TheManxMissile wrote:
I always follow the great Eddy Merckx words...
"Don't by upgrades, ride up grades"
"Ride lots"
"Three things: Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike"
There is no better way to improve or have fun!
Sorry for the hard words, but that's just a load of crap and a total misconception of phisiology.
Hinault keeps bitching at the French pros not training long enough, when he trained 7 hours daily (or almost). But no matter how good he was, he still climbed Alpe d'Huez 8 or 10 minutes slower than the current pros. Why ? Not because he didn't have the potential, but because we've learnt how to optimize the time spent on the bike.
wacko's right though, as long as npass43, or anyone else, is enjoying the time he/she spends on the bike, then it's fine.
Still, to build up, and starting from scratch or almost from scratch, I'd say the first thing to start with is to learn how to pedal properly (feet position, number of RPM, bike position maybe), in short : work the technical aspects of cycling.
Once that's done, you can start endurance rides. Possibly as often as you want or can.
A smart thing to do is to keep a training diary, with indications of your mood and of your cycling motivation. The average of both indicates general fatigue. As long as it doesn't evolve towards serious fatigue, feel free to ride daily or even twice a day. One thing to know though, if you ride to exhaustion (which could take several hours), the stronger you are, the quicker you recover (pros recover quickly - most likely you wouldn't).
How quickly you'll improve is sometimes called trainability, or response to training. I'd say that's more or less what some people call talent. There's no rule, we're not all equal (it depends on many genes), but every one improves when training is conducted properly.
I don't pretend being very talented or anything, but after 20 months off the bike, it took me about two years to recover an equivalent level, and one or two more years later I'm still far from the level I had in my prime, so I let you imagine what it might be like for somebody starting from nothing and with an overweight condition.
Bum aches last during a couple of weeks, and come back as soon as you start riding again after a three or four weeks break. No worries. Don't wear underpants though.
Thank you to everyone for the encouragement! Like I said, I rode for about 20 minutes today, but my legs were like jello afterwards. As far as my mechanics go, I made sure that my feet are in a good position, and that I am trying to keep a good cadence for as long as I possibly can. Like I said, I want to participate in some events this summer. The events have distances that range from 25-70 miles. Even if I am only physically able to participate on the low end of these events, I would feel such a sense of accomplishment. I hate to ask the question, but is it possible to be ready for that by the end of June?
npass43 wrote:
Thank you to everyone for the encouragement! Like I said, I rode for about 20 minutes today, but my legs were like jello afterwards. As far as my mechanics go, I made sure that my feet are in a good position, and that I am trying to keep a good cadence for as long as I possibly can. Like I said, I want to participate in some events this summer. The events have distances that range from 25-70 miles. Even if I am only physically able to participate on the low end of these events, I would feel such a sense of accomplishment. I hate to ask the question, but is it possible to be ready for that by the end of June?
If you really try, yes. I started training at the end of February, and could only last 3 miles. Now, I do 25 miles for a recovery ride, so getting up the work load should get you in form.
EDIT: I'm 15 and overweight. If I can do it, anyone can.Edited by NTTHRASH on 19-04-2013 01:46
"America. Show a nipple on television and the whole country goes ape-shit." -DubbelDekker
Does anyone else participate in Cycle Speedway? actually on second thoughts has anyone even heard of it?
for those of you who don't know anything about it, which I'm guessing is most if not all, It's 4 laps of an oval track on specially designed bikes with no gears and no brakes.
so you get a better Idea of what it is then my dodgy explanation I've left the British Individual Championship Final in the spoiler and the other clip is something that happened in a meeting I was riding in to one of my teammates. (all the video's are from last season.)
UPDATE: Thank you all again for the encouragement. I took my bike out again today. I rode the same route. It is a relatively quiet road in my home town near my house. It doesn't have any big inclines, but it definitely is a good route to get started on and get my legs built up. I rode for a solid hour today. I rode one lap, made an adjustment, and then I rode several more after that. Here are my stats from MapMyRide. https://www.mapmyr.../196164532
Keep in mind that this is the 4th time I have ridden after about 18 years of not riding and being severely overweight. Let me know your thoughts!
After being off the bike for 18 years then you need to take time in getting better and better, as the saying goes ''take baby steps'' and don't do too much too soon
Don't overextend your endurance, use small grades(2-5%) as hills, stay above 5kph on flats, the upper cassette is your friend, and distance is important to accumulate, as you will boost your endurance over longer rides. Question though, are you getting in shape, or training specifically for the aforementioned events?
"America. Show a nipple on television and the whole country goes ape-shit." -DubbelDekker
I am using this as a dual-purpose. I want to participate in the events, but the main goal is to get in shape. I went out Sunday and today (Tuesday) and rode about 21 km on each ride. no real big hills to speak of... only about a 2% for about 100 meters or so. I averaged about 20 kph overall and maxed out at about 40 kph for a very short downhill. My endurance is getting much better. I rode the whole 21 km without taking any breaks, where I had to take a break after about every 3 or so km last week. Just by what I have done so far I feel like I have accomplished so much!! There is a group that rides on Saturdays locally. They say that they ride a casual pace for about 40 km. I wonder if I'd be able to keep up with them?
Once again a nice ride through the Flemish Ardennes, including Berendries, LEberg, Achterberg... Trying to avoid the cobbled ascends!
Left and 100 meters later my chain fell off, good start
Then it got better, though, first half I took it easy between hills and giving max power on the hills. Second half I went full gas between the hills as well. Good training! Just under 50 km, hoping to up that to 80 km for the next ride there! Still had a lot of energy to spare on arrival.
I got it from my dad, it's pretty awesome A bit heavy, but I compensate with being very light. I also have an old bike, pretty much this one:
It's incredibly heavy and the gears are not at the handlebars but below. I used it to train in the mountains of France this year. Damn hard, let me tell you that
I have also started my MTB "season" (i dont have a roadbike, but bought myself a new 29"wheels mountain bike in autumn) three weeks ago, but god, i am so out of shape. Laying on the couch for half a year surely does not help, i found myself pushing the bike to one of the short and insanely sharp hills in the woods. I was simply not able to ride it over the roots and going of the saddle was even worse. My legs were like jelly.
But i am slowly building up, this Sunday i had a nice 30kms long ride through the woods (Czech Republic and South Bohemia especially are great for MTB with many nice paths builded in the woods, often it is up and down, up and down- i love downhill).
Wish me luck, my biggest problem is motivation and not going for a beer with mates instead of riding the bike. Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 25-04-2013 06:28
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
You can always start a cycling museum Ian.
I have also started my MTB "season" (i dont have a roadbike, but bought myself a new 29"wheels mountain bike in autumn) three weeks ago, but god, i am so out of shape. Laying on the couch for half a year surely does not help, i found myself pushing the bike to one of the short and insanely sharp hills in the woods. I was simply not able to ride it over the roots and going of the saddle was even worse. My legs were like jelly.
But i am slowly building up, this Sunday i had a nice 30kms long ride through the woods (Czech Republic and South Bohemia especially are great for MTB with many nice paths builded in the woods, often it is up and down, up and down- i love downhill).
Wish me luck, my biggest problem is motivation and not going for a beer with mates instead of riding the bike.
Are you Sagan?
And I may start that museum, my dad still has a lot of old stuff from the 70s I think he left an old Peugeot-water bottle here Edited by Ian Butler on 25-04-2013 08:46
Giev your body lots and lots of time to recuperate!
