So long

[Bruno28]

Esther -
You're doing great!

Don't be discouraged - it's not taking you long. I'm 50 and have just started as well, having done really no exrecise prior to this. A few weeks ago I was struggling to do 4 miles but its amazing how quickly it builds up. I did 20 miles yesterday, pretty dead flat (nearly killed me!) but I'd never have thought I'd have made such big progress in a relatively short time. I'm going slower than you tho' - average 9mph. The important thing is to do what feels comfortable for you and enjoy it!
I was cycling along a canal towpath yesterday and when things were feeling grim I reminded myself to look at the scenery and relax - it's not a test!

There's some good advice on the thread 'Which gear?'. I was intially making it hard for my self by riding in too big a gear.

One of the most helpful peices of advice came from Geonz who said to get away from feeling like you are pedling up and down and think of it as peddling 'round and round'. This really helped me on my ride yesterday. It somehow makes it easier....not sure why.

[mimitabby]

Hey you did the hardest part, you got on the bike, and you continue to.

I have a couple suggestions for making your bike rides longer...
give yourself more time. If you've been giving yourself an hour, give yourself two!
or even a whole morning. You didn't say where you live, can you give yourself destinations?
Like you have to go to the library, or on a hot day; the Dairy Queen?
Ride your bike 4 miles to the park, get off, read a little while, watch the ducks,
after an hour, get back on, ride another 4 miles.. (or 10 and 10)

Your average on the flats is great, don't worry about it. I was going up a hill at less than 6mph
yesterday, so don't worry ab out your hill speed either.
And it took me more than 2 years to get to where i wanted to do more than a 5 mile ride
(i did longer ones, but they were miserable)
good luck

[Bad JuJu]

Ditto what everyone else said, and a question: are you spinning, I mean as much as possible, rather than trying to push hard gears? I only ask because you said your muscles get tired. If not, then try spinning lower gears and see how that feels. If you're already doing that, then, yes, just keep adding a mile or so whenever you ride and your distance will accumulate before you know it.

I think you're absolutely right about keeping it fun and do-able, so you'll continue to enjoy your rides and not injure yourself. Just keep at it--you're doing fine!

Try throwing in something fun--like Mimi's Dairy Queen ride idea--or even wacky once in a while. This morning my neighbor and I rode to the local Waffle House for breakfast--we wore our girly skorts and had a great time. Only 12 flat miles total, but fun fun fun!

[Bikingmomof3]

Ester,
I think you are doing great! You are being hard on yourself. I am 37 and when I started biking I recall being absolutely giddy to make it 5 miles. It takes endurance and practice. Unless you are planning to race soon, does it mater how fast you are going as long as you are enjoying the ride?

[farrellcollie]

I think you are doing great. I have always been fairly active - but my partner has not - she is now walking and riding a little (50yrsold) - we have found it is better to build up slowly than to overdo it and get too sore or burned out so you can't or don't want to go out.

[Geonz]

I have gloves but I mostly forget to put them on. I have these incredible calluses ... but I have a genetic condition that means I have them anyway.

I don't know how important they are in a crash. When I crashed big, I landed on my elbows anyway - but I think most people would have taken the fall on their hands (I automatically went into my "swimming pool entry with goggles" and did this great belly flop onto the gravel, splaying my arms to "spread out the splash," which, ahem, does NOT work as well no gravel as it does in a swimming pool!! Perhaps fortunately I was at the back and nobody saw...) They'd have been pretty torn up by the gravel... I suppose. But let's see if anybody pipes up and says "gloves saved my hands!" I do know that my totally minimalist buddies who don't even wear padded shorts most of the time do have helmet, toe clips, and gloves all the time, but I k now some people need 'em or their wrists and shoulders hurt. (I thank my piano teachers for getting me in the habit of good wrist placement...)
There are "lite" gloves - you might want to go the LBS and try some different kinds.

[7rider]

But let's see if anybody pipes up and says "gloves saved my hands!"

Not from my own experience...but recently another rider and I stopped to help this woman who was clipped by the trailer being towed behind a pickup and sent sprawling into a gravel driveway. Truck kept going, of course. She had only a brief time to ride while her husband watched the kids, so she rushed out the door, forgetting her gloves. Fortunately she had her helmet, at least! But she was really cursing her misfortune, and the truck, as she picked gravel out of her scraped and bloodied palms.

Yup....gloves are a necessary accessory in my book!

[KSH]

1 month is not that long. I know it took me a good year until I became a strong cyclist. So, don't be too hard on yourself. Just keep working on your miles and you will get stronger each day.

My breathing is okay but my muscles are tired after 10 miles. Is this normal? Should I be pushing harder? Or just keep adding a mile a week on my daily loop till I get to where I want to go?

Let me ask you, are you muscling through your pedal strokes? If so, you might be in too high of a gear and mashing on the pedals. What you want to do is raise your cadence (a bike computer will give you this reading), up to around 90, and then you will be spinning your pedals.

Also, if you get a bike computer with cadence, you will know when to shift into high/lower gears. For example, if you are riding and your cadence is at 70, then you know that you need to shift down, to make it easier to pedal.

Keep up the great work, and keep plugging away. It takes time and many miles, but you will become stronger each day!

[esther231]

I've always been active but never focused on exercise. Which means, I've never done this. Before when I was biking, I didn't have a car, so distance came quickly out of need. Once I found other women to ride with, day trips grew longer. But it just happened. And day trips were always to go somewhere - once we got to where we were going, we'd do whatever it was we went there for. We'd always eat too and then turn around and come back. So, we would do 50 miles but we weren't thinking about doing 50 miles. It just happened and I took it for granted that I would always be able to do what I wanted to do. I don't have a clue how to work at this consciously.

(None of us had a helmet or riding shorts or odometers or used gloves. I like the helmet, I like the shorts, the odometer is very cool but I hate gloves. The LBS says they are really important in case you fall but I hate them and am going to quit wearing them unless I read on this board some place that they are important.)

I am bringing water with me. I'm not great at remembering to drink it but when I'm with DH - he's good at remembering to drink his - so I'm getting better and that has made a difference. I do bring fig newtons after reading about hem here but have not eaten one yet. I don't understand about gatorade or GU. I've always heard gatorade is important if you are doing hard exercise but I don't know at what point it's important. I guess I better go read up on them.

Sounds like I should keep trying to increase my daily loop slowly and ride further on the weekends. I think next weekend, I'll try to find an all flat ride and see is I can go further without my legs screaming at me.

Hills. Inclines. (I don't know how steep an incline needs to be to be called a hill.) I just know that those are gonna be an ongoing challenge and no doubt will be what makes me stronger. Right now, I dread each one. I'm never sure when I get to the top who won. It's a toss up. I get to the top but my legs feel like lead each time. I'd love to get to the top of one and not feel like death warmed over. Time and practice, I know. I needed to know last night that others found this harder than they expected at the beginning and it really does get easier with time.

Much thanks. This board is unbelievably helpful.