Looking forward to hearing the advice you get - I need it too.

A fellow newbie here who started riding last year at age 46. I trained for a 46 mile charity ride last year and then didn't ride all winter (big mistake!) so this year it felt like starting over (I also got a new bike). Last weekend I finished a 20 mile ride on both Sat and Sun but my cadence and speed are slow. It'll take the rest of August and Sept to build back up I guess. I did buy a trainer, so I can "ride indoors" next winter on my old bike. I too took a bunch of weight off last year, and I'm not a natural athlete - so this is a stretch for me.

But I love the challenge of the bike, and would love to do Ragbrai!

Hope we both make it