From 0 to addicted in five days.
 

Hello all, I was just curious if this was odd or relatively normal. I had my mountain bike stolen last week so I decided to pick up a decent road bike. I got it last Thursday and took it for a 6 mile ride to get everything settled and what not. From the following Friday until today I've gone 157 miles and chomping at the bit to go more. I had really never done any cycling before and am loving every second of it. I wasn't even really all that active for the past 6 months, and suddenly I'm aboslutely addicted to riding my bike.

So just a few questions if anyone could lend some insight, I've no one in my social network that rides that I can ask and get good answers from.

1. Should I take days off or is it fine to keep riding pretty hard day in and day out?
2. Are the clipless pedals a significant improvement over regular pedals?
3. I checked my cadence today after reading up on it, and it was 80 pretty steadily, should I push hard to get that higher?
4. About how long before I can enter events of any time and not get blown out of the water?
5. Is there anything I should attempt to work on right away as I'm just beginning so it doesn't become habit?

Thanks for the help!
Joe

1. Depends on how hard you're riding. Typically if I do a really hard ride, enough so that I feel sore or exhausted the next day, I'll take it easy the next day.

2. Yes, you'll especially notice it on climbs.

3. It depends on you. I focused on getting used to my cadence being 85. Since then I haven't really worried about it. Now I normally pedal at 100. It's just what is most comfortable for me to maintain. Once you get used to pedaling at 80+ cadence, you'll start finding whatever is comfortable for you.

4. Depends on what events you're talking about. To see how fast you are, start doing some group ride and see how you compare.

5. Pay attention to your pedal stroke. Don't bow your knees out, keep your heel down, get a smooth pedal stroke (helps with clipless).

Just have fun and ride. Don't worry too much about it unless you plan on getting serious.

Welcome to the forum and I just love to be out ridding. Some think I am nuts, but that's ok.

1) Take days off or at least take recovery rides. (easy rides)
2) I have heard there is a 40% power increase once you get used to clip in's. Told to me by a sales person.
3) 80 is good more better to a limit.
4) I just do fun events like MS and such, I would think you should take it a step at a time. Lots to learn.
5) Just ride and have fun for a while. Build up your distance, try some hills (that's always fun). The main thing is to enjoy yourself. Have fun and be safe.

Welcome - what bike did you pick up?

Clipless is a huge difference compared to platform pedals. I've been riding clipless for about a week now and from my first ride with them i was able to go farther than i ever have. I did a 53 mile ride on Sunday and honestly don't think i could of gone as far if i didn't have clipless pedals. Before that 53 mile ride just a week before that my longest ride was a 30 miler. I've only been riding a month and i feel i'm doing pretty well so far.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0Uploads/1.jpg

is a picture of it I had on my phone, and only one on me atm.

I guess it is pretty settled for me then, I'm going to have to pick some up. Any suggestions on decently priced shoe/pedals? I'm college-student poor.

I guess it is pretty settled for me then, I'm going to have to pick some up. Any suggestions on decently priced shoe/pedals? I'm college-student poor.

Getting serious?

Looks like a Denali. I like yellow bikes. Ride the heck out of it and upgrade when your addiction becomes too much to bear.

I'm in college as well and know exactly how that is. I picked up some Shimano 105 5610 from pbk for $60 shipped, normally $100 pedals if bought from a local lbs. I grabbed some Shimano R086 shoes to complement the pedals. All depends what kind of shoe and pedal your looking for.

I'm cheap. My pedals are Nashbar Ventoux 2 which are about $35. My shoes were $25 on bonktown.com. That's probably about the cheapest you'll be able to get pedals and shoes unless you go used.

Crank Brothers Egg Beaters are cheap and good pedals. They are mountain bike pedals, but I've seen people use them on road bikes.

I'm a poor college student and I second the egg beaters. I got them for my road bike and I'm very happy with them. Go to your local LBS or two and try on some different shoes to see what feels good; mountain bike ones if you're going with the egg beaters. I got some on sale Pearl Izumi mtb shoes from the store and bought the pedals for less than half the msrp online. thought if you don't mind walking in road shoes or are going on long rides, I'd think road pedals would be better.

1. Don't over do it.
2. I'd say so.
3. 80 is good. Won't hurt to work on it though.
4. That depends on lots of things. How old you are, etc. I see you have not been active for the last 6 months, I'd say a year before you could enter a race and be competitive. Of course you could enter and get dropped...
5. Not that I know of.

just enjoy the ride. this cycling bug is more addictive than crack

Agreed. I'm glad I found it at 19, and not 30 or 50 like some others on here. Now I can obsess over it for the rest of my life!

Thanks for all the input guys! I just road to class, 16 miles one way in the pouring rain. It was pretty interesting, made for some interesting conversations in the store I stopped at to pick up a dry shirt for classes.

Another question, I figure it is but, is riding on the sidewalk always a bad idea?

I've only been riding for 6 months (mostly last year and only a good 2 months this year). And yeah, I understand the addiction! I can't wait to go on the next ride. Leaving in a few minutes!

I work from home, so I sneak out for an hour ride at lunch.

BTW, I love the clipless setup. For me it makes a big difference!

If you are going really slow and there is no pedestrian traffic but the girl you're hitting on, well I guess it's OK.

Otherwise it's a sideWALK. You have a ROAD bike. Only children ride on sidewalks.

Yeah, I want to be on the sidewalk, but I never see a bike in possession of a lane near my college campus where I see the most people riding. I was gung-ho about it and love nothing more than keeping up with traffic in a city and taking a lane at a light; that is, until earlier this week...
I was in the lead of a caravan of cars at a light on the inside lane and while trying to shift up into the 48t I over-shifted and the chain fell off, I'd never felt such a fool. So I fixed it and have been sheepish about another incident like that, even though I adjusted the bike so it wouldn't happen again.

I think this is accurate considering the fact that I've been addicted to cycling for 20 years. I was never addicted to crack for that long.

This is funny. Nothing I've read indicates such a huge increase. It seems more reasonable to expect much more modest enhancements due to equipment.

I would, though, still suggest using clipless pedals.

The power increase (i doubt it's that high) doesn't come from changing the pedals but rather the shoes. Stiffer soled shoes will transmit power better and distribute pressure across your whole foot. platforms on the other hand (assuming you're riding with sneakers) after a while cause your feet to go numb because of the flexible soles and the pressure point of the pedal axle. The clipless advantage really only comes in the form of stability. hit a rough patch of road and your feet will never slip off yet if you wipe out you disengage immediately.

I hate lists... they make me think and read.

Completely reasonable. And the pedals allow you to recruit different muscles (eg, when climbing). And they make high cadences easier.

My point is that people should be very suspicious of magically huge performance enhancements. And "40%" is huge!

I like clipless and (as I said) I'd recommend them. (But it's not a big deal if people don't use them.)