Ewok

Hey everyone,
I just finished fixing up my cheapo bike and completed my first ride!
I am wondering how long all of your first rides lasted? I only did a little under a mile- and feel tired! My thighs and arms feel weak (it's a good sign though I think), I couldn't shift right, at one point my chain came off, and I was pretty shakey since I haven't ridden since I was a younger kid. I know stamina will come as I keep trying, but it makes me curious to how short my first ride was compared to others.

Even though I don't have a very good bike, I am looking forward to getting out again tomorrow and trying to go longer. I'm already saving up for a better bike from my LBS and hope, HOPE, to get a new bike in about 2 months.
Yay cycling What a rush!

nkfrench 

My first rides were more in blocks not in miles. Don't worry about distance or speed, just increase your time on the bike until you can ride comfortably for 1/2 hour. Keep your rides short enough that they are fun and don't make you unduly sore. Your butt will thank you too.
Build up your ride difficulty gradually, that helps avoid injury or getting too fatigued to do anything else. Be patient and good things will happen over the long haul.
A new bike is a great reward for getting a new exercise routine established.
Progress isn't always smooth and linear, but you can expect to still be getting stronger years later.

BARKEATR

Ive never completely stopped riding since i used to race bikes...but will tell you, as a clyde, that i do little ten mile rides a lot and get a great workout and i did a few five milers in February as i was trying some winter biking equipment. you will find you will jump from a one miler to 5 in a jiffy..most of the weakness you felt was just prolly some jitters. once you relax you will find it easy. nice work !

Black wallnut 

3 miles nearly flat. The distance really does not matter. Make it short enough that it is enjoyable and gradually increase as you get accustomed to both the saddle and the activity. Last year I restarted in March and it was not until July that I actually started piling on the miles.

Ewok

True, I do live in hilly Colorado country, I guess I just need to learn to shift better. A cycling enthusiast at the LBS I visited told me it will be much easier on me when I get a real bike and ditch the department store ride I'm using. Maybe that new bike will only come as a reward after I can complete a 5+ mile ride as an incentive even if I have the money ready weeks prior

tony_merlino

After not riding for almost 14 years, and gaining more than 75 lbs over the years, my first ride was 4 miles round trip to the store. It didn't help that it was over 90 degrees that day. There's one small incline - I can't in good conscience call it a hill - on that route. I almost died. I stopped at a light at the top of the incline, and threw myself off the bike, collapsed against the traffic light pole, and gasped for breath for a couple of minutes.

One thing I can say for this part of NJ: People mind their own business! At least 50 cars stopped there while this (at the time) 58 year old man sat on the sidewalk with his bike sprawled out in front of him, but nobody so much as rolled down a window and asked if I was alright .

youcoming

My first was 35km but I have always played sports of some kind and had done a few half marathons the year before and I was a clyde at 245lbs.

CJ C

my first ride back in a long time was about .25-.5 of a mile to RedBox to pick up a movie. second ride was 1 mile to Ace hardware the next day, then another .5 to eat a beef w/hot peppers fries and coke. Then the next day 3 miles to my parents house to fix some stuff with the things i got from ace hardware the previous day. a two day break i came back with a 4 mile ride to work and 4 miles back home.

longest to date is 37 miles, i could go longer but i dont go by miles i go by time. i dont have "free" time so any longer in distance means i just have to get faster

escii_35

After dropping 30lbs a university mate had me rehab her almost vintage Univega. The stock 52-42 crank was replaced with a sexy VO one to help with the hills.





In another month or two she will be out of the Athena range but she was inside the range on her first ride. We went 6.5 miles and I was very impressed she kept cadence on the slight grade hills in a 34x28. Two days later I called and she said, "I NEED A DIFFERENT SADDLE." That hard itty bitty vetta turbo did not cut it.

chefisaac

first ride was 2 miles. it felt like 20 miles. That was in July 2011. By the end of December, I logged in 1600 plus miles. This year, I am over 1,000 miles and almost at 500 just for this month.

The point, it does get easier. You will hurt after riding. Remember, the good hurt is good. The bad hurt (knee pain, palm pain, etc) is bad pain which will need a bike fitting to help out.

You are on the right path.

Street Pedaler

First ride was 2.5 miles. I was 10 weeks Post-op from my second back surgery and, by the time I got off the bike, I was in such pain that I very nearly gave up Cycling right then and there. Maybe I should have, this addiction is getting to be a little much. lol

Rhodabike

I've never really stopped riding. For a few years after the car accident, I couldn't ride more than one hour without screwing up my bad knee, so I limited my rides to that length of time and no more. Now the limiting factor is saddle comfort. I can't seem to go more than two hours without chafing and discomfort.

rhammons

Did some looking back, and my first ride was 26 miles and 3+ hours long, I was weighing in at about 235+ at the time (last July, 2011) and had just joined a recreational volleyball league, other than that, I was on the treadmill maybe three times a month for a couple miles at a time at that point, so not super athletic, but not inactive. I definitely surprised myself, and my friend who encouraged me to go out that day in the first place, but boy was I dog slow. Coincidentally, I did a near 28 mile ride yesterday along pretty much the same route (actually toughened up with a hillier extension to the route), and completed it in 1 hour and 40 minutes, and I'm now down to 195 lbs, and running about 10-15 miles a week. It really does come with time, practice, and well, the right equipment helps. The first 6 months of my riding was spent on a big-box store dual suspension mountain bike, now I'm on a bikesdirect.com gravity cx bike, still with mountain bike-ish gearing, but its about 10 lbs lighter, I clip in, and it's epically more comfortable for long rides.

BigScott

First ride after 16 years was just under a mile. And very slow. And by the way, that was yesterday. I hear it gets easier but I felt like I was going to die!

Neil_B

One mile. It was my first bike ride ever. I was 40 and taught myself. I was wobbling along OK until a mailbox jumped in front of me.

magohn

At 320lbs (then), my first ride was approx 2 miles. I thought I was going to die - I could not get up "hills" (approx 25ft climb ) and stopped frequently. Mucous streamed from my mouth as joggers easily ran passed me. I begged my wife to go get the truck and pick me up as I was done. I made it home and since then just kept it simple. 3 Small (5-7mile) rides post-work and a longer one at weekends (40 miles). I have ridden back to back centuries on this formula and rode 2k+ miles last year.

Congrats on the plan for a new bike. A nice bike definitely helps physically and mentally but you will find that your body and brain naturally figures out how to "ride a bike" and many of your issues today will disappear. Get lots of little rides in and the riding will become easier as you get how and when to shift and coast etc. Ride the same small route and smile as you easily crank up "hills" that you used to walk up - it will happen!

Welcome

Peter_C

About 400ft. Was 370lbs about, soon to have my left knee replaced, 30yrs since riding a bike. That was late in 2009. Now I often do 20-40 mile rides, and am doing my first tour this June (one-way on the GAP). Oh and I'm bout 320lbs now.

digibud

The encouraging thing is how short many "first rides" are. After years off the bike I was closing in on 300lb. Having been a cyclist in the distant past century I got back on my old bike and went all of 1 mile. Had I never been a cyclist I would have quit in discouragement right then but I knew better. Next ride was even shorter. Third ride was a bit longer and then longer and longer. A year later and 70lb less I did a 130 mile ride. I still need to drop another 30lb or so. All of us clydes need to keep in mind how "it gets better" with time, exercise and a bit of care at the buffet line.

Doohickie

15 miles. And I thought I was gonna die. Forgot to take water, it was an uncharacteristically warm day.

When my office moved and was only about 7 miles away, I decided to try riding to work. Prudently, I did the ride on an off day. I made it to the office okay. Unfortunately, I didn't have my office badge with me so I couldn't go in and get a drink of water. I also didn't have my wallet. So I had nothing to do but ride back.

My path back started with Hooters Hill, a freeway frontage road with a 7% incline a quarter mile long and a Hooters at the top.

I made it but it was tough.

goldfinch

I've had the experience of people going on by me as I was carrying my broken down bike back to my rv. I make a point now of always stopping, whether on my bike or in my car if I see someone on a bike that looks in trouble.

My first ride was maybe half a mile on the flats. I quickly was doing five or six miles on the flats, but with lots of breaks and always going very slow. I wasn't riding to ride, but riding around in the neighboring state park doing state park things. I did that for a couple of months. Then I went where there were hills/slight inclines. They killed me. I spent a few weeks riding along mostly in the two lowest gears and walking up hills. I learned that I had to work at it to get to be a "real" bike rider.

ErickSaint

When I was in high school I was riding about 18-20 miles a day. Then I hadn't been on a bike again until I was in my mid 20's back then I was doing around 12 miles a few times a week. Then life got in the way for about 10 years, maybe more. I had gotten laid off from my job, instead of getting on the bike I just sat around feeling sorry for myself. I should have been riding but instead I was making excuses for a year and a half without a job. During this time I got up to my heaviest weight of about 330. I finally got back to work in June of 2010. I lost a few pounds just by getting back to work and off the couch.

Last year about this time I dusted off the old mountain bike and converted it over to a hybrid of sorts. My first ride was about 4 miles and I thought I was going to collapse. I stuck with it for a few months, and was up to about 15 miles 4 days a week but and got sidetracked again. This time I didn't go completely dormant like I had in the past. I was still hiking between 5-10 miles once a week. Fast forward to this year. I decided to make a real change this time. For the last month and a half I have been working out 6 days a week and riding when I can. There were a few really nice days here in Wisconsin so far, which is very unseasonable, so I was able to get out early this year. First ride this season was 13.25 miles, there were a few others in the 7 mile range. When the weather is crummy and cold I ride an indoor recumbant. Today I did 10 miles in 34 minutes and I feel great. Proud to say that I'm down from 330 to 255 as of today. Sometimes up, sometimes down. But 75 pounds gone in a little bit under 2 years...I can live with that.

I'm hoping to get an entry level road bike sometime this year and my goal is to ride a metric century by the end of the year.

Sorry, that got a little long winded, I have a bad habit of that.

krobinson103

Sitting at 101.5kg after 2 years off the bike I forced 22km out of my legs, but it hurt. I then rode every morning for 2 hours and now 3 weeks later I can do 25km in 1 hour 15 minutes and come home with no tiredness at all. I got out to 60km on Sunday and could probably have gone to 100, but its not wise to push things too far. 100km will have to wait till next month.

Dave P

Hey Ewok:

My first ride as a 232lb'er was around the block (~1 mile). I thought I was going to die.

After ~ 6 months of riding, plus regular core training (2 hours per week), I'm up to 20-25 miles per week. I mix in 3-6 miles of steep azzz hills per week, as well.

I'm down to 209lbs now.

You should do much better, as my lungs are fried from 35 years of smoking.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Dave

DarthMuffin

My first ride was 2.5 miles to work. I had to stop for a rest at least once, and my legs felt like spaghetti most of the day, then repeated the ride to get home.

It's amazing how fast your body adapts though. Within a few days I no longer had to stop halfway to rest and my legs didn't feel totally weak all day. Within two weeks I was having fun and trying for some speed. Then I upgraded from the department store bike which was another quantum leap.

I'm up to 18 miles now -- could have gone farther but ran out of trail.

Yo Spiff

I've been on and off the bike a couple of times my whole life. Longest spell was 4 years. I broke that with a 5 miler and it was the hardest 5 miles I've ever done. Dropped the bike in the yard and stumbled into the house breathing like a woman in labor.

Every other time, I've started with 2 or 3 miles in the neighborhood and added a couple of miles at a time. Usually I've been up to riding 20 miles within the month, assuming I get out riding at least 3 days a week.

*Results are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary.*