DustyK

Hello everyone,

First I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading various topics here on the forums. It has helped me out not to mention just gives me something good to read .

Anyhow, I wanted to come by and post about my first day out riding my bike and ask about a few things. I live in the country in North Carolina so I have plenty of roads with light traffic. I bought a bike about a year ago, haven't touched it until today . Now before I go any further I want to tell you I am 6'2" and weigh 267lbs (overweight). I used to play football, basketball, and even went out for track when I was in high school. Now that was 3 years ago, since then I have been working a pretty demanding job. Sadly I lost it during the winter break. So this is how the whole story came together. Decided I have plenty of time on my hands now so why not go out and have some fun.

So I put on some cloths and went out. lol I figured this would be a cake walk, sadly I was mistaken . I made it to the end of my street (Seemed like it took forever). Decided to head back to my house mainly because my hands felt like they were going to fall off and my ears weren't faring any better. So when I finally got back to my house it took about 30 minutes. Didn't realize how tired I would be. I wasn't so much out of breath but I could hardly lift my legs and so now I am here .

So here is where I wanted to ask my questions:

First I think I could have gone a little longer if it wasn't for my hands and ears. Now I can prob find a way to solve that easily enough. Think maybe I should just keep going for 30 mins until maybe next week then see where I am and maybe up it to 35 or 40 mins. What do you all think?

Really enjoyed my ride but now my legs feel like jello

Edit: Wanted to add a little more of what my goal(s) are atm. What I am aiming to do right now is be able to get in good enough shape to commut back and forth to a town not too far down the road. It is 3.75 miles down the road but man does that road suck. From my house it starts out with a pretty big hill and then it gives a little break with a slight down hill road. After that down hill it's a slight up hill battle all the way into town. That's what killed my legs (well besides being out of shape) was a steady up hill climb. It's like my house is in a rut, lol up hill both ways . Anyhow, commuting to that town is my first goal. I have others like getting in shape, improving my well being, enjoying the ride, and overall someday I wouldn't mind entering a race but those are a bit further away then this one.

Thanks for any reply and I can't wait to hear from everyone

Az B

Just keep riding. Even though it's hilly, 3.75 miles is not far, especially for a young guy like you. Make yourself do it a couple of times and it'll start getting easier. Then shoot for a 10-12 mile hilly ride. Take it slow if you have to, but keep riding.

Az

Garfield Cat

Dustyk, what kind of bike do you have? Is it suited for hill climbing? If you're using a single speed cruiser, it may take you longer to get in shape. If you have a hybrid with a double or even a triple chain ring, then the hilly portions of the ride can be made tolerable. What you will experience is a higher R.P.M. to get over those hills.

To get used to a high cadence (rpm), it takes some time. Guessing from your body size, you probably try to power up the hills by strength alone. By doing high cadence pedal strokes, you will do two things: tackle the hills, and increase your aerobic capacity to go the distance and gain your conditioning back.

DustyK

Well I went out today again and man is it killer . Right when I go out it seems my legs are gone so fast. I keep going but it is so tiresome pretty much after like 5 minutes. I expected it to be like this for the next month or so anyhow.

As for my bike, well I feel kind of embrassed to say but it is a Next Avalon 26" Comfort Bike. I got it at Wal-Mart. Go easy on me, I didn't know any better when I got it back then. Since I been reading these forums I found that my decision was bad . Stuck with it now though so I am going to make the best of it.

Thanks for all the advice so far and I look forward to anymore anyone has

Jarery

If its got 2 wheels and a method of steering its fine. Brakes and gears optional

Ride it for as long as you can, the longer you wait to upgrade the more specific you'll be in knowing exactly what you want next time.