mustang1

6KM (4 miles).

JFDmedic

First ride back in April was about 2.5 miles and took about 30 minutes. Thought I was going to die afterwards.

Yesterday I rode my longest ride so far. It was 60 miles and took me 3 hours and 42 minutes and I didnt feel near as bad as I did after that first ride.

Wreader

My first ride as an over-50 was to the end of the driveway (maybe 50 feet?), and I was too off-balance, it scared me and put the bike up for a few weeks. Then I tried getting on the bike in the street, so I would not have to make a turn to get from the driveway to the street. That ride was a couple hundred yards. I rode to the neighbor's mailbox and home. I did that a couple of times. It is hilly where I live, so I can go about 1/4 mile one way before I get to a hill, and 1/2 mile the other way. I spent a couple of weeks going 3/4 of a mile, or 1.5 miles back and forth. Every ride was completely exhausting and I was gasping for breath and dripping sweat and could barely do it, but each ride was a little bit longer than the last. That was in July. Then in August, I rode 100 miles. I am doing ~5 mile rides now. My longest ride so far has been 11 miles. I am supposed to be doing 100 miles again in Sept, but I am a bit behind because I had some minor surgery on my leg, and it hurts more than I expected. So, I have gone from a few yards, or a fraction of a mile, to a comfortable 5+ miles in a little over a month.

GaryinLA

I rode quite a bit as teen. Im in my mid 40's now. 4 months ago I got my road bike i bought new in college out of the garage, got it tuned, up and got excited, found a slow group ride and took my bike over there to do the ride (no practice or training first.) The riders took off up a hilly city street. I lasted about 1/3 a mile and didnt know how to get off the road because there were riders in front back and both sides of me ,and behind the riders were cars. Finally at a red light i managed to abort and get off the road. I couldnt understand why i was having so much trouble and it was embarrasing. I was 221 at 5'9. Now i am 191 and i am riding 80-100 miles a week and my longest ride was 51 miles. My average mph is still slow, about 10-12mph depending on road or hybrid bike. A couple of the bike riders in that first group ride when they saw me complete it a month later were enthusiastic and supportive. It was idiotic of me to jump into that group ride even though it was a slow ride. I had no prior thoughts about what i could do or not, and whether it was hilly or not. I put myself in an unsafe situation on city streets and was smart to abort it as soon as i could get off that road.

Street Pedaler

First ride was 2.5 miles. I was 10 weeks post-op from back surgery no. 2. The ride was absolute agony. In fact, it hurt so bad that I did the same ride again about 4 hrs. later just to be sure I wasn't mistaken about how bad it hurt. I wasn't. It did.

chefisaac

street: LMAO

CvilleCommuter

It was only last week. I was so excited to have my first bike (in over 20 years) I had to go out around my home, which was a bit of a mistake, but I definitely learned from it!! I went about 2 miles, which wouldn't have been too bad except I really need to get shifting down. I don't exactly have a mentor, so I've been reading a lot, and shifting on the fly is all new to me. I live in Central Virginia, and that means hills, and a lot of them. I was probably working harder than I should have been (bad shifting) so I was sucking wind after the last hill, but emotionally, I felt great!

So, that went against my pre-new-bike plan, which was to go to a more flat section of town, and do a 3.5 mile loop and practice that for a week or so, just to get more cardiovascularly fit. I'm not bad now - I've been a (fat) gym rat for the past 10 years - but I need to get used to this. Going back out today, and I'm back to the plan!

StephenH

I don't remember. I learned to ride in the front yard, so the "first ride" was probably partway around the house. This was when I was 6 or 7.

More recently, when I started riding, first ride was probably 5 or 6 miles. That'll vary greatly depending on how hilly it is and how out-of-shape you are, both of which vary tremendously. "Over 200 lbs" can mean 201 lbs or 400 lbs, and you can live in Florida or Eureka Springs. And in my case, I had done a lot of walking, so my legs were reasonably strong.

gcottay

My first ride after years off a bike was less than a mile including a gentle uphill that left me totally dismayed.

Within a year I had done a century ride just by accident just because it was a nice day and I had nothing pressing.

LeeRoySD

My first ride in about 20 years was about 4 miles around a relatively flat local park. It took about an hour with a ten minute break in the middle and two 25oz bottles of water/G2.

Lee

urban rider

Two miles around the house. My family became worried and opened the door to look for me. I had been sitting on the steps. Too tired to get up the two steps which led into my house.

dhender02

My first ride after a 30+ year layoff was last week for 3 hilly miles around my neighborhood...KICKED my butt!! Friday, I did a 20 hilly miles ride, also KICKED my butt... I enjoyed it!! I'll be glad when I get to the point where I enjoy the hills, because now I DREAD the hills....

RedShoedRider

Bwahaha....
and....ouch.

Doohickie

I started riding after ~20 years away to commute to work. Aside from a brief check ride, my first ride was to work and back: 15 miles total, including climbing a rather significant hill at the halfway point (my office at the time was at the bottom of the hill, so I had to climb it at the beginning of my ride home). I didn't have water, my work badge, or my wallet with me. (Duh!) It was in February, but it was one of those warm Texas February days, I think it was in the 80s and sunny. I barely made it home.

I learned a lot on that ride, though:
1. ALWAYS have water available.
2. I could do the commute.
3. Don't bite off too much at once.

dcrowell

I started riding in April of 2008. A mile would pretty much do me in. Within a week a rode 11 miles in one day. In less than two months I managed 12.5 miles in less than an hour. I felt like I accomplished something.

Before long I was riding 33-mile round-trip commutes on occasion and 60-mile weekend rides. Other than the occasional century ride, that's still where I'm at.

volrus

Newbie here, first post! My first ride was a little over 2 weeks ago. I rode a whopping 3.5 miles at a 12.2 mph pace (according to my computer thingy). I bought a new Felt Z85 because I didn't want to drop a TON of money on a new bike not knowing if I would really like it. Well, so far I REALLY like it! I'm 5'8" and weight 270 so I'm a big guy and need to lose some weight so this is all a little easier. In just a week I finished an 8 mile ride so I'm making some progress I suppose.

Allen55

Welcome volrus...we are about the same size, so I feel your pain. LOL.

Street Pedaler

Yeah. Both. lol

dcrowell

Seriously.

Rona

I made it from the apartment to the train station in Groningen without running into anyone. Maybe 7 blocks??

Padley

11.38 miles for my first ride. It was 1 week after hernia surgery. Looking back at the old Garmin data I can't believe how slow it was but I distinctly remember being scared to death! Everything was new for me, the bike, the shoes the pedals. Just about fell over trying to unclip my feet. I remember that 22mph downhill seemed like I was flying down the side of a mountain!!! It took me a few rides before I could even grab a water bottle while riding, before that I had to stop to drink. I haven't ridden as much as I would have liked to this year but I am doing 19 mile rides in the same time it took me to do that first 11 mile ride.

I am happy that I have had a Garmin the whole time so that I can look back and see the progress I have made.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/57481956

klepto1

I started riding in May and my first few rides were brutal. 1 mile at most. But it seemed no matter which direction I went I had to climb uphill to get home. Then I pushed to 2 miles, then 3 and so on. Earlier this month I did a 14.5 mile ride and did several 10 mile rides. You just have to keep riding and keep pushing. My cardio is up, my legs are stronger, some of those "hills" are not even noticeable when I am riding now. The others are still challenging, but not as hard as they once were.

I've been lurking the forums for months just picking up info and learning. Main thing I learned it just to keep riding and mix it up. Go for hard rides, long rides, short rides. Just ride. I feel stronger every time I ride and it motivates me to go further and harder and tackle the hills that kicked my butt.

klepto1

I am still learning this lesson. I went way to hard when I started, after reading these forums I started riding in lower gears. Worked great for me so far. On Sunday I decided to go for a 7 mile recovery ride. I geared lower than usual to keep my heart rate low and wouldnt you know, with less effort I made better time. On Strava I had the best time ever (against myself) on a segment that I ride on a regular basis. Blew my mind.

mr,grumpy 

Two miles. I thought that I was going to die. Sadly, riding a bike is like, well, riding a bike. I did it when I was a kid, right? Rode everywhere. Never a thought as to distance or terrain. Well, that is how I tried to ride when I got on the bike a few years ago. I haven't gotten to the point where I can regularly do 20-30 mile rides yet either, but I can get out for 6-10 at the drop of a hat and have it be "no big deal" even after a few weeks off.

One of the BIG mistakes that I feel that I mad was separating riding for fun/purpose from "training". As I let my goals for time and distance take over, I rode less and less just for the fun of it. Going to the store no longer counted because I couldn't keep my heart rate up and stuff like that. I haven't been able to shake this thought patter to this day. Only rarely will I be able to "go for a ride". Mostly, I am all business on the bike. I sucked a lot of the fun out of it somehow.

Keep at it and the mileage will come.

goldfinch

This was easy for me. I ride alone and I am training. I ride with my spouse and it is all fun. Now I have two different bikes. One is the ride for fun bike and the other is the "serious" bike.