You'll surprise yourself. My first ride when I got back to cycling after a long break (and with too much of a beer belly too) was just 5 miles and was about all I could manage, and less than a year later I managed a 100-mile ride.
heart rate for newbies
- Thread starter eagles633
- Start date
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OP
OP
eagles633
Active Member
yeah,will do. was no chance i was going to do any good today.
OP
OP
eagles633
Active Member
wow 100 miles is fantastic. i did 4 miles the first day last week and still needed to stop on the way home.
Slick
Guru
I remember that very well. It always made me smile when I cruise past the spot I stopped at the first time out.
OP
OP
eagles633
Active Member
haha iv'e stopped at the same bus stop the last 3 rides on the way home. just before the crest of a hill. pretty sure i'l nail it next time though :-)I remember that very well. It always made me smile when I cruise past the spot I stopped at the first time out.
ADarkDraconis
Cardinal Member
- Location
- Ohio, USA
That's always my motivator! Ok, this hill I will climb better than last time, this hill I won't need a stop at the top like before, etc. I also live in a hilly area and there are a couple of doozies on my commute! It gets you a workout!
OP
OP
eagles633
Active Member
well i say it's a hill. it's about a mile drag at about 3% with a little bobble at the top. it's a little bugger for me at the moment though ha. An older chap about 65 passed me the other day on it, gave me a smile and a hello. pretty sure i made his day. all good fun.
Slick
Guru
I remember stopping at the top of a gentle down slope as I was frightened just in case I couldn't get back up. I was a lot fitter than I realised, even back then but I was certainly lacking confidence and even understanding of what I was capable of. Enjoy
Slick
Guru
Lol, I bet you made his day for sure.
OP
OP
eagles633
Active Member
not as good as my 10 miler yesterday. iv'e got a 1.5 mile avg 4% hill on my route. goes all the way up to a canal humpack bridge. iv'e just got to the bridge, snot and spit smeared across my face going walking pace..a guy pops out from the canal toepath on a bike with a kid off the back of him connected by some sort of pole in a little buggy. he glided past me tootling away just sniggering ha. i'm there on my posh bike,snazzy winter boots,cycling shorts,nice winter cap with the ear flaps,a smart windproof jacket and my cycling glasses. I felt a right dipstick hahaLol, I bet you made his day for sure.
For me I started with circuits round a local park. It's about a mile round, and a third of that is gradually uphill with a little increase in the gradient just before the top.
First few times I always had to stop just before the final lump to get my breath back, and it felt really good the first time I didn't need to and could just carry on.
Slick
Guru
Don't, nobody of any note is sniggering.
iancity
Veteran
- Location
- Ashington, Northumberland
I'm going to go against the trend a bit here 
Love the gadgets myself, the more the better :-) One of the main motivators for me is looking at the stats after a ride, how far, how fast, what was my heart rate on that segment/hill etc, its fun and enjoyable. Obviously each to their own but it seems some people dont understand that other people get enjoyment from these devices, and the figures they give you. To say forget about the Garmin and just enjoy the ride/scenery, to people like me, and it sounds like the OP as well, would just take half the enjoyment of cycling away.
However, while its good to take note of the numbers, all you are looking for are trends. I wouldn't say I take too much notice of the actual figures, but if it shows my speed increasing on a particular segment, or recovery time for a ride that use to be 12 hours is now say 8 hours for example then its good to see that my fitness is going generally in the right direction.
As the Op says, there are a lot of science behind these metrics the gadgets produce, most of the numbers are not just picked from thin air and can be a useful motivator.
The one caveat I would add is wrist based heart rate monitors for cycling (your fitbits etc) - see DC Rainmakers review of any wearables and the figures they produce for heart rate, while cycling, are hugely out compared with chest straps . Even allowing for my 'ignore the actual figures just follow the trend' above is useless as they tend to produce such wild erratic figures that they are, in DC's words (just for cycling, and its just wrist based wearables) "useless". For the general 24/7 measuring heart rate etc they are fine, but any high intensity activity sends them haywire, in his opinion.
Continue to enjoy the rides, continue playing with your new toys, and enjoy them both :-)
Love the gadgets myself, the more the better :-) One of the main motivators for me is looking at the stats after a ride, how far, how fast, what was my heart rate on that segment/hill etc, its fun and enjoyable. Obviously each to their own but it seems some people dont understand that other people get enjoyment from these devices, and the figures they give you. To say forget about the Garmin and just enjoy the ride/scenery, to people like me, and it sounds like the OP as well, would just take half the enjoyment of cycling away.
However, while its good to take note of the numbers, all you are looking for are trends. I wouldn't say I take too much notice of the actual figures, but if it shows my speed increasing on a particular segment, or recovery time for a ride that use to be 12 hours is now say 8 hours for example then its good to see that my fitness is going generally in the right direction.
As the Op says, there are a lot of science behind these metrics the gadgets produce, most of the numbers are not just picked from thin air and can be a useful motivator.
The one caveat I would add is wrist based heart rate monitors for cycling (your fitbits etc) - see DC Rainmakers review of any wearables and the figures they produce for heart rate, while cycling, are hugely out compared with chest straps . Even allowing for my 'ignore the actual figures just follow the trend' above is useless as they tend to produce such wild erratic figures that they are, in DC's words (just for cycling, and its just wrist based wearables) "useless". For the general 24/7 measuring heart rate etc they are fine, but any high intensity activity sends them haywire, in his opinion.
Continue to enjoy the rides, continue playing with your new toys, and enjoy them both :-)
iancity
Veteran
- Location
- Ashington, Northumberland
As I said, its trends you are looking at. However I do accept that if any of the numbers are picked from thin air, then the 'calories burned' is one of them 
