Originally Posted by
dennis336
Echoing the responses from others to first confirm there are no health issues that would preclude you from pushing yourself harder. Then, increase your miles gradually. A couple of miles won't even warm you up.
I see you're from CT. Yeah, hard to avoid hills. Maybe consider driving your bike to one of the bike paths. Check out the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. I've only cycled portions up in the Farmington/Collinsville area to get to one of my road loops but I think you can pick it up in Cheshire, which I think would be closest to you. If you can get your bike to a parking area, you could ride your bike increasingly long distances on the bike path. The Airline Trail is another nice bike path although the nearest point you you (assuming, per your profile, you're in Wolcott) is East Hampton. As you increase your distances on the bike paths, you should find you'll get stronger and can introduce some hills to your rides. But, it does take time to build up endurance. Best of luck.
+1 this... In the beginning I doubled back on my local bike path and other flat rides for over a month, before I took on a medium (200-300 ft elevation) hill. 40 years ago, I was a "climber". Now, not so much... Bikes are so dang efficient, that if one is not going uphill, fighting gravity, or going fast enough to face wind resistance, a couple miles, needs to become 5, 7, 10.... to get progressively stronger. But I get to see more, and I enjoy the physical sensation of riding, vs running which my body hates, or walking and seeing the scenery crawl by, and well, I now max out around 20-25 miles at 17mph, with some moderate hills... I was pleasantly surprised last week to drop my speed a bit, and find that at the end of my 24 mile ride, my legs were not shot to their limit, and I didn't need a rest before going on with my day. This, not much for some, but built from a base of feeling worn out at 5-6 miles of flat riding, felt grand.
Check w/ Dr. and push a little more, a day at a time. On those days when more feels like too much, try to do "some" of something in the way of exercise. It's working for me. Hang in, and good luck. Eric