newbie route advice

G rock

hi,

will be (hopefully) picking up my first road bike later this week, looking forward to getting back on a bike after a few years. gonna start out commuting by bike, it's only a 20k round trip, but was just wondering if you have any suggested routes for other trips (evenings/weekends etc) when i'd be hoping to get a few miles under my belt.

have a (very) basic level of fitness and reckon i could start off with trips of about 30-40k. although maybe i'm being too optimistic...

anyway, starting point for me is dublin 8, close to park but judging by other comments here about road conditions there don't wanna confine myself to there

any suggestions would be welcome!

thanks

Ky Abu

G rock wrote: »

hi,

will be (hopefully) picking up my first road bike later this week, looking forward to getting back on a bike after a few years. gonna start out commuting by bike, it's only a 20k round trip, but was just wondering if you have any suggested routes for other trips (evenings/weekends etc) when i'd be hoping to get a few miles under my belt.

have a (very) basic level of fitness and reckon i could start off with trips of about 30-40k. although maybe i'm being too optimistic...

anyway, starting point for me is dublin 8, close to park but judging by other comments here about road conditions there don't wanna confine myself to there

any suggestions would be welcome!

thanks

Good site is mapmyrun.com.

I am a beginner too. And I would say I dont have great fitness. I started off with just 5 mile cycle.. I did just two of them and did a 10 mile cycle last night. The roads I am cycling on would have a fair few climbs. I dont think there is much point pushing yourself too far too soon.
What I have done is planned out a route, and I also have a few extra places I can go on during the route depending on how well im feeling.. Thats worked for me anyway

dekbhoy

City centre out to howth taking coast road(cylce track for majority of route)and back is approx 22 miles , great cycle and very picturesque. Hills of howth very good for building up fitness and eudurance for beginners.

SubLuminal

www.mapmyride.com

Its the same as map my run but for cyclists. Join up, its free and worth it. You'll be able to search a database for routes other people have entered, and you can keep track of your own training, post your routes to facebook etc. If you're trying to get fit, knowing that people will notice if you stop posting your daily routes is actually quite motivating.

Also get a cycle computer, I just got one and it makes a big difference, knowing what your heart rate is, how far you've gone, how many calories you've burned, etc etc very helpful. Also if you're trying to do longer routes, 50k or whatever, remembering the exact route can be a bit of a pain, with somethnig checking your distance you can just mix it up and make sure you get the KM you want, and keep it in the time you want more easily- mine was €20 from aldi, dont know if they'll have any left now (ask at the checkout, they have them there not on display in the shop) but if not ebay is prolly your friend. My one isn't pro kit by any stretch of the imagination, but in the same way that other computers are way way way better than mine, mine is way way way better than nothing

thebouldwhacker

I swapped over to ride with gps a short while ago. Much faster mapping, more accurate and better details imho.