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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Question about warm up

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Old 09-20-13 | 03:06 PM
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Question about warm up

Hello all
Wondering how long it takes you to get warmed up and into the "zone". Takes me a good 1/2 an hour to get to that point where I can just keep peddling hard. The first 30 mins of any ride I can hardly peddle or climb the slightest grade without having to stop peddling to catch breath. After that I am good to go.
Wondering if this is normal???
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Old 09-20-13 | 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by abby4000
Hello all
Wondering how long it takes you to get warmed up and into the "zone". Takes me a good 1/2 an hour to get to that point where I can just keep peddling hard. The first 30 mins of any ride I can hardly peddle or climb the slightest grade without having to stop peddling to catch breath. After that I am good to go.
Wondering if this is normal???
I usually ride fairly slow for the 1st 8-10 miles, but I never feel out of breath. After 30 minutes or so the pace picks up gradually to about 19-20mph for the rest of the ride, unless I'm riding with slower friends.
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Old 09-20-13 | 03:49 PM
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Sounds very strange to me. Certainly you can perform better with warming up, but the difference you describe sounds rather extreme.
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Old 09-20-13 | 04:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Looigi
Sounds very strange to me. Certainly you can perform better with warming up, but the difference you describe sounds rather extreme.
Yup.

For 10 years I lived at the bottom of a 6.5 mile 1300ft climb. It took a little time to get used to warming up like that.

I used to blow-up in the first mile, but eventually I learned how to do it.
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Old 09-20-13 | 04:25 PM
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It takes me about 3 miles at moderate pace to warm up. Or 30 mins at 12-14mph.
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Old 09-20-13 | 04:53 PM
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Legacy Trail Head is a flat 5 miles from my house with the rides starting at 0830. There have been times I turned out of my driveway at 0814 and made the Trail Head by 0829. Still winds and spinning the cranks but can't get to big gears for another 5 miles into the day's ride.
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Old 09-20-13 | 05:26 PM
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I think it takes about 30mins to warm up, I feel much stronger in the second hour on a long ride.

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Last edited by kleng; 09-20-13 at 05:30 PM.
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Old 09-20-13 | 06:06 PM
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Sounds like something is wrong abby. I am never out of breath like what you stated...........I have days I am just not feeling it but never out of breath on a warm up. Now when I hit some grades in their "teens" I start to feel it!!!
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Old 09-20-13 | 06:29 PM
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Yeah, I warm slowly, but I'm never out of breath. I'd consider going for a stress test just to make sure all of your plumbing is up to snuff.
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Old 09-20-13 | 06:39 PM
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Your particular problem sounds a little more serious to me than just a warm up issue. Go talk to your doctor. Better safe than sorry.

Personally, it takes me about 3-5 miles, depending on pace and how I feel that particular day to warm up. Before that, I'm fairly worthless. After that, I'm mildly better than worthless.
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Old 09-20-13 | 06:47 PM
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There are times when I need a little time to get things going, 15-20 minutes. Most of the time I'm pretty good, out of the gate, turning the legs over a few times...
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Old 09-20-13 | 06:49 PM
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The only real effect I notice when I start a ride is that my thighs ache for a mile or two in the first 2 or 3 miles. After that, I'm good to go, and can power through the minor ache if I need to.

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Old 09-20-13 | 06:57 PM
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How long have you been riding, Abby? We don't all start out with great fitness.
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Old 09-20-13 | 07:16 PM
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If I expect to really step on the gas, I'll do a very deliberate warm up for 45-60 minutes. For intermediate efforts, about half that
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Old 09-20-13 | 07:59 PM
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I "feel good" after about 15 minutes if I don't push it, if I do push it within 15 minutes I need to pace myself for a short while my legs catch up.
I get better as I go but my butt still hurts as I ride more, I gotta figure out why this is still going on. I have tried several seats with no joy and i'm not happy...DAMN IT!
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Old 09-20-13 | 08:03 PM
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See a doctor. I get more efficient after 10 minutes or so, if push came to shove I could start riding hard fairly quickly. 1.5 miles or so. Out of breath for me is after a hard spring. I would get checked out. Not normal.
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