Inadorel
Regular
I think I may have been a little ambitious with the bike I have already bought and could use some advise on the best way of getting in to being able to ride it safely.
I am in my mid-fifties and was very fit and athletic until I was in a serious accident a year ago. I am mostly recovered, but have reduced strength in my right arm, and a very wonky left ankle (it is weight bearing, but very reduced in strength and flexibility). As a result of this, I can't walk very long distances (a mile or so is about all my foot will cope with and I can't easily balance on just that foot for any length of time) and my intention is to take up cycling (partially for the fun of being able to get outside again, partially for fitness, and partially to be able to get to the local swimming pool about two miles away to train there).
So I bought a bike. It is a Huffy mountain bike with an 18" frame and 26" wheels. This is the right size for me according to the size chart on Amazon - I am 165cm and weigh 60kg. Sitting on the saddle, I can rest my toes on the ground, which I believe is supposed to be the correct saddle height but I have a degree of difficulty swinging my bad leg over the bar on the frame to get on and off.
Because we live a long way (an hour's drive) from the nearest cycle shop, I bought it online and I think this may have been a mistake. Firstly, I have overestimated my aerobic fitness and sense of balance by basing it on the last time I rode a bike, which was several years ago before the accident. I know these can both be worked on, but although I can get on the bike and ride it around outside the house, I don't feel very safe. This is partially because access from our house is down a steeply sloping drive, round a steep bend on to a forestry track. With some difficulty, I pushed the bike down the drive and over the rough track about 500m to where it meets a tarmac road. Once I was on the road I could ride ok(ish), but was very nervous and unbalanced. So I put some stabilizers on as a temporary measure (it is just as well there is no one to see me because I look a right idiot!).
With the stabilizers on it is a really major task getting the bike to the road (because they don't handle well on rough surfaces) so I can practice - but it is doable.
So after all that explanation, I suppose my question is. Should I persevere with the bike I have bought or buy a different smaller/lighter one? My husband thinks I should buy a static frame for the existing bike and train indoors on it to build my strength and balance, but I am concerned that the actual frame size is just too large, and I will never be able to ride it with any degree of confidence no matter how much I train on it as a static bike. Also, will the static frame actually help my balance at all?
Or should I buy a different, much smaller bike with a conventional "ladies style" frame which would be lighter, easier to get on and off, and use this for a few months as a trainer, before transitioning onto the bigger mountain bike? The small commuter style bike will be useless around here in the medium term because apart from the "main" road which is tarmacked, all the routes around here are rough forestry tracks.
Or any other good ideas for how I can get started on this before I go completely stir crazy? Money isn't really an issue, but I don't really want to end up with a whole load of useless kit that I end up giving away.
I am in my mid-fifties and was very fit and athletic until I was in a serious accident a year ago. I am mostly recovered, but have reduced strength in my right arm, and a very wonky left ankle (it is weight bearing, but very reduced in strength and flexibility). As a result of this, I can't walk very long distances (a mile or so is about all my foot will cope with and I can't easily balance on just that foot for any length of time) and my intention is to take up cycling (partially for the fun of being able to get outside again, partially for fitness, and partially to be able to get to the local swimming pool about two miles away to train there).
So I bought a bike. It is a Huffy mountain bike with an 18" frame and 26" wheels. This is the right size for me according to the size chart on Amazon - I am 165cm and weigh 60kg. Sitting on the saddle, I can rest my toes on the ground, which I believe is supposed to be the correct saddle height but I have a degree of difficulty swinging my bad leg over the bar on the frame to get on and off.
Because we live a long way (an hour's drive) from the nearest cycle shop, I bought it online and I think this may have been a mistake. Firstly, I have overestimated my aerobic fitness and sense of balance by basing it on the last time I rode a bike, which was several years ago before the accident. I know these can both be worked on, but although I can get on the bike and ride it around outside the house, I don't feel very safe. This is partially because access from our house is down a steeply sloping drive, round a steep bend on to a forestry track. With some difficulty, I pushed the bike down the drive and over the rough track about 500m to where it meets a tarmac road. Once I was on the road I could ride ok(ish), but was very nervous and unbalanced. So I put some stabilizers on as a temporary measure (it is just as well there is no one to see me because I look a right idiot!).
With the stabilizers on it is a really major task getting the bike to the road (because they don't handle well on rough surfaces) so I can practice - but it is doable.
So after all that explanation, I suppose my question is. Should I persevere with the bike I have bought or buy a different smaller/lighter one? My husband thinks I should buy a static frame for the existing bike and train indoors on it to build my strength and balance, but I am concerned that the actual frame size is just too large, and I will never be able to ride it with any degree of confidence no matter how much I train on it as a static bike. Also, will the static frame actually help my balance at all?
Or should I buy a different, much smaller bike with a conventional "ladies style" frame which would be lighter, easier to get on and off, and use this for a few months as a trainer, before transitioning onto the bigger mountain bike? The small commuter style bike will be useless around here in the medium term because apart from the "main" road which is tarmacked, all the routes around here are rough forestry tracks.
Or any other good ideas for how I can get started on this before I go completely stir crazy? Money isn't really an issue, but I don't really want to end up with a whole load of useless kit that I end up giving away.