Too much, too soon

[KatzPajamas]

Reading this thread has been interesting. I realize how incredibly fortunate I was when I bought my bike. I had visited several shops, test rode 5 different bikes and knew what I wanted. When I found the shop that had it, I went in and said that I was interested in a Cannnondale Synapse. The lady in the shop began measuring me right away to get the proper size for me to test ride. I spent about 2 hours in that shop that evening while she had me on a trainer, measured this and that, adjusted this and that, and sent me around the block several times while she observed how I looked on the bike. I ordered the bike and when it came in, I again spent about 1 hour while she repeated alot of the adjustments, measuring and observing. The bike has been awesome from the first ride to the present. I was charged the same price for the bike that one can buy it for online...apparently all the fitting was standard operating procedure for "my" bike shop since I wasn't charged a penny extra! Too bad they don't all do business this way. I think I will send her some flowers and a thank you note ...
By The Way~I am also 56 years old and overweight for the first time in my life. It is taking me awhile to build up my cardio endurance. There have been times when I wanted to just sit down on the side of the road and be done! My legs feel like they can go forever, but my "engine" is out of gas. The first few rides over 15 miles, kicked my hiney!!!!!! I try to do them on Saturday so I can recoup on Sunday before going to work on Monday. My hubby is so glad to have someone to ride with that he is quite content to limit his distance and mph to my abilities. I am usually to exhausted to make meals or anything else productive. So I nap, shower up, and pick out a favorite dining place, and off we go! We are empty nesters now so it is like being young again!

[Catrin]

I was charged the same price for the bike that one can buy it for online...apparently all the fitting was standard operating procedure for "my" bike shop since I wasn't charged a penny extra! Too bad they don't all do business this way. I think I will send her some flowers and a thank you note

My LBS is this way as well, a full lifetime fitting is included in the purchase of a bike. If you bought the bike somewhere else then it is $250. (Lifetime fitting = no fitting charge for the life of the bike, and there is a discount for any fitting-related parts that might have to be purchased. This means that any time fitting adjustments are needed for any reason, such as a new saddle, pedals, cleat adjustment, whatever - there is no "fitting" charge) While the lifetime fitting is quite unusual, I do think a good percentage of stores do throw in some level of fitting in a bike purchase.

By The Way~I am also 56 years old and overweight for the first time in my life. It is taking me awhile to build up my cardio endurance. There have been times when I wanted to just sit down on the side of the road and be done! My legs feel like they can go forever, but my "engine" is out of gas. The first few rides over 15 miles, kicked my hiney!!!!!! I try to do them on Saturday so I can recoup on Sunday before going to work on Monday. My hubby is so glad to have someone to ride with that he is quite content to limit his distance and mph to my abilities. I am usually to exhausted to make meals or anything else productive. So I nap, shower up, and pick out a favorite dining place, and off we go! We are empty nesters now so it is like being young again!

You rock! I just learned how to ride a bike 1.5 years ago for my 50th birthday. I had been very overweight for over a decade and was very out of shape. Since then my weight has dropped from 180 down to 136, and I feel 20 years younger It does take time to develop both muscular and cardiovascular endurance, just make certain you are taking enough rest days and stretching after your rides. I don't do anything halfway and last year developed a whole roster of over-use injuries because I didn't take enough rest days, didn't stretch, and thought I could do strength training without warming up enough. I can be the queen of over-doing it and my body laid down the law last fall

It sounds like you are resting enough, check out the threads on nutrition. Are you eating before your rides? Cycling does take more energy than we realize, especially at the beginning when our bodies haven't yet adapted.

[KatzPajamas]

Are you eating before your rides? Cycling does take more energy than we realize, especially at the beginning when our bodies haven't yet adapted.

Thanks for this advice. I always thought that my shouldn't exercise with food in my stomach. So I have been eating a chocolate chip Cliff bar or Payday bar with a glass of grape G2 before the ride. This seems to help alot. On Saturday, I rode 14.9 miles in 1.25 hours. Max speed was 15.8 and avg speed was 11.8. Plus feeling pretty good the whole way!

[colorisnt]

Just wanted to add in that losing a ton of weight and upping your fitness can alo change how you sit/ride and make certain things uncomfy. After losing weight, I needed to adjust my riding position to feel better. I only lost 12 lbs (which is a lot for someone my size, I suppose), but I gained a ton of muscle and am getting a better core. In reality, I was using myself properly. They were tiny adjustments, but it made me change the way I was sitting.

At this point, I know I need a better saddle than I have, but I need to get paid first haha. That won't be until September.