new bike ,and very unhappy

[Bluetree]

I do the same thing. If I have to change my ring, I do if before I start a climb. However, I have familiarized myself with my local hills and know which gear I will need to do each one, and which ones have false flats and so on.

But I digress... Suzie, don't worry about gears right now. It will come in time!

[Triskeliongirl]

I had the same problem when I switched from a flat bar to a dropped bar bike. I took my bike to a park and practiced there. I didn't even deal with the clips (I had dual side pedals that are clip in on one side and platform on other). I suggest you start by putting the bike in your middle ring, so all you have to do is shift up and down the rear cogs. You may even practice that in a trainer if you have access to one. Get good at that, then learn to shift the front. Get good at that, then try riding with one foot clipped in and one free, then go to both feet. Give yourself time to adjust to each change.

[EBD]

I dropped my chain a few times when I first got the road bike - and not even necessarily on hills! It definitely takes time. It was months before I started using my front chain ring at all - just left it in the middle and only used the rear gears. Learning to use the shifters is a little like learning to drive a stick shift - knowing how the mechanism works is certainly helpful, but you also just have to develop a "feel" for it. I practiced on a paved bike trail for a while before I braved traffic.

[suzieqtwa]

Thanks for all the advise...I know I will learn how to ride this bike in time ,but I've waited so long to get it ,and now I cant even ride it. I'm a lot tuffer than this ,and I know Ill be fine soon ,but I want to be fine now. I think I need balance. The bike is so much lighter than the hybrid. Maybe after this weekend Ill start to figure it . There were small platforms on the bike when I bought it ,but they took them off as I was leaving?
Mimi ,bluetree,I do understand about what your saying about the gears ,but what if I'm climbing a steep hill ,and I need to go into a lower gear in the back. ,should I just kinda lift off the pedal when I shift ,so there isn't pressure. I get confused as to what direction I should shift. I could pretty much leave the left gear in the middle...then I should have full range of the 9 gears in the back. Do I make sence??

[Bluetree]

I'm a lot tuffer than this ,and I know Ill be fine soon ,but I want to be fine now.

Of course you're tough, girl... heck you've run marathons!
Honestly, I think you're worrying too much right now. You're thinking about hills and gears when right now you should be focused on getting comfortable on your bike. You know the saying, "You gotta learn to walk before you run..."

Like other people said, stay on relatively flat roads and in your middle ring for now. Get a feel for the bike and get used to clipless pedals. You'll fall down at first, get back up and realize it wasn't so bad. In no time, you'll be wondering what the fuss was all about.

In a few weeks or months, when you're ready to tackle the hills and learn about gearing, it will make much more sense because you don't have to worry about other the "stuff." TE will still be here. NOW GO RIDE!!!! {{{ pointing finger at door}}}

[DarcyInOregon]

I think part of Suzie's dismay is because we signed up to do an event ride out of Portland in just a few weeks.

http://www.worstdayride.com/routes.html

Suzie signed up for the hilly 40-mile loop and expects to do it on her new road bike. I was more practical and I signed up for the flat 18-mile ride, because it is winter and I lose body heat despite my clothing layers, and because I want it to be a learning ride for me since I am still relatively new on my current Trek road bike (only 3 months.)

However Suzie is an amazing rider, even though she has been at it less than one year. She is out there in the winter cold, on her heavy hybrid, in the dark, riding 26 hilly miles with temperatures in the 20s and 30s. She burns 1200 to 1500 calories during one ride and thinks nothing of it, whereas if I was burning calories like that I would have to be chomping away during the entire ride to prevent myself from bonking. Suzie is strong and smart and she will revive this thread in the future months to tell you how wonderful her road bike is.

For the event ride in a few weeks, Suzie can always ride her hybrid for the hilly 40-mile loop, or change over and ride the itty bitty 18-mile loop. She does have options if she is not ready to ride her road bike for 40 miles of hills.

I am signing off. The sun is out. The temperature is in the mid-40s. I am taking my road bike out into the valley to do some riding.

Darcy

[oxysback]

I think part of Suzie's dismay is because we signed up to do an event ride out of Portland in just a few weeks.

http://www.worstdayride.com/routes.html

Dang...too bad this ride is on a Sunday or else I'd sign up, too!

What time are you guys riding on Saturday (I'm assuming you'll be going to Champoeg)? Need another rider??

[DarcyInOregon]

Dang...too bad this ride is on a Sunday or else I'd sign up, too!

What time are you guys riding on Saturday (I'm assuming you'll be going to Champoeg)? Need another rider??

Hi Ellen, I thought about you for the event ride, but it is on a Sunday so I didn't send you the info. If you want to join us on Saturday, we will be in Champoeg Park around 1 p.m. (I think.) You have been on a road bike for longer than either Suzie or me, so you can give both of us pointers I am certain. We will be in the parking area that is called the Riverside Picnic area, which is turning left at the first ranger hut and following the road to where it ends in a parking lot.

I did 18.8 miles today, and I am learning that I am not much of a winter rider. My legs turned to popsicles around mile 12, and my blood sugar got very low, despite eating dried apricots every few miles. My bike speed was slower than a sea turtle on sand.

Darcy

[tygab]

I think you've already gotten very excellent feedback here. When I went through this with my Pilot 2.1, I felt all the same things, but on top of that I wasn't even fit or riding, used to traffic, etc. Riding at first was not enjoyable for me at all! In fact there were days I wondered why I was doing it.

I fell over the first time I rode my Pilot. This was in a parking lot. For a bike trail.
Going on the bike trail at all was scary but I felt it had to be more predictable than a road (flat for one). So, I got comfortable with the general feel of the bike, then the pedals, then I added roads, then I started hills, then I added mileage etc. All in little steps. By the end of the summer I was able to complete my weekend long charity ride, and every little thing along the way seemed a distant memory.

Sounds to me like you are tackling the whole enchilada and that might be what's stressing you. Feel free to pick one area to work on and get comfortable with it, then gradually expand. I think you'll be able to get there fast with your base comfort in riding already!

Stay positive, don't get down on yourself - you will get thru this all!

[oxysback]

Hi Ellen, I thought about you for the event ride, but it is on a Sunday so I didn't send you the info. If you want to join us on Saturday, we will be in Champoeg Park around 1 p.m. (I think.) You have been on a road bike for longer than either Suzie or me, so you can give both of us pointers I am certain. We will be in the parking area that is called the Riverside Picnic area, which is turning left at the first ranger hut and following the road to where it ends in a parking lot.

I did 18.8 miles today, and I am learning that I am not much of a winter rider. My legs turned to popsicles around mile 12, and my blood sugar got very low, despite eating dried apricots every few miles. My bike speed was slower than a sea turtle on sand.

Darcy

Well, I just pm'ed Suzie that I wouldn't be able to make it, but in re-thinking things I can postpone the celebratory lunch with my daughter (she's finally at her grade level for reading after a lot of hard work on her part...yay!!) and go later in the afternoon, so if 1pm works for you guys I'll be there!

(Holy run-on sentance, Batman!!)

I'm right with ya on speed, Darcy. I can count on one had the times I've been on my bike since September. I need a kick in the pants!!

[mimitabby]

Mimi ,bluetree,I do understand about what your saying about the gears ,but what if I'm climbing a steep hill ,and I need to go into a lower gear in the back. ,should I just kinda lift off the pedal when I shift ,so there isn't pressure. I get confused as to what direction I should shift. I could pretty much leave the left gear in the middle...then I should have full range of the 9 gears in the back. Do I make sense??

I think pre-planning your hills is the way to go. If you think you're going to need to go all the way down into granny gear, stay on your middle ring on the front and get really close to granny in the back BEFORE the hill becomes a 10% grade. Then, when the going gets really tough, drop down into your lower of the 3 front chain rings. From there, going the one or two clicks in the back to get to granny is not going to be as severe or hard to do.
that's what I've been doing, and so far (knock knock) it has worked for me!

[Pedal Wench]

I'll second what someone else said regarding knowing which way to shift. Chain closer to the bike makes it easier to pedal uphill, away from the bike is harder, no matter if your shifting front or rear. Another easy tip is that the bigger lever is for moving to a bigger ring, whether Campy or Shimano. Little shifter (thumb for Campy) shifts to a smaller ring.

[Cyclo Kitty]

Is there a park with a soft-ish field near you? I practiced the clipless pedals a lot in field before I dared take my cross bike on the road. I love them now but still have stupid days on them. The BSG told me even he still clips out right and leans left sometimes...and he's been riding for a long time.


You do have to ease into it a little slowly; I found that shifting got a lot easier to understand after riding in the trainer. I could actually see and feel the effect of shifting gears at the same time, so if you have access to a trainer, you might try that. (BSG explained it, DH explained it, I've ridden the bike up and down hills but until I could watch and feel it made little sense.)

This is also my first light weight bike, and the responsiveness combined with the weight is still a little scary. That's where the park came in handy again. Lucky for me there's a park with pine forests and a sandy beach and I don't mind cleaning the chain...but sand and pine needles are better to land on. The car-free riding helped a lot as well, so I ride really early when it's not too cold.

Good luck...I thought I'd made the most expensive mistake a couple weeks ago, but keep pedaling and it has to get better!

[Duck on Wheels]

Practice clipping and unclipping on the flats as much as you can before the ride. Make sure to adjust your pedals so it's as easy as possible to unclip. Remember to unclip at intersections, a nice bit before actually stopping. Then ... don't worry about it. I've had a dog lunge at me, had my chain fall off, had my chain buckle and stop ... so far I've always managed to unclip in time (touch wood). And I'm an old lady who's always been a klutz. Just ask Trek about the many klutz stories the family tells (the time she got stuck with one foot on the boat and one on the pier ... and fell between; the time she knocked somebody off the dock cuz she turned around while holding a mast; the time she stood in line for potatoes with a lambchop on her plate and dangled the plate by its edge so the lamb chop fell off; the time she tossed the salad -- literally, and so on) I have to be the ultimate test of whether one can learn to ride a lightweight bike with clipless pedals, and hey, I took to it like a Duck on Wheels. If I can do it, so can you.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Suzie, first things first.
Go with Darcy to the park area where it's FLAT this weekend! You are very lucky to have a supporting friend to go with you and keep you company, also to be there if you get hurt somehow.
Practice for a couple of hours on flat or slightly rolling- no steep hills yet! Leave your front gear in the middle ring for a while and practice changing back and forth on the rear gears, but avoid the 1 or 2 extreme ones on either end. (If it starts making chain noise, avoid that one). When you get the hang of that, try the opposite: leave your back gear in the middle section, and practice only changing back and forth amongst the 3 front rings.

Get comfortable with riding and turning and practice clipping in and out. Try only having one foot clipped. Then switch to the other for a while. Practice stopping so that the bike will lean to the side you WANT when it's stopping. Don't expect to get smooth on all these things in only a day or two! I remember riding in the school parking lots for DAYS, just flat, doing figure eights and turns, starting and stopping. I liked the parking lots because they had yellow lines that I sometimes used like slolom markers for zig-zag practice. Don't practice in dangerous traffic until you are feeling a bit more steady. Wobbly is not abnormal when going from a hyrid to a road bike.
You'll be fine, just go slow and enjoy the learning process- don't always only think of the destination, remember to enjoy the journey!