Originally Posted by
madprofessor100
Hey Carbonfiberboy, thanks for the support. I think you have some good ideas on how I should approach this. I used to use a heart rate monitor but I always felt like I didn't need a heart rate monitor to tell me what zone I'm in. But I do agree that it could come in handy in terms of keeping track of my morning heart rate or even making sure I cool down and warm up properly. I think part of the problem right now is that I'm not quite in cycling shape yet now, since I was off the bike for a while, but I'm still going in with the standards that I had when I was biking regularly. And I'm used to biking on more calories. I think reaching my cycling and weight loss goals gradually is going to be the way to go. So we'll see...
Again, important to keep on the exercise routine. I find it entirely too easy to reward myself with a day off because I feel tired. Oh, good for me, I feel tired, better miss a day. Wrong. Much better to only miss a day when I notice I'm slower, or at least no faster.
I also try to do different things on different days so I don't repeat the same thing frequently. That's sort of like bodybuilders advise: only work a part of the body 2 or 3 times a week. Well, cyclists can't do that, but we can work different energy systems and do different pedaling techniques. There's a zillion ways to do change-ups on a bike. And that way this question of faster or slower can only come up once a week or so. Prevents unnecessary anxiety.