pure joy...with a few questions

I'm not a big poster, mostly reader, and a newbie to biking again. I've been on again, off again riding for the past year or so. Doing most of my riding the past 5 months. This past weekend I rolled over 160 miles on my bike, which I was really excited about. And for the first time I rode a 10 mile route my husband and I do, and climbed out of the saddle for all the (small) hills. I'm carrying around about 90lbs extra on my body right now. The past few weekends, I've been doing 8, 8 and 10 mile bike rides. Which amazes me since a year ago, doing 2 miles of flat and I was dying.

I'm going to try to get as much riding in as possible before it gets too cold. Although I love snow, so the thought of riding in the snow is tempting.

Here's my questions:

• I picked up a Magneto Trainer for my bike, I have a pair of Specialized Hemisphere tires, not a complete slick but much smoother than my knobby mountain bike tires. I have a Trek 4300. Should I look into a thinner tire and tube for my mtn bike? Is this a crazy idea to want to use my mtn bike with a trainer for the winter?

• Also, I read somewhere else that the brake levers are adjustable, as far as pulling them in closer. I'm only 5" tall and have small hands. Is that possible, should I bring my bike to my LBS to have them do this?

• One more question, I promise. I had also read somewhere (can't remember), that the seat should be inline with handlebars. Is this always the case? My seat is probably still about 1-2 inches shorter than my handlebars.

I really enjoy reading everyone's stories and advice. It keeps me inspired and helps me get back on track.

I love the riding, it's the only thing I really look forward to and will drop everything else to go do. My family has never seen me so determined to do anything.

Thanks again - Diana

Hi, Diana, I'm too much of a newbie to answer your questions. I just wanna applaud your determination! (clapclapclapclapclapclapclap) :D

Trainers eat tires. Get the cheapest slicks you can and burn them up. Knobies won't work, although they might just turn into slicks if you tried, i'm not sure. Funny thought though.

Brake levers are adjustable, I'm not sure how with mt. bike brakes, but I think it's possible.

Proper seat position is individual, a better rule is that the angle of your knee should be bent 10-15 (maybe 20) degrees when at the bottom of your pedal stroke. Any more bend and you're not using all your power.

The trainer can be deadly, even with TV. Maintaining any intensity is hard, I'd reccomend a heart rate monitor so you can be sure you're getting a workout. Buy some motivational music or spinervals/train right DVDs to ease the trainer pain. :D

It's great to hear your passion for the sport, Diana!

sorry, I've never used a trainer before. I'd recommend you speak with a person trained to do bike fittings (at your LBS) for your other questions.

Latelatebloomer,
Thank you so much for the support, every little bit helps :-) :-)

Runnergirl,
Good info, thank you. I will definitely pick up the slicks I was looking at. Specialized Nimbus.

I have a heart rate monitor which I love. It was one the best investments I've ever made. I'll definitely be making sure I'm working up to my THRZ. I'm looking forward to being able to ride to my favorite techno songs.

Cindysue,
Thanks for the support :-) I think I am going to talk to the guys at my LBS, they've been very helpful and supportive. And see if they have any suggestions.

no need to pay someone to adjust your brakes.
Get out your handy set of allen wrenches. Get a copy of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike maintenance. ($25) There are diagrams in there to adjust the reach by bringing the levers closer to the handlebars, and the angle that the brakes leversl sit on the handle bar. The second adjustment is just a matter of loosening the allen screw, rotating the levers ( usually down) in increments unitl they feel more natural.

As for where your seat is, that is a matter of preference, and bike geometry. The classic XC race position is that the seat is an inch or two above the handle bars, but there is so much room for variation that there are no correct answers. More importantly, is the seat height correct for you, and is the handlebar height and stem length comfortable? With the seat lower than the handlebars, that gives you a fairly upright, recreational position which is fine for just tooling around, but not great for more agressive, technical riding.



I.

I noticed you said you love your heart rate monitor. I've been thinking about purchasing one. What do you use? Why do you like it?

Irulan,
Thank you for the recommendation of Zinn's book. I keep meaning to buy it. I figure if I can work on my car, I can work on my bike.

I believe I have finally found a seat height I like. At the bottom of my pedal stroke my knee is at a very slight bend. I love my clipless pedals.

As far as stem height, this is another part I'm interested in. My wrists still get a bit sore at the end of long rides. Am I resting too much on my hands? or could stem height affect this?



anne_77
I use a Polar A5. It was 99.00 at the Sports Authority. I'm quite happy with it. You enter your weight, height, age and gender. It then calculates your THRZ. You can also do a walk test which I think will give a more accurate Target Heart Rate Zone.

When you go to use it, if you have the audio on it beeps slowly when your below your THRZ and is silent when in it, and then beeps fast when you go above. It has quite a few variations on seeing where you working at, how long and how many calories your burning.

I wore it to work the other day, and on really busy crazy days here in corp america, I'm actually working in the bottom of my THRZ :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mtnmunch

Irulan,

As far as stem height, this is another part I'm interested in. My wrists still get a bit sore at the end of long rides. Am I resting too much on my hands? or could stem height affect this?

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yes and yes. You should be "riding light", not depending on your arms to hold you up. Stem height, type of handle bars, all that can affect how the upper body feels.

have you checked out my mountain bike tips? See my sig.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Irulan

yes and yes. You should be "riding light", not depending on your arms to hold you up. Stem height, type of handle bars, all that can affect how the upper body feels.

have you checked out my mountain bike tips? See my sig.

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I checked out your link, and actually that was where I had read to ride lightly and adjusting the brake levers was possible :) :) That is a really great page you have put together.

I definitely do not have a death grip on the handles. DH and I are going riding both days this weekend, have to take advantage of the unseasonably warm good weather. While out there, I'm going to have him take some pics of me, so I can see what my form is. I'll post too, and would love some feedback. This could be scary. :eek:

I was working on my bike tonight and took two pics. I know posting a pic is not a replacement to taking my bike to the shop to get fit.

I checked the position of my seat tonight. A member from the forum here told me about checking the distance between the nose of the seat and the middle of stem. I tried her suggestion and it was right on and according to it my seat is the right distance from the headset.

I also checked my seat height again tonight. And when I'm sitting on the seat, there is a very slight bend in my knee with my foot on the pedal at the bottom of the stroke. I think that's the right thing.

I ride mainly dirt roads and some rails to trails. With a few double track rides scattered here and there. Hopefully next year this will be different.

Anyways...here's a pic of my bike, should I be making any other adjustments.

http://static.flickr.com/27/59547556_f4a2ad69fa.jpg

Thanks Irulan,
I have two bike rides planned this weekend. A 16 mile and a 8 mile.

I'll definitely pay attention to my upper body and how I'm holding it. :) :)

Mtn, I second the heart-rate monitor. That's what we use in spin class - you can really learn a lot about your effort, and then use it to set up different kind of intervals and goals. You can see over time how you've improved your heart health, and how your recovery time improves. The heart rate monitor clued my trainer (the live kind, at the gym) to the fact that despite my size, I was fitter than people expected, and thus, needed more challenge in order to improve. I know you'e working very seriously at your fitness, so it'll be a great tool. Stick with the Polar brand - I picked up a Reebok, and it was hard to use and broke way too soon.

llbloomer,
good to know about the other heart rate monitors out there. i see Nike has some cool looking ones but i question their long term quality.

Last night I picked up the 4th ed. of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance.

We took a 16.5 mile bike ride yesterday and I really thought my seat was trying to separate my body in half. It was so sore and painful by 7 miles that I was dreading the 8 miles back. I also got the numbness in my left hand again, with shoulders getting sore.

I lowered my seat a little for the ride back and the numbness went away. My DH rode along side of me and we compared how we're holding the handlebars and how we're sitting, since he never has discomfort.

I have to go to the bike shop this week to pick up the front tire wedgey thing for use with my trainer. While there, I'm going to talk to the guys about the fit of my bike. Along with possibly a new saddle.