Pregnant!

[fanatizzare]

I would love to start a discussion on pregnant women that keep up with cycling. I'd love to hear from women who have been through this before and what their experience has been.

I found out I was pregnant in December. I didn't ride in the winter because I live in North Dakota. The only way to ride is in roads over ice and snow, which is conducive to falling. I've taken some nasty spills because of ice before and didn't want to risk it pregnant. No biggie.

Well, now, finally we've had a nice, dry day and I am itching to get back on the saddle again! My doctor said it was okay that I ride as long as I don't ride on wet pavement, try not to fall and take it easy.

I'd love to hear your experiences so I can gauge where to go from here. I figure I'll just keep riding until it's uncomfortable. I don't think I can fit into my bike shorts anymore and I'm hesitant to splurge on maternity bike shorts especially if I am not sure how much I'll be riding with them, so longer routes might be out anyway!

If you are/were pregnant and kept riding, how did you adjust to riding? Did you have to cut back on your miles? Intensity? Frequency? How did it compare to riding not-pregnant? What did you do for bike shorts? What adjustments did you have to make while riding?

If you are/were pregnant and stopped riding, how far along were you before you had to stop? Why did you stop? etc.

So, thoughts? Special considerations? Experiences? Stories? I'd love to hear them!

[limewave]

CONGRATULATIONS! That's so exciting.

I can say, from experience, you will probably be able to keep cycling through most of your pregnancy.

With my first, I found out I was prg about the same time as you. I kept cycling on my road bike until about 1-2 weeks before I delivered.

I did invest in a large pair of mens cycling shorts so that I could pull the waist band up over my growing stomach. You may be able to find some on clearance somewhere.

Things I learned about riding while pregnant:
1) Warm-up. I could no longer hit the group rides and take off at 20 mph. I had to go 14, then 15, then 16, etc.

2) I had to rely more on leg strength over cardio. A strange observation, but I noticed that I could keep a similar pace, but that I needed to push a harder gear at a lower cadence. Probably something to do with being at a comfortable heart rate.

3) Stay very well hydrated and don't overheat. Drink more water than you think you need.

4) Always listen to your body. If you aren't feeling great for whatever reason, back off and take it easy, or skip the ride all together. I found I had a few days like that, but I always bounced back a day or two later.

5) Endurance takes a dive. I could do a nice 25 mile ride, but once I hit that 25th mile, it was like hitting a brick wall--hard. I was done.

Those are the high points that I remember. With my second pregnancy, I even participated in an Adventure Race at 5 months pregnant. There was a 15-18 mile mountain biking section. We finished 3rd out of 20 teams

Good luck to you! And enjoy your riding. Its very therapeutic when you get further along into the pregnancy and start feeling like a blimp

[fanatizzare]

Those are some great tips, thank you! And encouraging!

Since I haven't biked in several months, I am going to build up my miles slowly. I live 2 miles from work and on nice days, I am going to start commuting. Again, I'm sticking with nice days only because I want to minimize my chances of wiping out. I'll also change up my route a little to lower traffic roads.

I've mentioned this to a few friends and family and they think I'm nuts!! So I want to hear that it was okay. 2 miles is barely anything.

It's still encouraging to hear you could do up to 25, though! I don't know if I'll have the gumption to go on group rides or not. I did 20-25 mile routes fairly regularly with the group last year (until a job interfered) and I found it was moderately intense. I am a little worried about keeping up at that pace while being pregnant, so I'll play that by ear. I'd do 40-50 mile routes on my own on the weekends but I know I'm already going to nix those this summer.

And harder gear at lower cadence? Got it. Makes sense.

Thank you!

[fanatizzare]

I should add that I ride a Diamondback Insight 2 - a hybrid. It's not quite upright but it doesn't have the drop handlebars either. I have a road bike that isn't as good of quality that I ride occasionally, but I'll stick to the hybrid. It's probably a good one for being pregnant!

I'm fairly new to cycling ( two years ) and biked avidly last year. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm in shape, especially after a few months of inactivity. But I feel like I would go nuts without riding abike!

[northstar]

Congratulations!

I rode comfortably through my pregnancy. I was able to wear my bike shorts throughout, especially the ones with a drawstring - I just tied them up under my belly. I also found an XXL women's jersey super clearanced out at REI, so I bought that and had plenty of room. It really wasn't a big deal.

That said, I'm no racer/club rider. I don't think I cracked 20 mph past my first trimester. But if you don't have any complications, there shouldn't be any reason for you to stop riding, as long as you're taking care to ride safely. When I brought it up to my OB, she said that she thought cycling was great for me and I should do it as long as I feel comfortable.

If it feels good, and it makes you happy, I say go for it!

[Desert Tortoise]

Congratulations!!

I had just started mountain biking when I became pregnant but right off the bat my doc told not to ride, I was a high risk pregnancy. But I did put my bike on a trainer and would pedal away in the living room, under the ceiling fan at full speed and the air conditioning on. I live in So Az.

I did notice leaning into the bars was uncomfortable so I rode upright. The bike was stationary so I really didn't need the handle bars. The doctor did tell me what my max heart rate was and I was careful about keeping it under that.

Just be careful about your riding and really listen to your body and baby. Once you can feel the baby move you will recognize her/his kicks and movements. You will discover patterns to the baby's movements and find your body likes and dislikes different things. These signals are there for a reason. And so is your intuition.

I wish you and your baby all the best.

[Melalvai]

Hi Fanatizarre! I see you took my advice and consulted Dr. Team Estrogen!

[girlonbike]

Hi Fanatizarre! I see you took my advice and consulted Dr. Team Estrogen!

yeah, it's always better to consult professional!

[Irulan]

Thanks, all. I did ask my fill-in doc why she thinks I shouldn't ride at all from the moment the pregnancy begins, and she said it's for safety, it's a matter of balance, and I'll probably be too uncomfortable to want to do it anyway. I understand that at 8 1/2 months along, I'm probably not going to want to train for a century ride (heck, I don't do that now!), but I figured I'd still want to ride for at least the first half of my pregnancy. I ride 30-40 miles most of the time, and I try and get in at least one or two good rides a week. I can't imagine not doing that for 9 months. I'm guessing that Dr. Fill-In doesn't ride a bike and, while very kind, probably doesn't understand why I'd like to ride while I still can, instead of just switching my exercise regimen to maternity water ballet classes at the gym.

I figure that I'll call my friend's sister, who is an OB in a different state, and chat with her about it, and also ask my general doctor, who I know is a cyclist because he has pictures of himself riding in the office. Between gathering various opinions, I'll at least be able to get a better perspective on what other docs have to say about it.

That sounds so...... Old fashioned, archaic, out of step with the times that it's almost scary. if it were me I'd definitely blow off the fill in doc.

[MojoGrrl]

Time to revive this thread!

I have a question (just one, so far) - I've noticed the last few times I've ridden that my wrists are a lot more sensitive than they used to be. Granted, I recently did a 200k, but I've done many long (100-plus mile) rides over the last few years and this was definitely qualitatively different. I've read that joint problems, especially carpal tunnel, are not uncommon in pregnancy. So I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or input about what I can do about this. Would some sort of wrist support (braces?) help? Changing the position of my hands, or getting some different bars (bullhorns?)

Thanks...and I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions and experiences to share in the near future!