Thanks for clearing this up. It seems the gradient in my neighborhood is far less steep than I thought it was. I now really believe that 25 or so years of desk work has taken its toll.

Guess I should start out very slow and work my way up.

Not a good Idea fo this bike. this bike is designed for big tires. By going to narrower tire the pneumatic trail is reduced, and the bike might become unstable. For someone who is just getting back into cycling, stability is more important than speed. There are some newer wide tires made by Panasonic for Compass that are probably faster than the Big Apples.

Just a comment; my skill is increasing after only three days, but the stamina is taking forever. Small distances that I can walk without a problem leave me winded. That may be because I have the bike in the "pedal like crazy and move six inches" gear setting, but I'm doing that to build up my calf muscles. Anyone more knowledgable than me (which I guess is just about everybody here) can feel free to chime in with constructive advice. :)

Three days is hardly forever.

The biggest mistake I made getting back on the bike after decades was to try and pedal in too high of a gear. My knees started hurting and I read on this forum about that and started spinning if a lower gear. My knees have been fine as long as I remember that.

Well, ok, you got me. It just feels like forever. I hate to keep repeating this, but one thing the bike is bringing out is that I needed to start exercising a long time ago. I guess I'm just predicting that to build stamina will take quite a while.

It certainly is, if you cannot ride during those three days.:50:

Bill

When I got back onto a bike after decades away there was the same frustration. I was already in decent physical shape, just not in good cycling shape. Still took me most of a season to really get my act together. So, can only imagine your level of annoyance. Keep at it. It will get better/good. And an add....don't kill yourself gettin' there. :)

Shift. Get yourself a cadence of 75-90 crank rpm's.

I really appreciate the encouragement. The only thing the bike ever says to me is "We could be having a lot more fun if you weren't such a desk jockey..."

61 here. I ride about 1300 beach miles a year. Equivalent to about 3000 road miles in terms of effort. Stay at it!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=501046

Actually you are right where you should be given the facts.

First, not sure what type of bike you have. A road bike can be much lighter with clip ins.

Second, especially for road bikes you should get a fitting shortly. We all have different flexibility and you want to be sure the Bike is dialed to you. Can't say enough how important a good fitting is. Bike tech gets you to half inches or so and good fitting to the millimeter.

Third it just takes time and miles for your hands, arms, back, legs etc to adjust to cycling. Days wont do it, while months can be slower too.

Fourth, need to build up your heart lung and your legs. Like others have said it just takes time. Someone said 2,000 miles. Dunno did around 1,200 first year starting at 65, now almost 71 and rode about over 6,000 last year.

Make it fun, cuz it is!

Leave this thought far back in the recesses of your mind, none of us can roll back the clock, or change what things we ought to have done. This is now, ride and enjoy every minute of the time spent rebuilding your fitness. Many of us had slow starts, when we got back on the bicycle, for what ever reason. Lots of us have our stories about how few miles we ride for a bit, and about how much our legs ached after those rides. I did 2 miles for a while, and felt lucky to get that little bit done without keeping over, stone dead. After 10 years of surgeries and complications, I felt damn lucky, just to walk out the door, and sling a leg over the top tube (regardless as to how high it was:roflmao2:,) and I am not the worst case here, by a long shot. Now, I am doing 25 miles daily, no problems, and had over 7,000 miles these last two years. My physician has said that cycling put all of my lab numbers into the good ranges, and I managed to shed over 100lbs, and keep it off for over 2 years, so far. You can do what ever you set your mind to.

From most of your posts, I'd say that you are pretty much hooked on cycling, welcome to our addiction support group. Ride what you have, get things fitted as best as you can, a good LBS will help you through this, it builds loyalty from their customers, and get your legs and lungs, as well as your butt, back into shape. When you are good to go, you can decide exactly which, and what type of bicycle, you want to carry on with. Best wishes on all of your rides, these first several may well test you, just keep at it.

Bill

Well, thanks. Actually, thanks to everyone -- this is a very supportive group.

I have my own semi-inspirational story about fitness, though not about biking. A few years ago I weighed slightly more than I weigh now. I was planning a solo vacation that would involve both a lot of walking and a lot of eating. So I just walked every weekend and I dropped about 20 pounds. Then when I went on vacation, I walked somewhere between ten and fifteen miles each day. This contributed to me being able to eat whatever I wanted, and I still lost weight.

So I know that I'm capable of getting back into shape. And I know that it will go slowly. But as you say, I'm hooked on cycling, and I'm impatient to get into a good enough shape that I can start having fun. And by fun I mean things like a ride down to the waterfront on pleasant weekend mornings, or even going to work without being tied to the public transit schedule.

But I also think the bike takes a different kind of "getting into shape." First it's the heart and lungs -- and though I recognize this takes a while, I'm still very impatient. The good thing is that my legs will be getting into shape at the same time. I think.

But thanks for the words of support. I'm just going to take it easy, recognize that progress will be slow, learn how to use the shifters (my mind still thinks I'm riding a five speed), and have fun with it. And one of these days I'll probably be able to do one of those 60-mile rides that one of my friends started pestering me to do the minute I got a bike. :)

Welcome to the loony bin. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Just keep at it and take it easy. Progress will be slow at first, but will pick up soon enough Be patient. This is a long game, not a short one. Concentrate on learning to use your gears to your advantage.

Hello, My name is John and I am a recovering cyclist (everyone applause). I have been cycling for many years and I have to say each year is getting better, longer rides, faster times, lower weight, etc...etc.. But when I started, I thought my legs would fall off. This forum has taught me many things related to cycling, but have to be honest, I learned just as much with my fanny in the saddle peddling up hills and on long rides.

This forum is by far one of he best go-to places when you need some advise. But nothing beats experience.

John S

If I wasn't convinced before that I should ride a little each day, I am now. Most days I get home somewhat late, but try to just get around the block; I don't have a lot of confidence in my night-time riding skills. (Or as we call it in this neighborhood "dodging the drunks"). Looks like tomorrow will be nice and sunny though.

One other thing I'm doing is deep-breathing exercises. I get the feel the burn in my lungs even though I'm not really exerting myself. It's my hope that these exercises will help me when I really am exerting myself.

I too went 35 years between bike rides. Thought I was in pretty good shape until that first ride. I had to stop to rest halfway home from the bike shop--a whopping 0.67 miles total, so a third of a mile did me in.

I had sort of an idea of how I wanted to feel and be on the bike. Took me almost three years to get there. That's one month for every year off the bike, which seems reasonable when you think of it that way. So give time time to work, and get out on the bike regularly--at least four times a week.

During your body's rebuilding phase, there's a certain amount of pain that's unavoidable. None at all means you aren't working hard enough. So much that you can't walk or sit, means you're working too hard. Somewhere in the middle is where you want to be. Listen to and obey your body's signals.

As for maybe commuting five miles each way in a few months, that may be a little too conservative a goal. At a jogging pace of 10MPH, that's only a half-hour ride. Of course the trick is that you have to work for eight hours afterwards, then ride home again, but those things actually seemed to provide me with additional incentive. I trained for my commutes evenings and weekends so that I could do that. These days, it's the other way around. I use my commutes to train for weekend rides.

As an example of what can be done, as a lifelong lowlander and flatlander, just 28 months after that first bike ride where I was tuckered out after a third of a mile, I went to Colorado where I rode my everyday commuting bike to the top of the highest paved road in North America. (At which point regulars will now groan and roll their eyes as I trot out the usual photos.)

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...lake-start.jpg

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...s-crop-960.jpg

It's not to brag, but to show that it's hard to set your goals too high, but easy to set them too low. That was a goal I didn't even know I had until about six months beforehand when I was invited to try.

EDIT: One thing I forgot: The best advice I got here when I started was that without a specific "training" program, just going out regularly and trying a little harder--if not every day, then every week or month--you can reasonably expect to improve for five years or so. There will be plateaus along the way, but plug along at it and the trend will be upwards.

With a specific training program, there's more you can do faster, longer and older. We have folks here putting in thousands of miles a year in their 80s, and at least one racer too.

As for me, see this thread over in the commuting forum to see where else cycling has taken me in ten years.

The post here make me more optimistic about where I am right now.

Bruce, that's an inspiring story. (Though having grown up in Wisconsin, I can't imagine riding a bike in the winter...) I like that your primary bike is a road bike; it diverges from what most people are doing. But at this point I like all bikes, and don't know what I'll end up with. I like the Big Rove that I have, but I hope in the future to try many, many bikes.

Ok, you all can stop being inspiring now. :) I'll be getting on the bike as soon as it stops raining.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=cycling+rain+gear

Might as well get used to the idea that every challenge is a shopping opportunity. :)

Good one. I do have raingear. I just don't have the confidence to go riding while it's wet out. Give me a couple of weeks. :)

Hmmm. Divergent. I've been called worse, and it sure beats peculiar. ;)

At one point, all of the bikes I saw on the street were hybrids and mountain bikes. After I made that comment yesterday, the first three bikes I saw on the street were road bikes.

I've said before that many of these posts are inspiring. One of the things they've inspired me to do is to relax and not worry about what shape I'm in; it will gradually improve, and I can only hurt myself by pushing it.

I also found this blog post by Tom Reingold: Bicycle Riding, Repair, and Advocacy: How to build a bike habit -- it details the stages of bicycle addiction. I'm still in stage one, but it's because I love my neighborhood.

And now it's morning, about 50 degrees, stopped raining several hours back, roads fairly dry. Only about an hour from sunrise, so only about an hour from today's first ride. Yes, it will be short, and I will be winded at the end of it, but I don't care; it's a stepping stone.

I got back to cycling seriously after quadruple bypass surgery three years ago. After surgery, I could barely spin the pedals on a stationary bike with no resistance - bypass surgery knocks you flat. Fortunately, as a former endurance athlete I knew how to get fit. What I didn't realize is the time it would take to reach my age-limited peak. In fact, I'm not sure I am there yet. Sometime during the first year of riding I realized that it would take another season to reach my peak. Then after the second season I wondered whether I would ever get better (I was doing pretty good.) Last season I actually started doing some gravel racing.

So now I'm 67 and feel I still have some room to improve. The gains are marginal once you reach a certain point, but then you can focus on building certain strengths like hill climbing. Frankly, I never imagined I would be doing 30 mile rides in well under 2 hours in hilly terrain and 50 mile gravel races with several thousand feet of climbing. Frankly, at this point, it takes a 30 mile ride to get that sweet endorphin feeling. I can still go home and work around the house the rest of the day. The next day I have no soreness. In fact, I rarely have any pain anywhere - something that at my age makes me feel very grateful to be alive and healthy.

Today I took my standard short ride. At the end, my legs hurt, but I wasn't really winded so I did half of it again. One minuscule step for the average biker, one giant step for me. I'm winded, yes, but not as bad as four days ago when I did a somewhat shorter ride. Remembering to breathe at all times is very helpful :). And coasting when I can, and putting forth effort when I have to...oh, and making sure I'm well hydrated. And not stopping just because it's difficult.

It's a good day so far. Now it's time for my reward breakfast of a bagel with lox.