you there faster"

Northwestrider

I forgot to mention, always lube the chain on her bike for her, and keep her bike looking nice. I'm serious, if she continues and enjoys bicycling, she'll begin to accomplish bike maintenance on her own, until then don't make it hard for her. Keep in mind that a simple act such as inflating a high pressure tire will not be easy if she is small, so when she is ready pump her own tires, find a floor pump that is fairly easy for her to use. We have a Bontrager that my wife is ok with.

mpath

Don't ever say, "Geez, any slower and we'd be going backwards."

colombo357

LOL..

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

What a sneaky lady.

RVD72

i went through this last year. my wife enjoys spin class at the gym but she actually didn't know how to ride a bike.

i bought her a simple beach cruiser. i did some research and it looked like the townie electra was a great beginner bike. it was pretty good and she was able to learn how to ride a bike fairly quickly.

i got her a 7 speed so that she can learn about the gears, etc. but she never really quite understood the gears. we still ride sometimes but maybe once/month or so. our rides were usually around an hour and all flat. i rode my mountain bike for fun but it's still too easy.

now that the weather is warmer, maybe we'll go out some more. she's not opposed to it but she doesn't really see the fun in it yet.

she has nowhere near the skills necessary to ride a road bike, use clipless pedals, ride in traffic, etc. she does have the cardio to do some hills (i've done a few with her just for fun) so i think there is some potential there...

Joe Road

When my wife decided to give cycling a try a few years ago, I attached my Bob trailer to my bike and threw in a case of motor oil. I let her set the pace as I toiled along pulling the extra weight. This made it much easier to stay behind her and truthfully it reminded me of how hard she had to work as a beginner. Every week or so, I'd remove a few quarts of oil as she slowly got stronger. I always let her know when I needed to lighten the load to "keep up" with her. This really spurred her on!

I also used the "Code" that engstrom suggested earlier in this thread. Lots of "you might want to", "you might try", "you ever thought about", along with "good job", "nice work", etc., etc., etc.

A few months or so pass by, and now on days I can't ride, this female cyclist in full kit is rolling her bike out the door saying "I'll see you in a few hours", as she leaves to go hammer some of her new riding girlfriends. And I think, damn, that's my wife!

Of course nowadays when we go out for a spin I drop her like a cheap prom dress.

Commodus

Wow, lots of good wisdom in here already. My mistake with my gf was to act as if going for a 'little pedal' was no big deal. I thought this would make her more at ease, instead she seemed to resent my trivializing the effort it took for her.

So don't do that. If it's hard for her, it's just hard. Er, difficult. Yeah.

hurley.girl

This is what you need to overcome, or she won't stick with it. Find out what's making her uncomfortable and fix it if you can. Usually this is the wrong choice in saddle, or just a poor choice of bike and fit. Sometimes it's just getting comfortable in the position, and learning how to make all three contact points work without pain. Sometimes it's vanity, because many women balk at padded shorts and helmets. If it's simply vanity, get her in group rides with other women.

Lots of people are encouraging you to baby her. I don't know your wife. She may or may not be the kind of person who needs to be coddled. If she's not, she'll catch on to your ploy and not like being treated like a fragile little girl. If your wife is competitive and strong-willed, you may actually need to encourage her in a different way. Treating her like an equal may be the right way to go in that case. Only you know what she's like, so make sure you are taking the right approach.

Nachoman

I gave up trying to get the wife on the bike. I have about as much chance getting her on the bike, as she does getting me into the yoga studio.