How long did it take you to gain fitness on a bike?
12-25-12, 05:05 PM
#26
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12-26-12, 12:02 AM
#27
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It's really... interesting... having the gender role reversal here.
But that discrepancy between the amount of time spent training is a big contributor to the... how shall I say... dissatisfaction.
A tandem is one option. Being patient is another if a tandem is not your futures. I can see that deciding who is captain and stoker and arguments about who's contributing what could be an issue. How is your marriage otherwise? A tandem would accelerate it towards the end-point.
If you stick to singles, pick your rides together, and at other times, get him to ride with another person or group, or he can do some cross training.
And ultimately, the question you have to ask yourselves (and that's deliberately plural) does husband really want to improve to be as fast as you? Get that question sorted, and you might be able to sort the rest.
But that discrepancy between the amount of time spent training is a big contributor to the... how shall I say... dissatisfaction.
A tandem is one option. Being patient is another if a tandem is not your futures. I can see that deciding who is captain and stoker and arguments about who's contributing what could be an issue. How is your marriage otherwise? A tandem would accelerate it towards the end-point.
If you stick to singles, pick your rides together, and at other times, get him to ride with another person or group, or he can do some cross training.
And ultimately, the question you have to ask yourselves (and that's deliberately plural) does husband really want to improve to be as fast as you? Get that question sorted, and you might be able to sort the rest.
12-26-12, 01:31 AM
#28
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If you'll pardon me resurrecting a 2 year old zombie thread about a wife (me) wondering how long it will take for her husband to catch up with her on the bike, I thought you may be interested in an update. We've both kept at it, with me maybe putting in 15 hours a week, him 10 hours a week. I've now got 4 seasons of riding (2 were racing), he has 3. Well, we went for a computrainer session recently. I averaged 253 watts, he got 175 (about a 40 minute TT effort). We weigh about the same. So, I think the verdict is in; we are at opposite tails of our respective bell curves, and it seems like we may not ever overlap enough to be good training partners.
Either he's very genetically unlucky or he's doing something wrong.
12-26-12, 10:28 AM
#29
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"175 watts in a 40 minute TT effort" - cut him some slack, it's not all that bad for someone who doesn't spend a lot of time training specifically to increase it. I'd bet that most of the recreational riders I see tooling around couldn't do it.
I think someone mentioned it earlier: what does the partner want to achieve? If we want to train with someone whose goal is to enjoy the ride while burning off some calories, and he or she has no specific training goal, it's not going to work well without some compromise. No matter what the relative natural abilities are, no matter how much time in the saddle.
In my opinion.
I think someone mentioned it earlier: what does the partner want to achieve? If we want to train with someone whose goal is to enjoy the ride while burning off some calories, and he or she has no specific training goal, it's not going to work well without some compromise. No matter what the relative natural abilities are, no matter how much time in the saddle.
In my opinion.
12-26-12, 01:29 PM
#30
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Or he doesn't want to put in more effort ... perhaps he has other interests. Not everyone who gets on a bicycle wants to work hard and go fast ... they're not doing anything wrong, in fact they are doing everything right ... for them.
Yes, I know I'm repeating what I and others have already said, but it is for emphasis.
Yes, I know I'm repeating what I and others have already said, but it is for emphasis.
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12-26-12, 02:43 PM
#31
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My wife just likes to ride and that is cool. I like to compete and make things as complicated as humanely possible... that is okay as well.
So +1 to everyone else that has echoed what Machka just posted.
So +1 to everyone else that has echoed what Machka just posted.
01-06-13, 11:24 AM
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If you know your husband is slower than you, for whatever reason, why do you continue to ride in front of him? You are always pushing the pace for him, and I suspect it is a big mental block for him. Ride BEHIND him and let him set the pace. Just sit back there, pedal, and be quiet. When my son took up cycling he was slower than I was because I had a stronger base. We would ride together 3-4 days a week and if the pace was slow for me I'd change my gearing to make my legs or heart work harder. The other days of the week I'd cycling alone so I could do whatever I wanted for my training program. I can't imagine just continuing to drop him or complaining about his pace.
From the other side of the coin, I used to cycle with someone who was faster than I was. He'd ride ahead, circle back, stop at the top of a hill and impatiently wait for me, etc. Nothing ticked me off more than his body language saying, "This is boring to me." So, I encouraged him to ride with a local group who were very serious about ther cycling. I knew they'd drop him or seriously challenge him. He was dropped in the first 7 miles. His ego took quite a smack that day and I came to realize his ego actually enjoyed cycling with me because he got to feel superior to me. Cycling with me was never about doing something together, it was about his ego. Needless to say I decided not to ride with him anymore because it wasn't a good cycling partnership.
From the other side of the coin, I used to cycle with someone who was faster than I was. He'd ride ahead, circle back, stop at the top of a hill and impatiently wait for me, etc. Nothing ticked me off more than his body language saying, "This is boring to me." So, I encouraged him to ride with a local group who were very serious about ther cycling. I knew they'd drop him or seriously challenge him. He was dropped in the first 7 miles. His ego took quite a smack that day and I came to realize his ego actually enjoyed cycling with me because he got to feel superior to me. Cycling with me was never about doing something together, it was about his ego. Needless to say I decided not to ride with him anymore because it wasn't a good cycling partnership.
