Just starting again at 51, love it!
 

Thought I’d make an intro here and welcome any comments, encouragement, and advice.

I started taking my fitness seriously about 2 years ago. Been in the gym doing the lifting/cardio thing regularly and it’s been a game changer. But, I just realized how much I hate cardio machines. Lightbulb went off...get a bike!

I got a great deal on a CTY 1.1, got all the gear just last Saturday. Been to Prospect Park 4 times and I couldn’t be more happy. The first 3 rides I did one lap, it’s about 3.5 miles with a sustained hill that, for me, is not so easy. Then today, I did 2 laps, silly, but Im proud.

The sights, the sounds, seeing all the serious cyclists to inspire you. And you feel like a kid again, such a blast from the past.

Hoping to get my bearing over the next few weeks, get up to 10 miles and beyond, and start cruising all over.

Great to hear, sounds like you're on the right track.

I know what you mean about the light bulb going off. One day I realized there was a new thing in my awareness, and that thing was the idea that I should get a bike. I have no clue where the idea came from, it was just there, but I'm so glad I followed through. I've been riding three years now, age 57. I feel one million percent (approximately) better, and it's so much fun.

:welcome and :thumb: :thumb:

Fabulous! Obviously, almost everyone here is going to be excited to hear about another person who has discovered our joyous activity. If it's affirmation you want, you've come to the right place. Very few activities provide for as many ways to have fun as riding a bike.

Welcome and go, Go, GO!

+1

Don't even sweat the mileage yet. One day you're going to look back at these first rides and smile about how proud you were. I remember when my wife and I got back into cycling, we were so proud we could ride 11 miles and only had to stop 3 or 4 time! LOL.

Thank you!

Yes, I’m checking my ego and just trying to maintain a good cadence so I feel like I’m working but not struggling too much. I’ll know when it’s time to push, I think. So many changes in grade ( if that’s the right word) in the park that I’m getting plenty of practice with the gears ; )

One of the best feelings is finishing the ride, pulling under a tree, cooling off, and sitting feeling content.

Congratulations on getting back in the saddle. :thumb:

Welcome back!

Yup I’m stuck at 51 :lol: I’ve been slacking but here when the temps go to 104 Mother Nature makes you take a break. The advice I have is just go ride and go from there :thumb: Don’t be surprised when you’re wind and endurance improves faster than you think.

Im very happy my body is responding to the “work load” and Im trying to set little milestones. Like this weekend, I was able to take this long hill in the *second easiest gear , lol.

Theres an expression in lifting weights, not sure if there’s an equivalent in cycling, called “newbie gains” where you make big improvements your first few months. Im getting those and It’s very encouraging. And seeing all the serious guys blowing around the loop is really motivating.

Those shorter rides that just stop you cold can happen any time. About a quarter-century ago my wife and I took a short break from riding. (I don't remember why or even how long, but it was likely just a couple months.) Prior to that break, we would ride 135 miles to the coast about every fourth Saturday and ride back the next day, so we had a few miles under our belts. Anyway, we were restarting so we headed out for what we thought would by a typical 30-60 mile ride through the local farmland. The county is laid out in a grid with each numbered road being a mile from the next one. We lived at Road 99. As we reached Road 95, we had both had enough so we returned home.

We still laugh about Road 95 to this day. It was just one of those days when turning the cranks didn't feel good and we weren't in the mood to push through to see if it all came together. As I recall, we did get it together in time to ride the annual local double century.

Congrats on starting to ride again! It's a great non-impact sport and can get you back into shape and a great stress reliever also! Just to add some encouragement, a female friend just bought her first mountain bike-at 66-and has taken to riding trails like she's been doing it for years!! She has been an avid road rider, so was in good shape, but off-road is a bit diff. So keep on riding-you never know where it will take you!

Like riding a bike. Wait...what?

fantastic. I started back at 55. I love bikes.

Bought the Frankentrek in Dec. 2013. I weighed 244+ lbs, with hypertension and severe acid reflux. Going vegetarian, and that cycle, cleared all the problems. I couldn't get up a moderate, freakin hill at first... now nothing stops me! Today was another "icing on the cake" as I weighed in at less than 180 lbs!!! After consulting with the gym coach, and re-zeroing the machine, realized that I haven't been this light/healthy since I was 20 :roflmao:

I turned 58 last May.

Even if it takes over 5 years, and many regressions, YOU are worth it!

You ladies and gents are getting me pumped!

Riding has quickly become one of the things I look forward to most.

Not going to bore you to death :lol: but the muscle fibers ya gonna use for cycling you regenerate fast so everyday riding will improve fast IMHO ok, slow twitch muscles recover pronto. Weights in my experience rips ya apart and made me useless for days and yes you get stronger but in the meantime you lay around recovering so to speak. At 51 cycling is more beneficial in overall fitness but I do enough farm/ranch labor to take care of that part of the fitness spectrum. Lifting for one hour then 48 hrs to recovery just bored me to death. When I work it’s 8-10 hours a day lifting all different weights then I’m fried and a bike ride gets to blood circulating and muscles recovered. Will I be strong as a dedicated strength trainer? Probably not but my strength endurance will be more efficient. Just my two pennies.

Just so there's no confusing here, lifting does more for your muscles than farm work -- or any other continuous work -- provided its at a high enough level. No, lifting 10 lbs won't help you. The trick in weight training is the progressive resistance. If your body can already do the work, there's not need for it to improve.

I’m trying to figure out when to best fit in “leg day” so I can recover enough and ride 4 days a week. I don’t go crazy heavy, I do Goblet Squats and dumbbell deadlifts but 10 sets total and in a rep range to fail around 10 reps per set. So I’ve noticed it takes 2 full days after to recover well enough to ride. I really like the leg routine since besides Quads, you really feel the strength build and stability in the glutes, hams, lower back and core.

It’s actually tough to juggle things since it seems I need to ride 4 days in a row no matter when leg day is. Unless I ride on leg day.

Overall, a good “problem” to have; )

Whether you're riding or working out in the gym your body needs rest to grow and recover. Despite popular opinion working out every day is not the best strategy.If you ride on leg day you'll likely do more harm than good. A good leg day needs a full day of rest. A killer leg day to failure needs two.

Of course, for many of us, the amount of recovery time required significantly increases as we age.

Myself, I once was a fairly decent middle-distance runner with moderate cycling abilities.

Back in the day, in my 20s, I found that I could generally tolerate a single "killer" leg day weekly, plus possibly a single additional leg day that focused on different usage of the legs. Needed the rest for recovery.

These days, several decades later, I've got to cut a good third (even half) the intensity out of the "killer" day on legs, and occasionally skip the additional "leg" day altogether, if I'm going to recover within the week. Just the way things go, by comparison to the 20s.

Turns out a longer-term build-up of stamina oriented exercises generally works best, for me. While I can uncork a "kiiller" day now and then, I often limit it to only two or three particular exercises on a given day that are "killer" (in intensity or quantity or weight). Anything more than that, and I'm generally "blown" on other harder workouts (ie, a long bike ride or other similar activity). Much better and more effective, for me at least, to generally stick with the stamina-oriented exercises and shoot for the longer-term gains.

Of course, everyone's different. YMMV.

I think we are on the same page. Given my age, I’m doing a leg workout that is not of an intensity that requires a whole week to recover. 2 days is fine. The other two lifting days, one for back and one for chest and shoulders also require 2 days to recover but they don’t impact cycling.

I think I can shoot for 3 days of lifting and 3 days of cycling and put “leg day” on wed. I can cycle sat and sun (my favorite days to ride) and then on either mon or tues and still not have to double up on training days and also get adequate rest between leg day and cycling days.

Just so we're clear, some folks believe that they can workout in the gym on day one, then go cycling on day two. After all, since they're not training on two consecutive days with weight they're taking the day off right? Wrong! Rest means no training of any kind -- nothing, nada, zip.

As for everybody being different, sure we recover at different rates but all things being equal, that rate is small. In other words, don't neglect rest and recovery. Otherwise, you do more harm than good.

I never had an issue lifting 3 days a week and doing cardio 3 days a week. I’m just changing my cardio to cycling. Been doing that for 2 years. You get to know your body and how it recovers. So my workouts are geared towards time and intensity in line with what will be sustainable.

I agree the importance of not overtraining, resting, eating (my favorite ; ) and if your feeling like you need a break, taking rest days when needed. 6 days a week of excercise is a very realistic goal. Even 7 on certain weeks. I’m in it for the long haul, if I miss a day...always go get em tomorrow ; )