Hello from Chicago
 

Hi everybody! I'm new to biking, trying to take up the sport so I can ride with my husband -- who has done lots of road biking. (All of Route 66, also some of the Tour de France course last summer) I'm 49, done tons of spin classes, and just picked up my bike today! An Orbea -- very cool. I plan to put on a lot of miles, and enjoy cruising along our beautiful lakefront. Also want to try the hills in WI.

wish me luck! I need to get into shape, lose some weight, and pick up some speed to ride with my more experienced husband. What should my first goals be? Speed? Just putting on lots of mileage?

See you around
:)

Somehow, I think I know your husband! ;) He sounds like someone I know in Chicago....

But welcome to the forums!

Work on conditioning first- just getting used to riding on the bike and building up some stamina. Once you do that, then it will depend on what your goals are to figure out what kind of training you should be doing.

Use the spin classes for conditioning. Unless you have some great instructors who know about cycling, they're not much use, unfortunately.

Get off the bike path.

Koffee