Can I Really Do This?

[madscot13]

Riding a bike is a great thing. Every now and then I want to shout for joy because I am still amazed at the sensation of flying.

I'm sorry I do not have much advice to give about bike riding other than trust yourself and trust your bike. Your body has already taken you this far in life, your new bike will take you further. Well with the gears I guess I will say avoid using the gears that make you stomp down. I think that may be a natural reaction to use them because it may feel better and you think you are going faster but you will hurt your knees. Also I don't know if this helps but try to avoid thinking about that impending fall. Think of the scenery, how close you are to the next stoplight, etc, just to relax a bit.

Congradulations on the new bike!

[mimitabby]

hi Lee, welcome to TE!

Good for you for taking baack the bikes that didn't work out. Most people don't have the courage to do that.
Try to relax your hands while you ride. And take deep breaths.

Find safe places to ride and start changing gears a little when you don't need them at first.
rread here and ask lots of questions. I hope you didn't throw away that other seat (it's called a saddle) because you might want to change back to it because the big saddles tend to rub your thighs raw.

mimi

[shadon]

the advice to go ride in a parking lot is really great. While you're riding...remember to breathe. Lift your chin...I find that that helps me to drop my shoulders. Just try to relax....this is FUN! remember?

I got on a bike last year after 20 some years and did the AIDSLifeCycle last June...so you can certainly learn to ride you're bike! It'll change your life!

[Zen]

You came to the right place.
Ask, ask, ask, and ask some more. I know everything

[lyca]

Hi, Lee! Congrats on your new bike! I'm a newbie, too, and when I bought my road bike a month ago I was scared to death everytime I got on it. Now I am completely addicted!

That parking lot idea is a really great one; it worked quite well for me. If there are parks where you live that have bike paths, you might try taking your new toy for a spin on those. Just go at a time when there will be less people on the path so you'll be less worried about avoiding moving obstacles.

Good luck and have fun!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Empty parking lots and grassy flat areas. Try to put your chain into the middle ring up front and just leave it there for a while while you practice changing the back gears. Only change gears while pedaling. It could take a week or two for you to get used to how the back gears work. No rush. Relax and don't hunch up. Practice large figure 8's, then make them smaller. Practice starting and stopping a LOT- you will want to be able to do that smoothly when you head out to "real" roads with traffic.
The big puffy gel saddle will likely be too painful when you start doing longer (15+ miles) rides. Puffage turns on you.
Wear a HELMET. Always.
But most of all, remember that you are doing it to have fun. Enjoy being a kid again!

[DDH]

Sounds like a great decision to me. Don't second guess yourself, just go with it. Take your time as Lisa said and learn to change your gears slowly. Don't try to change the gears if you are having to mash down on the pedals. Try to learn to change the gears before you are pedaling to hard and or before it's so easy that your feet can't keep up with the revolutions. This take practice and I still find sometimes when I start up a hill that I haven't geared down soon enough and start mashing the pedals.

Come here to learn things about your bike and there is lots of information on the web in various places if you just search for that particular subject.
You can also do searches here for particular things, and the ladies on here are very helpful and knowledgeable about riding and the bikes.