Noob and then some

[esmerelda]

Holy cow! I logged in to thank all of you for the helpful information you shared over the weekend. I was taking the time to read the links you supplied as well as do some other sources I found. And yes -- I have been riding.

I wasn't expecting an entire conversation on how flakey newbies are. As you can see I didn't ask for your time and then disappear. We're not all alike and I only posted 3 days ago. This is why I was hestitant to ask questions in the first place. But many of you were welcoming, so I'm just going to let it go.

Sooo... on to the happy stuff. I LOVE my bike. It's a Trek 7500 multitrack. I chose a hybrid because, while I'll be primarily on roads, they're are not always in great shape; and I have 2 sons, so I'll do some rougher trails from time-to-time.

I road Sat and Sun and my saddle is being kind to me so far.

But oh man -- I am in decent shape and have always had strong legs. Or I THOUGHT I had strong legs. That's what's bothering me the most -- leg fatigue. I'm not sore afterward, however. I'm confident that my cadence is good. I have no idea what my RPMs are, but it feels nice and easy. I'm getting the hang of shifting smoothly, frequently and at the appropriate time.

I work from home, so my plan for now is to hop on my bike when I need a break and take a quick 30 min ride. Where I live is very hilly and the roads are busy, so I don't stray too far. On weekends I can take my bike to rail trails, which is where I feel most comfortable right now. I don't like sharing the road with cars. We don't have wide shoulders here.

I have no idea about the techinical questions you asked about my bike! How impt is it to know those things right now?

I also find that I shift my hand position a bit as discomfort sets in. Is that a bad habit? I just picked up a pair of gloves so we'll so how that goes.

How did ya'll start out training? I'd love to hear about your early days! Again, many thanks for the welcome and support. E.

[polliwog88]

Hi and welcome! I'm new here too.

I am an avid pro cycling fan and you wouldn't believe how much I have learned from watching the broadcasts of procycling races.

The godfathers of cycling commentating are: Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwinn and you can hear them on VS. (a cable channel) every Sunday in the early evening, usually around 6 pm eastern time.

Also you can go to cycling.tv. A great internet site that shows a wide range of the big cycling races. They even have a free channel where you can watch at a low bandwidth. The guys on there are interesting to listen too. They also have shows that are full of the latest gear, etc.

I learned through osmosis about the different terms, gear and technique. My only problem is I want to go out and ride just like the pros do. Oh well it is always good to have something to aspire to.

Hope this helps!

[missymaya]

Hey there esmerelda,
You'll learn the terms as they came along. If anything, just ask what it means or look it up online.That's what I do and I've been riding for over 2 years (I still have plenty to learn ). If I were you, I would learn the important basics first, like changing your tires and recognizing when there's a problem like if your gears aren't changing right, you shouldn't brush it off.
As for hand positions, I'm actually having the same issue on my road bike, where I'm shifting my hands and wrists. Here's what I think: Your position changes a little when riding levels increase, like going from comfort riding to actual work riding, picking up speed and heart rate. Your body might feel more comfortable after shifting around. Or, it could be the equipment, such as the handlars might be wrong for you or your position on the bike. How long does it take for the discomfort to set in? That's what I think and I haven't seen you ride so keep that as suggestions
I actually started riding to work and school on an old walmart bike and I ended up burning the bottom bracket out, the crank bearings, and killing the rear hub I decided that I needed a new bike that could handle the wrath that is me. I also loved riding the road, so I went into road riding and started piling up miles. I am now upgrading again because this bike can no longer handle my wrath. I still have my old warlmart frame for a few reasons: this bike has been to the major universities in florida, UF, FSU, and UCF (not miami but there's still time ) and that's pretty cool. I also would like to keep it, just to see where I came from and rememer the klunker days

Congrats on the new bike, show pics!!! Hope you and your new bike will have lots of good miles and time together.

[IFjane]

Welcome, Esmerelda! When I started cycling (mountain biking first) I THOUGHT I had strong legs, too. I was very fit - worked out at the gym 5x week, ran for miles (on the treadmill - I hate running!), stair-climber, etc. etc.... but I got on the bike for the first time and noooooo.....those legs weren't strong at all - at least not in the right places. I think what you are feeling is completely normal. You are using different muscles and muscles in different ways. It will all come together eventually (though you may not notice for a while). Keep riding and enjoy every minute of it!

missymaya - Have you ever thought about painting a section of your W-M frame the colors of each school it has attended? It could be your own rolling scrapbook!

[missymaya]

No I havent but that's a good suggestion. Blue and orange, garnet and gold and black and gold. Thanks IFJane, got me thinking.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi again Esmeralda, and welcome to other newbies as well!

Don't worry too much about learning everything all at once. Just ride safely and read up and it will all fall into place.
You are lucky your bike is suited to you and your saddle isn't hurting!- lots of people have pain in the beginning due to ill fitting equipment.
Ride and have fun! Read about defensive safe riding habits in traffic though- that should be most important as you start.
Yes, I remember I had fitness walked 3 miles per day for 8 months before biking...I thought i was in great shape.... but NO! Man was I sore when I started biking!
It's all GOOD. Enjoy feeling like a kid again, and keep us posted on your progress. We want bike pictures too!

[LadyinWhite]

I've taught teenagers for 27 years and believe me, you are seriously underestimating their intelligence and creativity. I teach the college bound ones, and those kids I have in AP Calculus could (and WOULD) pull this off. My gut instinct tells me this is bogus, and it has served me well over the years. I've received a couple of PMs from others who agree. Someone even wondered if the ip addresses would turn out the same?!?!?!

Not that I'm horrified by it, I really am slightly amused, but I won't be giving them any heartfelt advice. Maybe we should just see if we ever hear from esmerelda and lunita again.

I'm a newbie - only been riding for a year. I'm a newbie to TE, only been posting here for a few months. I know esmerelda personally - hell I'm the one who told her about TE. I was a little embarressed when I talked to her today. I sent her here and she got this snarky response just because she didn't sit poised by her laptop ready to respond to every post?

Hopefully - this experience will keep each of us from jumping to conclusions and posting snarky responses until we have more cause for alarm. All I kept thinking was If I was esmerelda, would I come back to a board who responded like this?

Thank heavens the majority of TE'rs here welcomed her with the same gracious welcome that I've grown accustomed to seeing since I started posting here myself. To each of you I say thank you - truly - for welcoming my dear friend to the world of cycling. I was so proud to say "check out teamestrogen! It's a great site and there is so much super information there!"


T.

ps: I've also been teaching since 1991 - and these kids that you refer to that are so smart - they would know better than to have it track back to the same IP.

[Zen]

Gee, I didn't think anyone was "snarky", probably just a bit jaded and suspicious from being around teenagers too long.

Even if it had been a prank someone would have found the responses helpful.

It's all good.

[silver]

Sooo... on to the happy stuff. I LOVE my bike. It's a Trek 7500 multitrack. I chose a hybrid because, while I'll be primarily on roads, they're are not always in great shape; and I have 2 sons, so I'll do some rougher trails from time-to-time.
I have no idea about the techinical questions you asked about my bike! How impt is it to know those things right now?

How did ya'll start out training? I'd love to hear about your early days! Again, many thanks for the welcome and support. E.

The technical stuff is not important to know now. I just asked because that's stuff that we talk about sometimes and....because I'm a technical stuff geek. It's Probably some of the stuff that sounds "foreign" to you. We generally talk about that stuff in terms of how it is functioning for us.

the most important thing is to have fun and ride safe (hope you're wearing a helmet my personal soapbox cause one saved my life)

I started out thinking that 5 miles was a long way, worked up to 13, thought that was terribly long, then 30, etc. I find it very addicting. My DH has just started riding and has experienced some pain from doing too much to soon, so there's no hurry to add miles. Taking your time will help your muscles, tendons and ligaments develop to handle the work.

Is this your bike?



http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike...d=1340600&f=27

Cool bike!!!! Just FYI, your bike is made of aluminum and mostly shimano Deore components

Welcome!!!

[uforgot]

Okay, okay, I was wrong about esmerelda. Welcome to you! You'll get a lot of good information here.

Snarky??? I wasn't nagging, I didn't even complain, I even said I was amused. I was being serious when I said today's teens are creative and intelligent. Gee, how many of us have pulled stuff like that in the past? (My hand goes up) Jaded? I prefer to think that I'm always ready for the unexpected, on my toes. I just thought maybe people should think about their posts and how anyone can get on here. We don't really know who a lot of people are, and their intent. End of safety lecture.

My apologies esmerelda. Have a good time on your bike!

[cricket]

Any advice for an absolute beginner who has big plans to do a metric century in October? Biking is a new sport to me - I usually do martial arts, but I don't currently have a school to train at, so I'm trying something new. I need some training tips - should I be working on the eliptical machine or is there something else I should be focusing on?

[Zen]

Do you have a bike now? If so, get out and ride. Maybe get simple cycling computer that will track mileage. Set a time frame and see how far you can go in that time. Then do the same ride and try to improve your time.
Vary your routes
Learn to love hills
Find a riding partner.
Throw in a couple spin classes until you get comfortable on the bike, they'll improve your aerobic, build muscles, and you might meet some fellow road riders in there.

You've got Plenty of time.

[Mr. Bloom]

Any advice for an absolute beginner who has big plans to do a metric century in October? Biking is a new sport to me - I usually do martial arts, but I don't currently have a school to train at, so I'm trying something new. I need some training tips - should I be working on the eliptical machine or is there something else I should be focusing on?

Disclaimer: I'm a man. I'm not historically athletic. I'm also a newbie.

I started with ellipticals, but I always used constant RPM settings. Big Mistake! Using intervals really helped me in conditioning for cycling.

Four months into it, I've had one week where I did two 30 milers, two 50 milers and one 70.

You'll be able to do the metric...I bet you'll be able to exceed your wildest expectations! Stick with it and don't get discouraged!

Some of my evolution in the following posts:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ht=Silver+kill

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ht=Silver+kill

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...Silver+cyclist

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=14389

This is a great forum and the ladies are very protective of the special environment that it represents...even with a token male or two as members.

[esmerelda]

Morning all! I so appreciate the advice from all of you. In fact there are too many of you to thank individually. (Yep, Silver, that's my bike. Thanks for telling me what I got. LOL)

Two terms I'm not getting -- IDC? Metric? And okay, a third, DH (da husband? maybe I don't get it because I don't have one).

And most importantly, thank you to my dear friend, Lady in White. You know I love you dearly and that you're my inspiration for becoming healthier through fitness. I've seen the difference cycling has made in your life -- positively transforming. You're my role model. (But don't get too full of yourself. We can bring you down. heheh)

Have a wonderful day, all. S.

[LadyinWhite]

**group hug!!**