billydonn

Way to go David! Take it slow. Cruise. Nice and easy time on the bike is what you need right now. You don't have to be out of breath to make progress. Report back on your experiences!

99Klein 

Excellent start. Many more safe happy rides ahead!

DavidInGA

Unfortunately, it's real tough to cruise even in the neighborhoods, because the area I live in is so very hilly, including the neighborhood. Add to that the big belly getting in the way of breathing and it's really easy to be winded. But that's okay, as long as I don't get myself sick or real sore, I'm good.

Dan Burkhart 

+1, and be sure to keep the fun in it. It's much easier to stay motivated that way.

stapfam

Not too much to work on there--You should both fit Lycra very well by the spring.

Just take the rides for a couple of weeks gently and just increase time on the saddle and mileage. You will know when the effort involved can be increased but just get used to the bikes and the gears. (And the brakes--and the steering and the dogs and kids in the area.)

Phil_gretz

Congratulations, David. Way to go! After a few close dog chases, you'll have a new appreciation for what a shot of adrenaline can do! Have fun.

Number400

Awesome! My first adult bike ride was on an old mt bike. I went 2 miles as fast as I could and thought I was going to die. The next day, it was 8 miles, then I met a cyclist on the road and he started pulling me around for 25 mile rides. I had no biking specific clothes and it was kind of hard to drop down $$$ on spandex but the rest is history and fond memories. Years later, I ride as much as possible and am a competitive racer.

While I was never a heavier person, I did lose 20lbs fast and turned my eating and exercise habits around and I am healthier and happier because of it. I was amazed when I started craving GOOD foods and vegetables and quit the multiple soda a day habit.

Sounds like you have a great start and a great attitude and that you like to suffer a little, which makes for a great cyclist!

TomD77

I'm from North Georgia and know what the terrain up there is like, long 20%+ grades everywhere. My recommendation to you is to scout the area and find 3 or 4 places to ride where it is relatively flat. If you go out and start trying to bust lots of steep climbs on every ride as you're first starting, you will hate it and possibly not continue. Sustainability is the key and the key to that is that the rides have to be enjoyable. If you can find some flat places close by where you can knock off some 8-10 mile rides, even in a loop, you can build a fitness base where it won't be as painful as attacking steep hills on your first day. On my first day, a flat 4 mile ride kicked my b***. Four months later I was finishing hilly 50 milers with energy to spare. Believe it or not, after a time even the hills are enjoyable.

Find some bike trails. Did you ask at your LBS (local bike shop)?

DavidInGA

Tom,

I did, but my LBS is down near Hamilton Mill. The guys there often bike up near my house, so they're biking where I live. I'm not sure where in this area you're going to have even a mile continuously relatively flat. Just a reality here I built into my plans to start.

WingSuit

keep riding and keep posting.

TomD77

Any biking trails, especially the Rails to Trails, will keep the grades down. Any of those over Gainesville way? How about some flat roads circling Lanier, or along the river? The trails that I recommended oven in Fulton and Forsythe counties are too far for an every day thing but would make a good Saturday ride. As Bluesdawg pointed out, there are surely some in Athens. Something about that avatar makes me think he may have knowledge of the area. My college days were spent in DT Atlanta on North Ave.

The main thing is to get some mileage under your belt; I think the speed at which you gain fitness will surprise you.

I'm retired now and live in the Florida Panhandle, no problem finding flat roads down here but there are some areas that are surprisingly hilly. Because of family, friends and shooting competitions at my gun club up near Ball Ground, Ga, I'm up that way 6-8 times a year. I always use the opportunity to ride the Silver Comet and the Alpharetta Greenway on occasion.

DavidInGA

Tom,

Kinda jealous you're down on the panhandle. Years ago, I always wanted to live down that way and was stationed just above it in Ft Rucker AL when I was in the service. Now I'm getting a bit too old to move around, but if I could, I'd head out to somewhere slightly warmer where I could fish and such all year.

TomD77

Here's a youtube of me coming back from a fishing trip on my boat from offshore in the Gulf. For any of you who haven't experienced this, you've missed something. Though the Gulf isn't always this calm, it can get downright scarey. I've run from lightning storms and waterspouts and been caught out in high seas. No videos then, much too busy...