Hmmm, not as easy as I thought

[mwilson84]

Ok, so as I posted before I purchased my first bike last week. A very old and cheap (and probably pathetic to you big time riders) Schwinn. But I am comfortable with that. ;). So anyway, I rode it for the first time on Thursday. Let me tell you about my experience:
I leave my house @ 6:20 am, as i have to be at work at 7:30. It is a 4 mile commute. Simple enough. I strap on my helmet and my backpack and take off. Here were my fears... everything. I refuse to ride on the road. I know people do it, but I am so scared. So i took sidewalks and the paved trails. I did have to jump on the road the last half mile and I totally see why it's better, but i am still too scared. All in all the ride there was not so bad. A few pine cones and uneven pavement, but it was ok. It took me a total of 24 minutes. yes I am fairly slow, but there were also a couple of stop light and a tree smacked me in the face. Anyway i made it in plenty of time to shower and get ready for work. But I felt like, compared to running (which is my main source of exercise) it was fairly easy.

So at lunch I did some running. I was planning on only doing a quick 2 miles to get the heart rate up and sweat a bit, but some coworkers had other plans. Saw me running and "encouraged" <<<< I use that term loosely<<< to run further. Altogether, we ran 4.7 miles. Normally a good run. But not the best plan on your first day of riding.

About 2 hours later I am DRAGGING at work and wishing I had my car at work and not the damned Schwinn. My legs are screamin and the "girly bits" aren't so happy either. So I am definitely dreading the "short" commute home.

So at 5 pm I hop on the Schwinn and start the commute. Half a mile in, whew, the top of my thighs are on fire! and I am not kidding, no matter what direction i was headed the blasted wind was blowing against me. Halfway home a REAL biker passes me at mach speed and i swear he was laughing at me. I know he was laughing at my bike and the fact that he was braving the road where i was bumping along on the sidewalk. Finally, 23 minutes after I start, I reach the gates of heaven, i.e. my house.

I hand it to you bikers. I thought it was easy. WRONG. I will say that I still think running is physically more difficult, but biking is MORE appealing to me. You get a great leg work out and it's more entertaining.

All in all, I enjoyed myself. And though it's a cheap bike, the previous owner did me a huge favor by getting a fab seat for it. I am a little sore down there, but nothing unbearable. If you read this far, I apologize for the bore and the run on sentences. I am not great at organizing thought. Prob why I am a Marine and not a writer. Tomorrow I will try again. Not to commute, but just to ride. So we will see...

[redrhodie]

Oh, you had a tailwind in the morning, and a headwind at night. Whenever riding feels easy, it's a tailwind or you're going downhill. ;)

I won't go into details, as it's been covered a lot on the forum, but it's far more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk than in the street.

Keep it up! Enjoy your commute! I hope you had fun.

[Tuckervill]

Your seat is probably too low, if your quads were screaming. I mean, you ran a long way and all, but you should just feel generally tired all over from that effort. Specific tiredness probably means the bike needs a work over to make sure the fit is good.

Learn to ride on the street. It's important, and there are a million threads here about why.

Nothing wrong with an old Schwinn--if it gets you where you are going. I'm sure that other cyclist didn't give you a second thought.

Try again tomorrow!

Karen

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Any time you do something new there is a learning curve- for both your mind and your body.
Yes you are going to be plenty sore- you are using all your muscles in a whole new way. Biking is not like jogging.
Yes it will get easier (way easier) as you do it regularly.
Yes it seems like everyone is on the street laughing at you- but in reality they likely are not even thinking about you at all.
Yes 4 miles seems like 100 miles. After 6 months it'll probably seem more like 1 mile.
Yes you will slowly gain confidence and one day you'll be riding on the road instead of the sidewalk and you'll feel fine about it.

Good for you in doing this! :)

[buddha_bellies]

That's a great story! I remember my first time biking to work too! OMG Was I in ever out of shape. It was a 5km ride. Going to work was easy since it was all downhill. But going home!? It took me 50 minutes! I could've walk home in about an hour! So imagine. Now, that ride takes me only 15 minutes. So you know it'll only get easier.

And yes, please try and ride on the road. It's so much better then on the sidewalk.

[tctrek]

I'll bet it would be fun to have a "Tell us about your first ride" thread. We'd probably get tons of stories like this. I remember my first ride very well on a $400 bike from REI, that has this gigantic seat and it was so heavy. I fell down about 4 times in 6 miles. LOL!

[mwilson84]

That's a great story! I remember my first time biking to work too! OMG Was I in ever out of shape. It was a 5km ride. Going to work was easy since it was all downhill. But going home!? It took me 50 minutes! I could've walk home in about an hour! So imagine. Now, that ride takes me only 15 minutes. So you know it'll only get easier.

And yes, please try and ride on the road. It's so much better then on the sidewalk.



I am excited about continuing and I am sure that it will get easier, I will have to work on the road thing. I agree it feels a lot better. Soooo smooth compared to the sidewalk. I can only imagine what a quality bike would feel like. But that is for the future.

Here is my question ladies: What are the risks of riding on the sidewalk? Someone responded saying it was more dangerous but i had a difficult time searching the forums. Trust me, I am all for safety. My outfit was so bright that i looked like the 80's threw up on me and i had reflectors and lights flashing, just in case, so, I would just like to know the pros and cons of road/ sidewalk cycling (besides the obvious cars.) Thanks girls!:D

[mwilson84]

I'll bet it would be fun to have a "Tell us about your first ride" thread. We'd probably get tons of stories like this. I remember my first ride very well on a $400 bike from REI, that has this gigantic seat and it was so heavy. I fell down about 4 times in 6 miles. LOL!

I think there should be a thread for that! I am obviously very new, but i have been on here for about two weeks and the first ride stories are my favorite!

[redrhodie]

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=33106&highlight=sidewalk
This is a good thread.

Basically, sidewalks are bad because cars don't expect to see you there, so when they're, say, turning into a driveway, they're not expecting a fast moving bike to be coming along and they hit you, or you can get doored by a passenger side door. Also, pedestrians are really unpredicatable, and can suddenly turn into you if they don't hear you coming (or even if they do :rolleyes:). There are also a lot more obsticles like curbs and things that can cause you to fall. And, in many places, it's illegal.

[HoosierGiant]

In many municipalities, riding on the sidewalk is illegal, although some codes make exceptions for children under certain ages. In every state a bicycle is considered a vehicle and, as such, must follow all traffic laws and should be 'driven' in vehicular lanes unless dedicated bicycle lanes are available.

[mwilson84]

Well, I mostly ride on the large paths that I believe were made for cyclists, joggers, and rollerbladers I am assuming, not so much sidewalks. Those are mainly in my actual housing community, so in the future I won't ride on those because the street feels safe enough. I remember hearing of 3 hit and runs with cyclists on the road last year in my area, and I rarely watch the news, so I am sure there were a lot more. I am assuming those large scenic paths are legal, so I will prob stay on them until I feel more comfortable. The MP's (military police) don't put up with anything, so i am sure if i am doing something illegal, they would be more than happy to let me know with a ticket! As i said, first ride and learning.

[NbyNW]

Congratulations!

I know when I did my first bike commute I was pretty self-conscious about my skills. It definitely gets better with experience . . . it took me a little while to find a route that I was comfortable with, that worked for my fitness level when I was starting out.

I learned a lot from watching other bike commuters, going to local talks about safe bike commuting (we have some really active advocacy groups out here), and also just reading about others' experiences on this forum.

Happy commuting!

[staceysue]

I'm a noob so I can't give you any good advice - but I loved reading your story!