That looks like a hill to me...

Buceph

I got a bit of money last September, and a new job in November and was nosing around in here looking to get back on a bike after eight years of eating chips and crisps (and lots of them.) With it going into winter, I decided to hold off on getting a bike and finally started at the gym work at the beginning of December (bollocks to this New Years rubbish.) I started to love the weights but the cardio is getting boring. However, this Winter is no way near as bad as previous ones, and with it being my birthday, I went out and bought myself a hybrid bike over the weekend (and after lots of encouragement in the main cycling forum.) The plan now is to alternate between weights in the gym and cardio on the bike around my house.

Today was my first half day of the week, and much like my "bollocks to New Years rubbish" I said bollocks to this chesty cough I have going, "I have a new bike and I'm going to use it now!" So I wrapped up warm, and headed out on the new bike. Unfortunately, I went a bid mad. The first two hundred or so metres outside my house is down a gentle slope, and I pedaled like billio for all of them. Going what seemed like a birrion miles an hour with the wind in my face I was happy as Larry. So I kept pedalling hard, as hard as I could, and after two miles I was shattered, and wheezing and panting and had to stop for a rest. Then I somehow managed to desperately pedal the last mile home. Three miles and I was knackared? Not good. But I figure on Thursday I'll do it without stopping for a rest. Then on Saturday I'll go for an extra half a mile, and I'll do it all a bit smarter.

So yeah, three miles and wrecked might give you an indication of where I am at the moment, especially as with the rest someone could have run the three miles faster than I cycled it. But like the title says, any tiny slope looked like a big hill to me. And I'm not going to keep going like that, in a few weeks I'll be belting up those little slopes, and my legs won't be hurting, and I'll be managing my breathing, and I'll have gone six miles rather than three miles.

This training log will look a good deal different to rest of them in this forum. Hopefully it's going to be the story of me getting fit. I figured the cycling forum was the best place for it because cycling has been the grand goal in my head since I started considering my fitness. I can't drive (and probably never will) so being able to at least get around where I live on a bike will mean a great deal to me. And maybe this log will keep me motivated and I'll be able to look in on it when things are going tough and see that I am making progress.

smacl

Buceph wrote: »

I can't drive (and probably never will) so being able to at least get around where I live on a bike will mean a great deal to me

I don't drive either and started off a couple of years back feeling well chuffed with a 5 mile spin. These days the Dublin - Wexford spin is a regular summer jaunt and no biggy. Enjoy your time on the bike, take it easy starting out, and the distances and hills stack up pretty quickly.