siddartha

Do you do any exercise before going on your ride?

Myself I blamed the knee and muscle pain on the total lack of exercise. Now, thanks to Sheldon, I know the bike should have the seat higher that I felt comfortable (psychological) to feel more comfortable (physical). So up with the seat post and the bike seems ligher, the speed increases (or so my small computer tells me). and the knee pain goes away. All this thanks to Sheldon and his site, otherwise something bad might have happened.

Now I ask you what do you do to prepare for the ride? Do you just hop on the bike and there you go?

fietsbob

No. i bundle up for the weather , lock the door and go.

pityr

Hop on and go. Might not be as fast for the first 10 minutes or so though.

DJ Shaun

I go through my routine of packing my panniers and putting on my layers and than I hop on and go. My first 10 minutes are on quiet residential streets so I get to warm up before getting into traffic.

1nterceptor

Pretty much, I may take the first 10-15 minutes a bit slow.

Artkansas 

I don't warm up, but I do start slowly and trust my body to let me know when it's ready to boogie.

locolobo13 

Yep. Just hop on and go. I'm slower in the mornings than in the evenings tho.

modernjess

Aside from breakfast, the clothing (especially in winter) and getting the bag packed, whats there to prepare for? It's not a race. Just get on and get going, in 10 minutes or so the legs are good and I'm cooking.

the reformation

i hop on the bike and force myself to cycle slowly up until about halfway through the route and i always find that this gets me there about 10% faster than if go fast from the beginning, and you end up with much less muscle ache as well.

i'm by no means a cycle club type cyclist, the reason i got a road bike was it's so much more efficient and comfortable to ride. the one thing that pretty much wiped out aches, pains, stretches over night was getting clipless peddles. it improved everything to do with the commute. everything.

alan s 

First mile is warmup and last mile is cool down.

chefisaac

When I commute, I hop on and go. Pack everything the night before.

I do have a big hill that wakes me up!

When I go on longer rides, I do stretch a little and I stretch when I stop too.

idc

I never plan to but yesterday I was up an extra hour early (teething baby) so I used some of the time to warm up a bit on the elliptical.

I prepare everything the night before as well.

tarwheel 

I never warm up before riding, but do so during the first 10-15 minutes of riding. I warm up by spinning at a faster cadence and not exerting myself too hard, particularly on hills. I've learned the hard way that the easiest way to injure my knees is to ride hard without warming up, particularly in cold weather. I also wear tights or knee-warmers if temperatures are about 65 F or lower.

buzzman

I hop on and go. In the winter, when it's really cold just the getting dressed and layering up in the house before I get on the bike can have me almost in a sweat so I'm relieved to get outside and just start pedaling.

And I usually start off slow but not because of any conscious need to "warm up" but because I don't feel like hammering right off the bat. Granted there are days when I've been running late and I pound the pedals right off the bat. What's funny is once I get going I can only push so hard before I realize, "well, if I'm late, I'm late, let me just get there in one piece and not completely exhausted"

pauschl

the one thing that pretty much wiped out aches, pains, stretches over night was getting clipless peddles. it improved everything to do with the commute. everything.[/QUOTE]

How do clipless pedals help with pains? I use clips with my street shoes. I've never tried clippless... i like being able to just wear my work shoes. but if they help with knee pain, or lower back pain...

MichaelW

My warm up routine:
Put on shoes, coat and helmet.
Go out, lock door, get bicycle.
Did I switch the lights off.
Unlock door, run upstairs, check all lights.
Run downstairs , lock door.
Did I turn the taps off.
Unlock door, run upstairs, check taps.
Run downstairs , lock door.
Did I lock door?
Run back and check door.
Pick up bike.
Discover pannier is inside.
unlock door
Grab pannier
Lock door
Double check door lock.
Affix pannier and go.

cehowardGS

One the warm up bit, well, I am an exercise freak/nut. So, when I wake up in the morning, I am hitting push-ups on the way to the bathroom, squats getting my bike ready, I do about 10 to 15 minutes exercise and stretching normally just to get out. Plus, I hit the gym 5 times a week for at hour long workouts. At my age, 71, I gotta stayed warmed up..

On the clipless and commuting. I am finding out differently. With clipless I am fasterer, smoother and less effort, but the traffic, clipping in and out is a problem for me. On the bike trail, and group rides, IMO, clipless is the only way to go. In traffic, that is a different story. Everybody is not a clip-in/clip-out artist, and if you forget, which I am sure a lot have, you could be in big trouble in traffic..

Just my opinion..

buzzman

Bike poetry.

nashcommguy

+1 Only my long hill is down...makes it cold for the first mile or so, but I warm up quickly after that.

nashcommguy

Seems an acronym could be assigned to this routine: OCD, maybe?

BlankTim

You forgot 'Did I get my lunch bag?', 'Grab lunch bag' and 'Did the Cat sneak out?', 'Check on Cat'.
Otherwise, exactly my routine as well.
Once I've run back upstairs three or four times, my legs are ready to ride, and my heart rate is up nicely.

Stealthammer

I stretch for 15 minutes every morning after I shower, then have breakfast. When I get on the bike I spin with light effort to warm up the joints and muscles for about 10 minutes or so, then I begin to push a bit more for about 10 more minutes until I hit the "sweet spot" in my cadence. Road biking has taught me to mix up the gears a bit more to maintain a more steady cadence and rely less on "pushing the pedals". I think this is something that commuters who come from a mountain biking background can benefit from because it really saves your knees from acute injuries caused by pushing too big of gears.

Bud Bent

A couple of puffs on the asthma inhaler, and I'm ready to go.....

El Gigante

I stretch out my back by bending over and letting my arms hang for a few minutes before I take off. I also do some quad stretches and calf stretches as well. All told, about 5-10 minutes of stretching is about right. After I'm on the road, I spin at a fairly high cadence until I feel sufficiently warm to downshift to a bigger gear. The stretching may be overkill, but I have'nt had any major knee or back issues, so I'll continue to do them.

megalowmatt

I didn't before but after a recent bout of sciatica there are a few stretches I do now to keep my back limber.