I am very new to cycling and would love a few pointers. I have been a runner until I fractured my sacrum last year. I took up cycling this year when it was still hurting to run after 9 months off. So, I have a Trek mountain bike and a specialized road bike. Helmet, shades, bike shorts, pump, tubes, etc. However, I am lacking motivation.

When I started running many years ago, I found a race, registered, and started training to give myself a reason to just do it. I would like to be a good cyclist, but I don't even know how to train. How far do I go? How fast do I go?

I would like to find a non-competitive womens race in the Texas/Oklahoma area. Any suggestions? How long should my first race be? How long do I need to train for it? How do I even begin training? Right now I am riding three days per week about 9 miles. It takes me about 40 minutes, sometimes less, sometimes more. Slow, I know. But I have no idea how that compares to my fitness level in running.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm so excited to have found this forum!


Heather