Too Chicken To Go On Longer Rides

[shootingstar]

If it isn't a group ride, at least another cyclist who can lead the way, in a friendly way.

As an important suggestion: instead of thinking constantly about mileage and...adding more mileage, how about just extending your favourite cycling routes..to see something just located abit further away or to do a chore that is located just abit further away.

And also allow yourself to explore or go abit off the normal route, ie. up an extra street or so to see something.

then when you get home, you can figure out the total distance that you actually did.

And keep a little cycling diary, that will track your distance for that day plus cumulative total mileage for past few months. It can be a real motivator.

You need to always keep cycling abit fun in an exploratory way, which will help you add that mileage and endurance also over time.

It is also suggested over time, you create for yourself 3-4 favourite bike routes close by, with at least 1-2 routes that are much longer. Will help you train up over time or deal with lousy weather which is why you would use the shorter routes.

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Oh yea, if you get abit lost in a quiet neighbourhood, that's another way to add abit of distance.

[Triskeliongirl]

Try one of JD Simpson's womens rides out of bikeworld. Start with that, and work up to a wheelmen ride. All wheelmen rides have loops of varying distance and maps. You might also like the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club, their rides tend to be slower paced than Wheelmen rides, and I think they have no drop rides. The wheelmen also run a rider education series, where you can progress with a group to longer distances, all no-drop. The more I think about it, the latter may be the best way for you to progress.

[wackyjacky1]

what also worked for me was adding miles by doing multiple loops of a smaller loop around my neighborhood. I mapped out a loop that is maybe 5 miles, but at any given time, I'm no more than a couple miles from my house.

Awesome idea!

I skipped out on a great group ride yesterday led by a friend - 24 miles, no speed pressure - because I was afraid people would hear me panting.

LOL, I worry about that too! Heck, I've been known to hold my breath when passing pedestrians so they won't hear me gasping for air. Oy!

Apparently I'm just a big grab-bag full of insecurities, LOL.

Seriously, though, thanks to everyone for all the good advice.

[Miranda]

These are all great suggestions that I have done most of. I'm still in the "too chicken to group/club ride"...yet. But, that one I am changing this season.

My normal spin I have time for is a 20mi loop. There is the most beautiful postcard picture perfect farmhouse almost dead in the middle. I tell myself... "I have to ride far enough to see how the flowers are doing"...

This ladie's yard is SO amazing. One day I saw her gardening and turned around to tell her so. I know she thought I was crazy. But, oh well.

The actual "dead center" is a cemetary. That's my turn the loop point.

I have stopped there before and had the snack under a tree with the dead folks.

Also, as a gym roadie pal pointed out... if he runs out of water, cemetaries have water. There is norally an outside facuet that peeps use for the gravestone flower vases. Interesting tip.

Just keep at it... you can do it.

[Triskeliongirl]

The more I think about it, the more that I think the Wheelmen Rider Education Program would be perfect. I know they start real slow, and its a great program. Its not expensive, and includes a wheelmen membership which will quickly pay for itself in LBS discounts. More info. is here: http://www.sawheelmen.com/education.htm

[wackyjacky1]

Trisk: I got all excited reading about the Wheelmen rider education program, it sounded totally PERFECT for me...then I got to the part where it said the rides are on Sat. mornings. I work Sat. mornings. Bummer!!! Much sadness. But I might join the Wheelmen anyway.

Ah, well. I like the idea of just adding a mile here and there, or an extra loop around the neighborhood, so that's what I'll do. (In fact, I did that on my ride home from work today, and turned my 6-mile commute into a 10-mile commute. )

[tctrek]

These are all great suggestions that I have done most of. I'm still in the "too chicken to group/club ride"...yet. But, that one I am changing this season.

I broke the ice in doing my first group ride by riding at the back of the pack. I was more afraid of riding shoulder to shoulder with someone than anything else. So, I didn't mind being last... I let everyone take off ahead of me! I didn't draft anyone or join a pace line. I just rode my ride and it was great!

[SlowButSteady]

I ride a flex-loop. I can vary it from 8 miles to 22, without backtracking too much.

Sometimes I ride with a group but they LIE. They'll say, oh, we're tired, let's only go 20 miles and inevitably they tack 10 more on.

If I really needed to force myself to ride further, I'd have my husband take me off and put me out on the side of the road 30 miles from home so I have to ride back.

Come to think of it, that's how I did my first "big hill conquering" ride.

He set me out on the side of the road and I had to ride it (the big hill) in order to get home. It's like giving a horse his head on the way back to the barn.

[Jiffer]

I haven't read the rest of the replies, but I would say just go a little at a time. Go 12 miles one ride, 14 the next, etc. Eventually you'll get to where you know your limits and how to pace yourself so you can go further and further. There's no rule that says you can't stop and take a break, or 10 breaks!

[greta]

then you get to go home all downhill.don't worry about making it back, you'll make it. set your goal farther than you've ever gone, and just ride back from there.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Sometimes I ride with a group but they LIE.

Hahahahah! I remember one of the first mountain bike rides I did with the Dirt Chix led by my (now) friend Joy. It was a relentless climb- we're talking miles of steep fire roads. When we got to the top, she said, "It's all downhill from here." But we took a different route back. She lied.
I don't mind I am always that last one up the mountain. Probably 'cuz I'm one of the first down.

[MomOnBike]

Do you have someone to take you somewhere X miles away? Then you simply ride home. If you go out over the exact route it might help if you are worried about, um, "taking the scenic route" home. Take your cell phone as an electronic security blankie and you're good to go - that is, ride home.

Later, you can make the route an out-and-back or find a nice loop to add to it.

Oh, and make sure the drive out is INTO the wind. That increases the chances of a tailwind on the way home.

[ny biker]

FWIW, I have never been too tired to make it home, on any ride.

There have been plenty of times when I was exhausted and my legs hurt and my neck hurt and it was too hot and my back hurt and ...

That's when I usually realize that I haven't had a rest break in a really long time. So I take a break. Get off the bike, stretch, have a snack, have a drink, stretch some more. Find a shady spot under a tree to get a break from the sun. Have another drink of water. Take a deep breath. Again.

Then I get back on the bike and ride home.

If the distance seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller chunks. Focus on getting to the next intersection. Or the next tree or telephone pole.

Just keep pedaling. Every revolution gets you closer to home. Just keep pedaling.

You can do it.

[wackyjacky1]

It's funny, but something as simple as a rest break hadn't occurred to me. D'oh!

So I took everyone's advice and did a somewhat extended version of my regular Sunday ride. I ended up going 13.5 miles, and felt great the whole time, even while tackling some killer hills. I think I've broken through my mental barrier!

BTW for the first time I wore cycling shoes (Exustars that I bought from a fellow TE-er). I don't have cleats, but I used them with my toe clips. What a difference the shoes made -- my pedaling felt much more efficient. I'm sure they contributed to my not being very tired during my ride.

[Kano]

The morning I suggested a 50 mile ride to DH, he said, OK, plan a route.

So I did.

Then he came up with his own idea:

He planned the first 20, which was something we were pretty used to, for an area we have had lots of fun riding many times. Then he planned the other 30 with lots of "bail out" options -- where a simple right turn would take us back toward home within about 5-7 miles.

We made the whole fifty, but the thing we should have remembered was that during those first twenty, we still had thirty to go, cuz the last ten were pretty doggone hard! (we had, in fact, chosen one of the bail outs, then realized how close to making it we were, and toured around the neighborhoods on our way home until we had our fifty!)

Karen in Boise