curious

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Hello everyone!:D
I am obviously new here...I have been searching for cycling routines for beginners on google for about an hour now and decided that the only way I'm going to get any info is from real contact, so I found this forum and it looks great!

I have been running for about 9 months...and I'm tired of it! I'm not a very graceful runner and I dread working out when I know I am going to run...so I decided I'd try cycling! But I have no idea where or how to begin. I work out at my community center and they teach no class and they have 2 bikes, one with arm things that my arms are too short for and a bike that has all this tech stuff on it...I tried both and I feel like I am way out of my league... the one with the tech stuff seems cool cause I can pick the terrain I want and stuff like that, the thing I need help with is how many intervals I should do and how long I should start out with. I would REALLY appreciate ANY tips or info! I am in decent shape and I work out to stay healthy and to lose just a few more pounds.

Thanks for reading all this!

~Kim

OK...I can see that plenty of people have read my post, yet no one can give me ANY advice?!:confused:
I'm not asking for a whole lot here.........thanks yall...

Hi Kim.

Please don't take offence to this... It's just that some of us are also rather new to cycling and have not yet learned the finer things in cycling :(

I would recommend that you go look under Cycling Training for something that can be related to you.

I'm sure our resident expert (Ricstern) will come to your rescue soon. Sometimes it does that some time to get an answer, but you will get an answer.

Please don't be discouraged, in the meantime, have a look at what other people say .... and by the way... a BIG welcome to the forum :D

Thank you VERY much! I will definitly check out the Cycling Training. I am sorry if I seemed rude, it's just that I am impatient, its' a bad habit of mine, and I REALLY wanted to get on the bike at the gym today, but I still had no clue as to what to do...and I probably looked stupid cause I stared at it for a long time, contemplating whether or not I should just get on and pretend I knew what I was doing!
I have read a few posts here, in one it said that if you don't wear the right shorts you will chafe? All my shorts are short shorts...should I invest in some bike shorts? They'll probably make me look like my waist is playdoh and there's a rubber band around me! HaHa j/k:p
Anyway, thank you for the welcome!

~Kim:)

Bike shorts will be an advantage...if your'e going to do spinning then I don't see that it is a requirement, but if you're going to ride a proper bicycle then bike short will be a definite.

Why not also ask the gym instructor to also give a exercise program. They should be able to help you with that.

Hope you come right.

Originally posted by RalleighOke
Bike shorts will be an advantage...if your'e going to do spinning then I don't see that it is a requirement, but if you're going to ride a proper bicycle then bike short will be a definite.

Why not also ask the gym instructor to also give a exercise program. They should be able to help you with that.

Hope you come right.

http://www.spinervals.com/catalog.asp

Welcome!

Hopefully you will get some more replies soon, how did you go reading the training bit?
If you wanted to have a chat about more specific stuff and fat loss in general, let me know by email vanessa@pendulumdigital.com because I will be able to help with that, Im relatively new to cycling, but have experience in fat loss/personal training etc, so I m sure I can at least get you started!

One thing that would make it easier for everyone to give you some advice, is to let us know how often and for how long you are available to train.

I ride my bike outside almost exclusively. Those inside things are hard to ride. My "intervals" are whatever I make 'em, out on the roads.
Won't you get tired of intervals and spinning pretty quickly too? Most of my biddies -- oops, buddies -- have little video collections and trade 'em off, or ride in spinning classes.

Well, hopefully I don't get bored, and I don't think I will because i used to ride my bike literally ALL day long, everyday of my summer vacation from age 7 till 13. Which is why I think I have good legs ( other people tell me this, I'm not really that conceited). But I woul ride all the time, the only reason why I quit was becuase it was considered "lame" to ride a bike once i got to middle school.
And I have not had time to read the cycling trainer part, I hope to get to it this weekend though! And I havnt asked the gym trainer where I work out at for some tips, I really doubt he has anything of importance to tell me though...
But thank you to all who have replied! I'm very appreciative!
~Kim;)

First advice -- set yourself free from letting others define what's "lame" and what isn't, especially since once you stop listening to the loudest lamesayers you can hear all the other folks doing what they like anyway. (But hey, we're out of middle school, thank heavens!)
I did the RAIN ride this weekend (across Indiana, 160 miles) - NO HILLS, 10 mph tailwind, no problem. Averaged 18 mostly by my little self -- and to think it wasn't too long ago I was trying to get that average to 13 for 100 Km.
And how many brothers and sisters do you have in the Columbia area? I had to leave there in a bit of a hurry in '98 when my mother got a lung cancer diagnosis, and put a bunch of stuff in storage at Pineview Storage in W Cola... and it's still there...

Hey, about the lamesayers...yeah it's pretty hard to ignore them when they're you're best friends! Anyway, no, I have ridden a bike a couple of times since then, but leaisurely, not for exercise. And I tried the bike at my gym...I didn't last very long! HaHA! I tried it after I did all my weights and ran...so I was out of energy, but next week, I've decided I'm going to do my weights, then skip running and just see how long I can last on the bike. And is it true that cycling gives you a firmer butt? I hope! haha
And I have no brothers or sisters in Columbia, sorry, but I am getting ready to move there! And I hope all your stuff is ok...and still there! LOL:p
~Kim

Originally posted by Roquen
Welcome!

Hopefully you will get some more replies soon, how did you go reading the training bit?
If you wanted to have a chat about more specific stuff and fat loss in general, let me know by email vanessa@pendulumdigital.com because I will be able to help with that, Im relatively new to cycling, but have experience in fat loss/personal training etc, so I m sure I can at least get you started!

One thing that would make it easier for everyone to give you some advice, is to let us know how often and for how long you are available to train.

Hi,
I too am new(again) to cycling, I have not been on a bike in 18 years and started again in March 2003. I am 50 years young and only ride 12 to 14 miles a day. except for fridays, when I push myself to go a full 40 miles in high temps..doesn't sound far, even to me, but I am a bit overweight and 18 years of non exercise can turn one into jello. Can I also e-mail the addy shown?

Try this link for some interesting stuff http://www.roadbikerider.com/

If you post in the training and nutrition forums, i'll be happy to answer your queries.

Ric (training and nutrition moderator!)

I'm just starting myself. My bike will be one week old tommorow. I'm starting slow going a little further every day. You have the advantage of being fit. I'm 40 lbs. overweight and extremely lazy when it comes to exercise. I'm very exited about cycling. Im absolutely loving it.
As for information I'll share with you what I found most useful.
I didn't find much about begginers on the web either so I went to Border's and got a grat book. "A Woman's Guide to Cycling" by Susan Weaver. This book explains all from getting the right fit on a bike (very important) to training for races.

http://www.bikesrnottoys.com/ This site is about the rigt equipment etc.

I got a new bike helmet. Good women's bike shorts (padding is very important). Gloves I got after my first long ride. My hands got really sore.
Good luck with your bike! I'm getting now what's so good about all this cycling hype. It realy is a lot of fun.

:p

Originally posted by BlareApsan
I'm just starting myself. My bike will be one week old tommorow. I'm starting slow going a little further every day. You have the advantage of being fit. I'm 40 lbs. overweight and extremely lazy when it comes to exercise. I'm very exited about cycling. Im absolutely loving it.
As for information I'll share with you what I found most useful.
I didn't find much about begginers on the web either so I went to Border's and got a grat book. "A Woman's Guide to Cycling" by Susan Weaver. This book explains all from getting the right fit on a bike (very important) to training for races.

http://www.bikesrnottoys.com/ This site is about the rigt equipment etc.

I got a new bike helmet. Good women's bike shorts (padding is very important). Gloves I got after my first long ride. My hands got really sore.
Good luck with your bike! I'm getting now what's so good about all this cycling hype. It realy is a lot of fun.
And Kim - sounds like you know the same Columbia I experienced ! I was there for a semester adn a half and had my feet nearly devoured by fleas the first day, my car stolen within a month, a gunshot through my bedroom ceiling a few weeks later, and a stranger in my bedroom making just enough noise to wake me up before Christmas (who, somehow, I convinced to leave). And those are just the high points... yes, I hope the stuff is there too...

:p

I like that book too. I read an awful lot before I ever got a bike. I remember I paid attention to all the times I read that a kickstand wasn't necessary... but after two days I took the bike back gto the shop and they put one on. ((Now I realize that bike was also heavy enough to be a lot harder to lean on things, but then I just figured the authors were obsessed with the weight of the thing.)O
Biking is so much easier than running :-) You can make it as much exercise as *you* want it to be and the second you want to change... (oh, have I mentioned I live in the flatlands?)
I ride with some serious minimalists. No unnecessary gear. Definite, defiant reverse snobs, they are.
They have helmets, gloves, and toe clips (and the one with feet too big, clipless pedals). One does an awful lot of riding in denim shorts (I don't *think* heavy all-cotton...) tho' most wear padded ones on long (>40 mi) rides.