tips?

sidebyside

wel folks,just bought my first road bike,could anyone recommend a beginners programme for me either on the net or if someone here could start me off,thanks in advance.

Raam

Do you want to race or ride for leisure or do sportives?

All of the above, perhaps?

sidebyside

just fitness to start and hope to race lightly next yr..

Raam

Are you new to cycling?
This website is a good read: http://www.cptips.com/

I would suggest joining a club so that you can benefit from others experience. It will bring you on no end. Folk on the web can certainly help you, but it's so much better when you can have a good chat with someone and learn from watching.

thebouldwhacker

Cycle, cycle, cycle....
When i started I found a distance I was comfortable with and tried to cover it at least 3 times a week.
Once a week I would go for a longer spin. The rule of thumb is to increase your distance no more than 5% per week. Change your route, adding more/less hills. Make sure you don't injure yourself, it takes time for your muscles, tendons, ligaments etc to get used to cycling so for the first few weeks its important to be comfortable and to enjoy your time in the saddle. For the first while your ass and back may be sore, to limit this make sure the saddle is at the right height and angle.
As Raam said if you can/want join a club.
Enjoy it!!

Captain Havoc

+1 on join a club. Oh and enjoy it, that'll really bring you on.

macnab

Start off slow, get your legs used to cycling. Dont be embarrassed by going slow, it is very important not to injure yourself in the early stages
Then up the effort by about 10% each week to get your legs used to doing work.
I started out doing 4 mile trips, then 6 mile trips, both tracks fairly flat.
I then progressed on to 9 mile trips but a bit more hilly than before.
Each time I am looking to see that my average speed is about 15 mph, if it drops too much then I pull back a little on the distance or the hills.
I moved on to a 15 mile trip with some hills and today I did a 23 mile spin with a little more hill than I hoped but I averaged 14.6mph so not too bad.
I eat and drink plenty and leave a gap of at least an hour before I start my cycle.
Allow 1 litre of water for every hours ride.
Eat at least a banana and a glass of milk within an hour of finishing, 15 minutes after is good for me.

When I plan a track I allow shortcuts along the route so that if I am tired I dont have to complete the route.
I also avoid long straight roads as they are not enjoyable to cycle.
The most important thing is to enjoy it.

morana

All good advice here! I think you will progress much more quickly if you join a club. I notice that a lot of new cyclists tend to overgear, maybe because at the start its harder to spin and go fast!!

I suppose if you can get a club which has graded spins all the better

fmmc

hi folks,

apologies for hijacking thread but like OP, I've took the plunge and as the knees won't take the pounding, decided to try the bike in an endeavour to shed a few lbs and improve general fitness. I note the previous poster highlights "tending to overgear" as a common problem among novices and would appreciate if one of you fine folk could elaborate on this (so i can try & avoid same).
Any other tips greatly appreciated, as in what should a target average MPH be in order to improve stamina & assist in aforementioned weight loss. Only been on bike 10-12 times since purchase and no more than 30 mile trips yet averaging 15-16MPH.
Thanks in advance, fmcc. Great forum by the way.

petethedrummer

fmmc wrote: »

averaging 15-16MPH.

Tip 1: Change your computer to KPH.

seamus

fmmc wrote: »

I note the previous poster highlights "tending to overgear" as a common problem among novices and would appreciate if one of you fine folk could elaborate on this (so i can try & avoid same).

Basically it means choosing a gear that's too high for the speed that you're going.

Seems obvious enough, but it's actually something that's easy to do unwittingly. A lot of people feel that you need to get into the highest gear that you can manage for the speed that you're going and only stop when you're putting a lot of pressure on the pedals and can't possibly push any more. You especially see a lot of commuters and casual cyclists doing this, pushing and pushing and pushing when in reality they're not going that fast.

Not only will cycling this way tire you out quickly, but it can also lead to knee problems and in severe cases back problems.

You should always aim to "spin" when just cycling normally. That is, to keep your feet moving at a relatively fast pace without necessarily hammering along. The speed of your pedalling is known as "cadence" is just a fancy word for "revs per minute" - i.e. how many times in a minute your right foot goes from the 12 o'clock position fully around back to the 12 o'clock position.

It's hard actually to explain it, but finding your ideal cadence is something that you have to let come naturally. It's basically the point at which you are spinning the pedals at as high a cadence as possible, without feeling uncomfortable (i.e. pedalling too quickly) and without having to "push" the pedals around. To a certain extent your ideal cadence, while it involves effort, feels like you could just keep going forever without your legs getting tired.
When you're at your ideal cadence you should be at a point where you can find a burst of power to push the bike faster, but if you changed into a harder gear, you would have to start pushing to maintain your cadence.

Obviously the gear you need for this will depend on a lot of things. In a strong headwind, you'll need a lower gear to maintain your ideal cadence and as a result will go slower. Likewise for going uphill.

Ideal cadence varies a lot, and for newer riders, they tend be more comfortable at a lower cadence (though you can adjust yourself to be most comfortable at higher cadences). Typical good cadences are 70-90rpm. Below this and you're likely putting in too much effort, above this and you're probably not getting the same bang for your buck (i.e. selecting a higher gear would be better). You can obviously measure your cadence yourself by counting, but you can also get computers with cadence rate in them. I have one and I find it very handy.

Part of this is also remembering that you have a wide range of gears on the bike, so use them. I see a lot of riders who stick the bike into the big ring and refuse to change down unless totally beaten and climbing a long hill. Your inner ring (or even granny ring if you have a triple) are not for climbing only, and if you get used to using them all the time you will be able to ride longer and faster for the same effort.

papac

fmmc wrote: »

.......I note the previous poster highlights "tending to overgear" as a common problem among novices and would appreciate if one of you fine folk could elaborate on this (so i can try & avoid same).
Any other tips greatly appreciated, as in what should a target average MPH be in order to improve stamina & assist in aforementioned weight loss. Only been on bike 10-12 times since purchase and no more than 30 mile trips yet averaging 15-16MPH.
Thanks in advance, fmcc. Great forum by the way.

"Tending to overgear" I assume refers to the tendancy of most novice cyclists (and some not so novice) to be in too high a gear. ie pedaling slowly against a high resistance.If you spin pedals faster (higher cadence) you will go faster and further without fatigue.Loads online about this.

If you are doing 50k trips at 25kph (if you are gonna be un-euro you are in the wrong place;)) thats gonna keep you fit. In general though average speeds are a poor indicator of anything in cycling as it depends on route and conditions.
Most coaches agree that hours and effort level is the way to measure training.

Just be careful. People coming to cycling with good levels of aerobic fitness need to stay well within themselves to allow joints etc. to get used to the new activity.