So long

[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.

[eclectic]

Esther, if your breathing is OK and your muscles are screaming, you might want to add in some strength training and stretching on your off days. Nothing major, even things you can do at home if you don't belong to a gym. Look on line or check out some books for some ideas. Were you doing some other type of fitness activity before? If not, it sounds like you are doing OK for someone who has only been riding for a month. You could try to add in another mile a week, or stick to your schedule and then try to do a longer ride on the weekend. Make sure you are resting and eating/drinking enough before and after you ride!

This is the route I took. I wanted to be able to get up hills more easily and do a tour. Last summer 25 miles was my longest ride. From Dec 'til May I did weight training (which is great for females anyway to ward off osteoporosis) and some Yoga. Note I wanted to build strength so the trainer advised me to do more weight less reps, this varies from person to person to check out what you need to meet your goals

When I got back on the bike in April, 15 miles was a snap, by May I was able to do 48, June 58 (3 days in a row on a short tour) , July a metric century and August an Imperial Century in with a 434 mile tour!

Keep it up, practice your spinning and shifting and the distance will come

BTW I am 49 years old with a couple of health issues that are a pain but manageble.

[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]

I read many posts about going 50 miles, 100 miles, more. Mind boggling to me, the truth.

For those who were ever in my boat - starting again in their mid 50s - how long did it take? Why is it taking me so long? Am I being impatient? My thought was if I did this slowly, I'd have less of a chance of hurting myself. And I wanted to keep it fun. I'm just surprised that I still have to work to get through 10 miles. And I do. 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?

Esther, As per usual, you are getting some awesome advice from the crew here. Boatloads of experience and great tips. I just wanted to chime in with my $0.02.

First....you are doing awesome. Mind-boggling distances that others are doing is great motivation, but don't use that as a yardstick to measure your own progress. Keep your perspective: you want to have fun. I don't think anyone here would be riding it it wasn't fun. Don't be so hard on yourself. You've been riding for only a month.

It's normal to feel sore after a work out. Don't forget to stretch before and after a ride - that means your quads, hamstrings, calves, as well as your lower and upper back. Stretching is very important and all to often blown off (I'm super guilty of it myself). Don't forget to eat - eat for fuel before the ride and for recovery afterwards. There are some great tips sprinkled thoughout these forums that you could read. And remember, Advil is not a crime, in fact, it's my best friend after many rides, and I'm "only" 38.

And I think someone else mentioned this: be careful of pushing those big gears. "Spin, spin, spin, pedal, pedal, pedal" a friend of mine used to tell me. Pedal smoothly at a comfortable cadence. And pedal circles - not up and down. Think of it like you are scraping dog poo off the bottom of your shoe. The most efficient stroke is from 3-9, if you imagine your crank as a clock, with 12 being crank arm straight up, and 6 being straight down.

Keep up the good work!

[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!

[Kathi]

When I went over the handle bars on the NCR trail in Maryland. I was rolling about 17 mph on a gravel trail. Something got caught between my front wheel and my brake. My bike stopped and I went flying. Graceful me, I stuck my left arm out when I hit the ground. I must have landed on the palm of my hand (the glove was covered with dust and tiny pieces of rock) then slid on my elbow. There was blood running down my arm from a nasty wound around the elbow. It hurt like crazy.

I ended up in the emergency room in York, Pa. My elbow had a decent size stone under the skin, which they dug out and I wound up with medial epicondalitis (golfer's elbow). I was off the bike for the rest of the summer, in pt, with 2 cortisone shots to calm it down. I still have a nasty scar on my arm from the crash.

So, yes, I can say gloves saved my from some nasty road rash on my hands.

[Fredwina]

Execpt for my last crash, I've shredded the gloves I had on at the time. I'd rather not have to deal with scar tissue, and only having to one hand. Having your arm in a sling is bad enough...

[esther231]

Alright, alright. I think enough of you are saying gloves are important that I need to make peace with them. Yuck though. lol

Clearly the ones I have - pearls - aren't making me happy. Which ones have any of you had luck with? I think it's the gel that's annoying me to death. Seemed like such a good idea when I bought them.

Great suggestions. I do stretch. I don't do weight training. I think it would help, it makes sense. And stay in low gears. Making circles - instead of up and down - did help today when I went.

OMG, do I go slow on inclines or hills. Miracle the bike stays upright. lol

I'll visit the nutrition threads and see what's been written there.

Again, much thanks. This would be so much harder without this forum. Like having a cheat sheet for biking!!!

[Fredwina]

I like the specialized Body geometry or the plain ones from REI

[Nanci]

http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=17288

These are my current favorites. I love them so much I'll wear them after a snake musked them (they also wash well- they just have to actually make it into the house for that to happen) rather than putting on a clean pair...

I did a slow-motion tip over back in June caused by some "tricky, lazy" maneuvering without thinking through what would happen when I rode into soft ground. My right hand went skidding along about three feet of asphalt. Not a mark on it, or the gloves!

They have gel, but not great globs of it, and they have this cool breathable mesh, and no velcro, which I thought I wouldn't like, but I actually love.

Nanci

[biking4health]

Wow, this is a great thread. I rode my bike as a kid and a little more seriously in my mid thirties, but now I'm 51 and about 90 pounds overweight. I started riding (Trek 800 MTB) for my health about three weeks ago. My longest ride to date is 3.34 miles in about 22 minutes. I'm concentrating on keeping a steady pace pedaling and learning how to use the gears. I won't break any speed or distance records, but I feel so much better.

My goal is to be able to ride 5 miles by the time the snow and ice hit later this year. I try to ride a couple times during the week and on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and kindness shown to "newbies".

Carol

[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!

[mimitabby]

Hey Carol, unless it snows soon, I bet you'll make your goal long before winter.
It is great that you are out there doing it.
My husband always said if you can do x miles, you can add another 20%
for the next ride (if you wanted to) so by his reckoning, you're just about there!

keep up the good work, hearing from gals like you is inspirational.