New to cycling

[Joanne Booker]

Hi guys, I'm relatively new to cycling as I never learnt as a kid due to knee problems, any advice on training or how to build up my legs and endurance?

[Owlie]

Ride. Have fun. Listen to your body.

If you've never ridden a bike before, one thing you might consider doing is having your bike shop take the pedals off, and sort of scoot around on it until you get your balance down. :)

[marni]

once you've gotten your balance and are familiar with the brakes, take your bike for a 1 mile ride, when you can do 1 mile then do two and so on. Once you hit five miles you may want to find that you want to do more one mile extra so try a 10 miler. After each ride evaluate how long it took, how you felt and what could be improved. Ask for help, there are loads of knowledgeable riders here and the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Also bear in mind that your are on the bottom of a steep learning curve, the more question you ask, the more you learn and the more questions there are. Remember to mentally evaluate each ride and log your rides by time and distance- you'll be amazed.

welcome to the big adventure or the thin edge of the slope, however you choose to look at it.

[azfiddle]

Welcome-

I agree with all the advice here so far. And I agree, just add the miles slowly. I started 4 years ago, riding 3 miles round trip to the grocery store. 6 weeks later I was riding 15 miles or more, and not long after I was riding much longer distances. Good luck - this is a good place to get encouragement and guidance.

[TigerMom]

Welcome-

I agree with all the advice here so far. And I agree, just add the miles slowly. I started 4 years ago, riding 3 miles round trip to the grocery store. 6 weeks later I was riding 15 miles or more, and not long after I was riding much longer distances. Good luck - this is a good place to get encouragement and guidance.

You are right about slowly adding the miles. I still remember 1 year ago when 8-10 miles was a lot (but do-able), then 25miles was a lot and now 50miles is a lot. I'm waiting to think that 200miles is a lot and anything less is do-able.

[MollyJ]

Make sure the bike you are using fits your body. Your local bike store should be able to tell you if your seat position is decent. If you are using a previously loved bike make sure its chain is oiled and things are working. Tires are aired up, etc.

Depending on the type of geography you live in, make sure you have a bike with some lower gears. Biking isn't surprisingly about gutting it out to get up the hill; it's more about putting your bike into a low enough gear that you can spin at a cadence of 80-110. That's right, more revs of the pedal crank per minute, not fewer. Word of caution: When you are in low gear and you're not making a cadence of 80, so be it. Either keep going or walk it up the hill. Listen to your body. Either is acceptable.

If you are new to biking, you don't want to go buy a lot of stuff, but try to position your foot so that your ball of your foot, or just behind the ball of the foot is on the pedal. Notice your foot on the pedal, Experiment with toe versus toe out. You actually want it to be pretty neutral as I understand it; toes straight ahead. Experiment with very slight changes to toes in, toes out--NOT dramatic--to see if that helps your knees. Anything that strengthen the quads and hamstrings often helps the knee.

Keep it fun. Anything that makes you say, "Well I NEVER want to do THAT again," was too strenuous. Compare your progress to your progress. Towards that, a simple odometer on the bike that will tell you miles traveled, speed and average speed and cadence (which is debatable) can help you make those comparisons.

If knee pain persists talk to your doctor or maybe have a PT evaluate your lower body strength.

[lgibster]

Welcome!! Yes cycling is for everyone. You just need to have fun, work within your abilities, and then work up in stages. I started on an old beat up Mountain bike back in 2009, my first ride was 2.5 miles (I wanted to turn around at mile .25, but went the entire distance). I put my bike up for a week because I was so sore I couldn't ride it again, but worked up to an 8 mile all flat ride. The next year I purchased better Mountain bike (still road the paved trails though), then a Specialized Vita Elite Hybrid (love that bike) and now I ride a Specialized Ruby Elite Apex road bike (full carbon frame). As you can see it is now 2013 and I have ridden a 60 mile training ride and I am working toward my first 68 mile ride currently. Long story short, just have fun and ride as much as you can. If you find that you love cycling then you can move up to better equipment or just continue riding what you have, just remember to have fun and enjoy the journey where ever it may lead.