Mugambo

Thank you for ALL the support and encouragement. I finished 21.8 miles yesterday. That is my longest ride till now. The first 3 miles too FOREVER because of the strong headwinds. Next few were as if I was superman with tailwinds got decent speed. The last 6 miles were excruciating and here are the lessons learnt:

- carry water, water and lots of water
- follow the advise provided here on BF and carry something to eat
- gatorade (sweetened drinks) is not a good idea especially when you're tired and while gulping you spill it all over yourself (sticky ride)
- create a well thought out playlist so you don't have to stick your hands to wet your idevice every now and then
- sunblock sunblock sunblock
- stretch really well before starting out

Please add more if you have to add to that list. I'm a newbie and need more advise from you all. I want to learn from all your mistakes. Shortens the learning curve. Thanks

Aero Sapien

I feel like you are trolling but in case you are not:

-You don't need gatorade for anything under 50 miles; your diet provides all of the electrolytes you need for anything under 50, I guarantee you. Same goes for eating. You don't need food 20 miles in, there are times I wake up in the morning without eating anything and go for a 20 mile spin.

-You shouldn't listen to music while riding as for your own safety. Do as you wish, it's your life, I'm just saying it's not the best idea.


Otherwise just keep riding consistently. It's better to do 5 days a week at 15 miles a day than one day a week at say 35 miles.

Mugambo

Oh it must be the word 'free' in the subject line that makes you feel like I'm trolling.
BTW I'm a beginner and in need of genuine advise and not remarks on the content I'm posting.
As a "beginner" I am not able to ride 20 miles without taking fluids.
In previous thread I'd mentioned that I'm working my way up by accumulating miles and cross training by running alternate days.

Seriously don't know in what world is this post intimidating to anybody!

Aero Sapien

In that case don't worry about anything besides just going out and riding right now. Everything else will come as your get better; I feel like cycling is such an individual experience for everyone that a lot of advice and help does not carry over besides the extreme fundamentals such as "ride consistently." Eventually you may consider going to a bike store and getting a fit as it will help tremendously with increasing your mileage.

Also, when you visit bike stores, you might want to ask if they know of any group rides for beginners. Depending on the group the ride may or may not be a valuable work-out, but either way the social aspect of riding with other cyclists is something that most find satisfying so it's worth trying.

Honu

I'm with you Mugambo - I think the more experienced riders don't realize how much time & effort it takes a beginner to go 20 miles. Maybe they have been fit all of their lives? THEY get through 20 miles in less than an hour and never feel like they are going to die. Those of us who are slower and less fit do need something small to eat, and plenty of water, especially if it's hot out.

Congratulations on your ride!

Aero Sapien

I actually only learned how to ride a bicycle not too long ago and only got serious about road biking a few months back. I remember when I used to be as you have described. You get faster quick, I promise

I think another huge step is finding a long distance charity ride (not a competitive race) a few months out to work towards. The reason I recommend a charity ride and not a race is because it's generally more friendly and relaxed, which is a good first experience for a mass start event. Having a goal to work towards is going to help motivate you to ride. It's hard to go out consistently when you have no real direction.

Mugambo

Thank you very much. The minute I completed felt on top of my world. Very satisfying ride. Guess the headwind experience simulates hilly ride. Not yet thinking of hilly rides but will get there.

Mugambo

Weight loss is the primary goal for now. This is my third week of continuous riding. I'm currently riding tue, thu and saturday. As seen on several threads here on BF, Saturday (weekend) rides are to be the longest and most enduring rides. Once I get to the weight I'm happy at, I'll re-prioritize so as to complete a metric half ton and work upwards. Charity ride is an excellent suggestion, will look for it. Thank you.

StephenH

The amount of water and/or Gatorade that you carry is highly variable, depending on your speed, distance, weight, how tough the course is, etc. So use what works for you. As a heavier person, I know I can easily drink twice as much as some of these lighter guys in the same time. I have had cramping problems and try to get all the electrolytes I can for that reason, so I'll generally use more Gatorade and less water. I know I can ride a good long ways without eating anything. But it seems to me that the more fit people are, they more they need to eat while riding.

I normally carry the 24 ounce Gatorade squeeze bottles (and reuse them) and seldom spill it on myself.

On sunblock, on my daily rides, I'm riding about 1-1/4 hours in the evening, and don't usually use sunblock. On longer rides, yes.

I find opinions vary a lot on stretching. I don't. But whatever works for you.

Headwinds can be frustrating. If you downshift to where you can pedal at a comfortable speed and then just stick with it, that's about all you can do. Riding in the drops can help some, although I feel pretty stupid riding in the drops at 10 mph. Sometimes, you can plan a route out to avoid riding directly into the wind. If you do ride into the wind, my preference is to ride into the wind on the way out, and with it on the way back in.

NEUROSPORT

if you gonna bike for weight loss just cut off your legs at the knee - it will be faster.

instead of wearing out your knee joints you should fix your diet. the point of exercise is not to lose weight.

Mugambo

I hear you. I ate my way into it and now I'm exercising and eating healthy on my out.
This is an effort to convert static inertia into a dynamic one and the gradient I'm going by is 'weight'.

nahh

I know you don't want to hear this, but you really DON'T need gatorade/sports drinks to ride 20 miles. Water is really all you need, and unless you're diabetic or the like, you don't need food. same with running (which you say you cross train with, good job) you don't need a sports drink if your run is less than an hour (again, depending on intensity). this will aid in your weight loss goals, so you don't intake excess calories you think you need.

if you want to lose weight, you really need to alter your diet AND exercise. The biggest thing is being active, and not just when you work out. Simple things like walking your dog, or parking farther out at the grocery store go a long way towards losing weight.

good luck, and congrats on 20 miles! Soon enough you'll feel like you're just getting warmed up after 20!

Mugambo

No advise is ill advise. Thanks and I'm also planning on riding to work. Even during my jog days, planning to sprint ride at least 3 to 4 miles just to stay in the loop.

noise boy

Bull****. I started riding again last August, and in the first month dropped 10 lbs by riding 30 minutes on weekday morning and a longer ride on weekends.

To the OP, generally I stick with water, I find the sports drinks to be too much when riding.

colombo357

LOL, this guy ^^^ is a vegan "raw foodist" with his own agenda in mind.

Wearing out knee joints? I've been riding since 1996. My knees are fine and every ride I do is a heavy hill ride. Maybe because I have a well balanced, NON-vegan/rawfood diet.

The point of exercise is to GET FIT and then STAY FIT. The former includes losing weight.

And being fit doesn't mean being completely emaciated, as NEUROSPORT probably has in mind.

colombo357

Would you like to put some money behind that guarantee? Let the OP take a ride in my neck of the woods (nothing but hills). You get to pay for the cab ride when he bonks at 30 miles.

Electrolyte replenishing is completely dependent upon sweat output, not mileage. Most people known that. "Some" don't.

colombo357

The OP is looking to lose weight. Doing any sort of exercise early in the morning on an empty stomach is going to put his body in starvation mode, conserving fat and burning muscle. Bad advice, yet again.

Kneez

I would like to add to the chorus of opposition to "sports drinks." Just take water. Have you looked at how many calories are in those sports drinks?

shouldberiding

Bad reading comprehension, yet again. The poster was talking about bringing food to eat DURING a ride, saying the OP shouldn't need it on a 20 miler. He was not advising the OP go on rides with an empty stomach. He simply stated that he does it sometimes himself.

jsmonet

cardio helps cut plenty of weight when paired with a good diet. the diet itself does nothing without activity. you might as well tell runners that their running has nothing to do with their body fat levels.

come on now.

also, wearing out knees? sure... if your fit is horrible. *any* knee pain should be cause to re-examine your fit/setup and figure out where the problem is.

WHOOOSSHHH...

OP posts about his 20 mile ride..next thing you know the Pro's are at it, about diet and nutrittion..Meanwhile , chances are none of them has a clue what they are talking about. This place cracks me up....SILENCE YOURSELVES.

4000Miles

Re food and sports drinks: It's down to you. If you feel that Gatorade/insert drink of choice here helps you on a 20 mile ride, then you should take some. If you feel a Clif bar or banana is necessary, then take one. As people on this forum are fond of saying, YMMV. I take at least a Clif bar on any ride over 10 miles because sometimes a bonk can come out of nowhere. Don't feel like you HAVE to eat it, but it's good to have a snack 'just in case.'

Uni-Vibe

What part of the world you ride in, Kneez?

I did fifty in SE TX this morning. It was hot this morning. I went through half a small bottle of water and most of a big bottle of Gatorade by mile 28. I needed every bit of it. At the midpoint I replenished and went through a small bottle and most of a large bottle of Gatorade by the end. Glad I had it.

bikeride

Oh for crying out loud. Just get outside and ride the damn bike!

trustnoone

Just ride. Commuting by bike is a great idea for what I consider to be time bonus miles. There is nothing wrong with riding and running on the same day. The multisporters seem to like it. Then just ride some more.