Starting out

[PamNY]

Lesley, five miles is a perfectly good start. My advice is simple: just ride. I started with roughly the same distance as you (I think it was seven miles), and now (about two years later) I can easily do 50 miles if I take all day and go fairly slow (which I prefer).

I never thought I'd ride that far -- I was 58 years old when I bought my bike, and hadn't ridden in years. Now I'm seriously considering a metric century next year.

My experience is that if you are enjoying your bike, you will keep riding and build strength naturally. I did have to work at hills, because there aren't many where I live, but otherwise I just enjoy myself. I also work at core strength because that matters more than I realized.

[ny biker]

The most important thing is to have fun.