Newbie hooked hard

[Ellen 06]

I made an impulse purchase of a bicycle a few days ago. I used to love riding, but had to stop because the pressure on my wrist from leaning forward on a conventional bike made riding too painful. I walked past the bike shop-saw a poster for a Townie flat foot bike, walked in, took a test ride and walked out with a 7 speed Townie. Love at first ride.

I'm way out of shape, and need to lose 100 pounds, been riding, slowly, the 6 miles to work-stopping to walk up part of the last mile of uphill to home.

I'm hooked. I googled to see if I could find any easy bike rides in my area and came across the Red Riding Hood ride... I am tempted to train for the 38 mile ride, but that's only 5 weeks off.

Are there methods for training for something like this?

I'm not ready to put myself in shorts, even baggy ones, are there such things as biking capris?
:rolleyes:

Ellen

[Dianyla]

I'm not ready to put myself in shorts, even baggy ones, are there such things as biking capris?
:rolleyes:
Of course there are! :D

http://www.teamestrogen.com/categories.asp?catID=86

[DrBee]

Congrats on the new bike! Enjoy her! And- good luck with training.

[Grog]

Welcome Ellen! I am excited for you. (And these Townies look fabulous! What color did you get?)

I don't know about the Riding Hood course but if it's fairly flat I'd certainly try it if I were you. You will want to buy appropriate shorts/capris whatever though to make it more comfy. There are TONS of training plans and advice available on this web site (try from the Team Estrogen home page the various articles available too) and others too. Drinking LOTS of water is important, and so is eating properly before, during and after rides. Even if you have weight to loose. (Which doesn't mean you should pig out of course.) Read on this too (check out the nutrition section of this web site).

I'm glad you feel hooked already. Just have FUN, the rest will follow...

[Brina]

congrats on the purchase and on taking up an old love. enjoy.

[KnottedYet]

Congrats on the bike!

As for shorts/capris: Make SURE you buy a pair of lycra with chamois shorts/liners/capris. At least get the lycra shorts/liners and wear them under a pair of regular capris if that's what you really want to wear. When I was much heavier my inner thighs chafed soooooo badly. I didn't so much need the padding of the chamios on the bike shorts as I needed the slippery lycra and nylon wrapped around each thigh to let them slided around better. For a while I wore bike shorts with regular shorts over them, cuz I wasn't showing anything I didn't have to! Now I'm so hot and gorgeous that I dash around in whatever strikes my fancy! :D

Take a look at the plus sizes at Terry Precision (www.terrybicycles.com). Terry makes serious bike clothes. I'm very happy with the stuff I get from them. If the idea of wearing nylon is unappealing you could try looking at some of the wool biking clothes brands. My favorite is Ibex (www.ibexwear.com) After I get my tax return I'm gonna get a pair of their biking capris. (those suckers are $120... Aaaaak!)

Those Electra Townies sure are cool. Can you post a picture?

[yellow]

Ellen, where are you? There are a pile of us around the big salty lake (Salt Lake down to Orem). Check out our goings-on in the "Southwest" sub-forum.

I think there is a 30-something mile option of Little Red. If you can get up to 20 miles or so by late May, I'll bet you could do the short option. A bunch of Cali gals (and gals from Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming) are coming to Yewtah just for the ride! I am so excited! Company of TE women!

[Tar-Cat]

Congratulations on finding a great bike - and lots of luck on the training and weight loss :)

[SadieKate]

Hi, there! Welcome aboard.

Go do a search in the Southwest forum and you'll find a bewildering array of threads about the LRRH. You have picked a great event for which to train.

Yep, there are a whole bunch of us invading Yewtah for the festivities (but no one is getting me into a costume). Yellow, does the club have any training rides?

[bikerz]

Hi Ellen!

You're going to have a great time riding, getting fit, and hanging out on this board! Isn't it great - WANTING to exercise? I don't think I overstate it when I say cycling changed my life - totally for the better (well, my bank account occassionally suffers!)

[tamara_69]

You're going to have a great time riding, getting fit, and hanging out on this board! Isn't it great - WANTING to exercise? I don't think I overstate it when I say cycling changed my life - totally for the better (well, my bank account occassionally suffers!)

I second that! I have never wanted to exercise in my life until I rode a bike. Now it's an endless quest for being in better shape to conquer more hills! Cycling has changed my life, too.

[allabouteva]

Hi Ellen!

You know the beauty about this place is that you get the full spectrum of cyclists - the newbies, the huge multi-C riders, and everyone in between. And I get inspired by the whole mob:)

Your enthusiasm is so infectious, and lovely to see. What you say about exercising, is so true... I love cycling, it's changed my life too.

Those pounds are going to melt away. You need to take a photo NOW! and one in 3 months and another in 6. You'll be so amazed.:D

Good luck with the ride!

e

[Ellen 06]

I'll look at those other sites for training and nutrition info.

I live in Providence, which is across the valley from Wellesville where the ride starts.

I've talked at least one friend into training for this with me. We're planning a ten mile loop for sunday-though she has to go buy a new bike before then. ;)

I figure I will keep riding to work and make increasingly longer rides on the weekend.

hm, there was a thought, that with gas getting so high the bike would save me money. I can see what with clothing, accessories, registrations, bike rack, possibly travel to bike in other places that ain't gonna happen :D

Ellen

[SadieKate]

hm, there was a thought, that with gas getting so high the bike would save me money. I can see what with clothing, accessories, registrations, bike rack, possibly travel to bike in other places that ain't gonna happen :D

EllenBut those are all reusable resources so it's very green of you.:) Mother Earth will thank you.

[Ellen 06]

yes, the bike was my Earthday present. I will save money on gas, I'll just spend the money I save and then some on gear.


Ellen

[NorCalGal]

Hi Ellen..

Congratulations on your new bike! I love the look of the Townies. What kind did you get?

This site is wonderful, and you'll learn so much from the ladies here. They're a warm bunch; so welcoming, so encouraging, such great cheerleaders.

:) Karen

[yellow]

Ellen,

It sounds like you are motivated and really want to do the ride. That will carry you a long way. :) Good luck with your training and we'll see you at LRRH!

[Ellen 06]

I went for an easy ten mile ride saturday out in the valley. Back when I had a bike before I never went out of town-I only thought of is as transportation. Never again, birding from a bicycle is terrific. It was a gorgeous day, there was a marsh hawk on a fence post that didn't stir when we went past. A sandhill crane flew so close overhead I could see the red patch on it's head, saw many glossy Ibis. And we saw the tail end of a courtship flight and the mating of a pair of smaller hawks. And we barely went out into the marsh. Can't wait till next weekend.

I put 53 miles on the bike in the first week.

[KnottedYet]

53 miles!!!! You are a total hot chick!:eek:

Whooooo-hooooo! Congratulations!:D