Sounds like you're doing everything right, and constant climbs are tough when you're starting out. +1 on Berniebikes post, and the important part is to find some longer rides that fit into your schedule. Consider riding a couple evenings a week or a day on the weekend, go 10+ miles on some flatter terrain to find your groove (crazybikerchick is a wise one).

When I started last year, I found an steady incline near my house and periodically rode up and down it until I get tired. This year I laugh at how puny the grade is compared to riding into the Highlands neighborhood :)

Keep your morale up Jen. I think your psychology can play a big enough role to slow you down or help you keep going. You're doing fine, it usually takes a month or so before you really start noticing the difference. I would make sure your seat is sitting high enough and you're getting full extension on your rotations. But other than that, just keep chipping away at it. Finishing off a ride with an uphill can be brutal and will definitely help build strength for future hills and easier terrain. Happy Pedaling.

I was going to say that.

girljen, not to sound insulting, but what is your "starting" fitness level? I remember my first bike commute...9 miles, and I thought I was going to die. I didn't think it would be a big deal, since I was a regular runner, to the tune of 3 mile runs several days per week. Hoo boy was I wrong.

If you're starting from your couch, per se...it may be a while.

For right now, don't force it too much. Over that short of a distance, the difference in time between giving the ride all you have and spinning a little easier won't be hugely significant. In time your fitness level and your riding strength will catch up. Then you'll be posting back here about wanting a different and faster bike to keep up with your abilities. :D

Congratulations on starting. I promise you, it gets better. A lot better. So much better that you'll feel a bit irritated at the days where you have to drive for whatever reason.

Oh, hills are what seperate strong cyclists from the rest. I try then to ignore what some of the really ugly ones are telling me about my own ability.

Sometimes the gradual climbs are the worst. It's very insidious...your eyes perceive a relatively flat road, and your brain can't understand why it's so...hard...to...pedal...

Its been a year and I have gotten better and I always seem to challenge myself so progress seems nonexistant. I ride to work with 35-40 lbs of school books and whatnot. It is a 3 mile commute. The way home didn't get easy until about 5 or 6 months I started biking. If you are not use to hills then it is a real pain in the arse to get use to. Especially if you weight a lot, your bike is more than 35 lbs and you are carrying gear on top of that.

Your biggest problem is right there. A 3 mile ride is very short. You are essentially sprinting every day, which is a lot of short term hard effort and then you stop. Endurance requires more build up with less effort. You wouldn't ride a century the same way you can ride a 3 mile ride. You have to conserve your energy to ensure that you can finish the long ride.

I'd suggest you go for longer rides on the weekend...and even on the weekdays. It sounds like you are taking the most direct route to work and home. Take the short route in and plan a longer route to go home. PM me if you need route suggestions.

Another issue may be clothing. If you are riding in street clothes...jeans, in particular...they can be restricting and energy burning. Lord knows I don't look good in Lycra:eek::eek: but I don't wear it for fashion. I wear it because it moves like a second skin and doesn't restrict my legs or make me work harder.

To do a century, by the way, usually takes about 12 weeks of prep time with a progressively longer ride schedule. It's not something that most people decide to do spur of the moment.

Also, stop by in the mountain plains regional forum. It's getting a bit boring in there. :p

Scanned through the posts and if you are just starting out, I would disagree with those who suggest adding riding on the weekend. When I first started my 15 mil RT commute, I would gradually wear down over the week and would need the weekend to recover. I remember strong "Monday legs." Fridays were pitiful.

After a few years of doing that on a hybrid, I was in better shape, bought a road bike, and soon the commute felt too short and too easy. Took about 3-6 months of group riding to get to where I could hang without suffering.

I now try to ride at least 100 miles per week, but am fine going 150 or 200 miles per week. Did a ride of 70 miles of last weekend and would have been happy doing another 70 if it weren't for the rest of my life interferring with riding.

It will come. Make sure your bike fits and, if you are riding every day to work, take the weekends off this year.

In my first year of cycling my only cycling was my 17mi RT commute. I hiked on weekends which certainly helps cardio. As I pointed out earlier my average speed during this period doubled.

I decided to join a club and found I had no problem riding the same pace for 40-50mi.

Yes - long rides can help build endurance, but it is not the only way. I do think a bit more than 6mi RT will be needed though.

If the pain is only DOMS (vs. joints, tendons, sharp pain) then enjoy it. Seriously - it's good.

Al

+1 on the sexy bike watching.

There's this one particular spot on my route which overlooks a farm and sometimes the cows come up near the fence. There's a large rock, and I stop there every morning to take a drink of water and stretch. Just thirty seconds, you know, but it really makes me feel better. You can do this without even getting off the bike. Just remember to take a minute and breathe, collect yourself (long stoplights are good for that).

Except it does get easier if you choose not to go faster. And if one takes that route, eventually it will be easier to go faster too. Perhaps not out to Greg LeMond's level, but to a pretty reasonable approximation of a transportational biker.

That's a good thing, then. The cause of the DOMS is you working hard. Hybrids usually have triples, giving super-low low gears, so lazily spinning up the hill is always an option. You could also take it easy, coast more.

Paul

+1. One idea is to keep a check on your time/speed this week. Then, in about 3 weeks, check your time/speed again. It will be less. Then try to ride at the speed you did during the first check.

Voila! You are faster and fitter.

All the other stuff about making sure your bike fits you properly, your pedalling speed should be quicker in a lower gear than slower in a higher gear, is also valid. Don't worry, everyone goes thro' this stage. And in about a year, you'll find yourself giving advice to a newbie. In the meantime, get used to this forum. It is full of opinionated ignoramuses who slag each other off at the slightest opportunity. It would be so much better if only they'd realise that I'm right.;)

Keep at it and good luck

If you are riding in the same wind the rest of us are around here, the level of effort for your 3 mile commute has the feel of a ten mile commute (see thread Wind on the CO Front Range)! That wind is making us all tired! I'm betting, as others have suggested, that your seat is low and that you may be mashing rather than spinning. I would have LBS (Wheat Ridge Cyclery?) look at seat height. I wouldn't think, however, that a complete head-to-toe fit would be necessary for a 3 mile commute.

Stay after it...it will get better. The day will soon come where you'll be unhappy if you have to be off your bike for some reason.

I haven't read all the responses, but ...

1) Make sure your bicycle fits you

2) Start building up your distances. Those of us who do centuries and randonnees didn't do 6 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week, and then all of a sudden went out and rode a century ... we may have started with 6 miles a day, 4-5 days a week, but then we started adding 10% per week to our distances, and gradually built up to longer distances. I predict that the day you cover 12 miles all in one go, your 6 mile commute will really start to seem easier.

Two things: I'm surprised nobody mentioned this. Buy a recumbent bike and try maxing out on bench press as you ride to work. It's unconventional and difficult, but when properly executed...a thing of beauty. After a month or so of that, a 3 miler won't seem so bad. Another thing you might want to do is see if you can find a route to work that is downhill in both directions. Many will tell you that this is impossible because of physics. I say they're only limited by their drive to find an easier way to do something. Hope this helps.

Most of the changes are mental. Once you get your routine down it will get easier. Eventually it will become second nature.