New to riding and have some ?'s

pedalpushin

Hi, I am new to riding and was encouraged by some friends that own a local bike shop to buy a bike. They not only said it was a great way to get in shape but also a wonderful way to meet new people. I am currently about 20 lbs overweight, and I really want to lose it. So my first question is how many miles a day should I ride, or does it really matter, I mean something is better than nothing right? I ride a Del Sol LXI 6.2 comfort bike, and i love it. The weather has gotten nasty out and so I have put my bike on an indoor magnetic trainer.....last night i rode for an hour and according to my bike computer i only rode 10 miles....how accurate are these computers, for EX. I had the trainer on med. resistance, and used my gears to vary my ride....sprinting and whatnot....can I rely on my computer to give me accurate readings?.....and is ten miles in an hour an OK beginning?.....also, I am experiencing major pain on my seat bones....I know this is because I am not used to riding and am adjusting to the seat, but is there anything I can do to help relieve the pain while riding?....I hate to have to skip a ride because my butt hurts..lol.....any help would be appreciated.......

Future-pro

As far as i know what distance you go on a turbo doesnt really matter the more important thing is the time. The last time i went on the turbo i went on for an hour and only did 10 miles yet my heart rate was in my aerobic training zone, so as long as you've got your heart rate at a suitable zone time is more important than distance on a turbo. In terms of the saddle i'd recommend trying a few different ones out borrowing them from your local bike shop until you find one which suits you personally

pedalpushin

Thank you for your response.....i will ask my bike shop guys to help me out with the saddle issue.......and it makes me feel better to know that i'm not the only one that can go only 10 miles in an hour on my trainer...i need to check my heart rate though while riding, one thing i forgot.....

Cod

As well as geting a properly fitted saddle, make sure you wear padded cycling shorts for any ride over 10 minutes, especially on the turbo as you tend not to move around on the saddle as much as you would if you were riding on the road.

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Cod
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Hookyrider

sounds likr you are just getting started - the bike-butt will subside, however it can be a real pain until those parts get used to the new activity. Bike trainers really do a good job of high lighting how much coasting we really do when we are out on the road...

I'd say a great investment would be a fairly inexpensive Heart Rate monitor, and figure out your heart rate zones I prefer the Karvonen method ( http://www.briancalkins.com/HeartRate.htm ) - this will help give you some structure and let you know if you are working hard enough. even though weight loss is you main goal, staying at 60-70% all the time isn't the most effective way to loose weight, be sure to make efforts that will take your HR up to the 70-80% zone.

Once you get the bug - there is tons of great info out there...

HR

Powerful Pete

Let me second what hooky is saying. Get a HR monitor, work out a training zone, and focus on that, not on the distance covered.

And yes, a pair of decent shorts really help, although your rear end will be sore for a while... gotta train that part of your body too!

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