Hello + Help!

[Lowflying]

Hi All

I have [like many I am sure] gradually slipped into a state of some physical decay due to the usual combination of work and family pressures. I have tried to get back into the saddle as a means to get fit and enjoy the great outdoors but have failed miserably thus-far. The pattern is very much of getting out the aged bike, a quick service then off for a few miles a couple of weekends in a row then stop. This has been repeated 2-3 times over the past few years.

I did get a bit further last time - all of 5miles with my 9year old daughter - both of us crawled in the door at the end but I think I was in poorer shape! Another ride with my other daughter on-board in her bike seat resulted in grinding almost to standstill on a gentle incline and being comprehensively outpaced by the 9yr old! Once again I had to lay on the floor gasping for breath when I [eventually] got back home.

I continue to love the idea of cycling but despair in ever being able to stick at it for more than a couple of weeks. Every other sporting activity that I try just doesn't seem to fit the bill.

So I have joined for tales of inspiration and guidance!

LF

 

[E11a]

Hello Lowflying. Five miles isn't a bad start at all, and it sounds as though you already have a cycling buddy. Take things easy and enjoy the time cycling with your daughters. Before you know it, you'll find you're fitter and can handle the inclines better. Some days will always be easier than others but don't be put off.

 

[arallsopp]

IMHO, its often easier to set your first target as 'cycle more', and your second one as 'get fit'.

Whenever I've tried to tackle both simultaneously, I find the shake inducing sweats tend to put me off doing it more than a couple of times.

Way I see it, cycling burns calories. Improving fitness burns calories. Ice cream contains calories. Ice cream tastes nice in the sunshine. Parks sell ice-cream. Parks are nice in the sunshine. Bikes are allowed in parks. Bikes are nice in the sunshine.

Best bet: Ride to the park with your family on a sunny weekend. Treat them all to ice-creams (self included, you, not me). Let the kids play whilst you lie on the grass. When they're suitably knackered and you're equally revived, jump back on and race them home.

If its fun, you'll do it again. If you do it again, you'll get fitter. Soon enough you'll be able to do it without the ice-cream.


(But its much more fun to just raise the miles and keep eating )

Andy.

 

[Lowflying]

Thanks for the encouragement. This forum looks like a good place for advice and support so may be just the help I need to keep in the saddle this time round!

LF

 

[colly]

I took up cycling when I was in my early 40's. I was under the mistaken impression it would be fairly easy because I was active and was 'reasonably' fit.
The first longer ride of about 5 or 6 miles was a reality check of the first order. A hill incline that I could comfortably jog up brought me to a gasping, leg trembling standstill no more than a third of the way up. I determined there and then that my first goal was to be able to ride up it without stopping. I had caught the cycling bug and the next two years so me scanning ordinance survey maps to plan routes and find hills of any sort that I could test myself against. Completely bonkers really.
So I am 59 now and cycling has been, on and off, part of my life ever since. In fact I think I would be impossible to live with if I couldn't get out cycling.

So I would suggest set small goals and use them as a motivator. Get bloody minded about it. Little and often will see a huge increase in your fitness and ability.

I always used to ride alone, even on day long trips and still do for the most part but since joining this forum I have been going out with groups from here. It's never fast and 'racey' but it is very sociable. Maybe you could hook up with someone near to you.

Most important though is to enjoy it.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Hi All

I have [like many I am sure] gradually slipped into a state of some physical decay due to the usual combination of work and family pressures. I have tried to get back into the saddle as a means to get fit and enjoy the great outdoors but have failed miserably thus-far. The pattern is very much of getting out the aged bike, a quick service then off for a few miles a couple of weekends in a row then stop. This has been repeated 2-3 times over the past few years.

I did get a bit further last time - all of 5miles with my 9year old daughter - both of us crawled in the door at the end but I think I was in poorer shape! Another ride with my other daughter on-board in her bike seat resulted in grinding almost to standstill on a gentle incline and being comprehensively outpaced by the 9yr old! Once again I had to lay on the floor gasping for breath when I [eventually] got back home.

I continue to love the idea of cycling but despair in ever being able to stick at it for more than a couple of weeks. Every other sporting activity that I try just doesn't seem to fit the bill.

So I have joined for tales of inspiration and guidance!

LF

Congratulations of not giving up on the hallowed sport of cycling . Your aged bike may have gears that are more suited to a person of greater fittness. What bike do you have and what is its approx age?

 

[lukesdad]

A reason to cycle is what you need. are there no regular trips or errands you do where you could you use the bike, and stick with it ?

 

[ianrauk]

I used to cycle a lot in my youth (as did most of us), I decided to get back on the bike aged 40 to cycle to the local station and back. A massive 3 mile round trip. I thought it would be easy. It was they way there as it was all downhill. On the way back it damn near killed me. The first trip home I had to lie down for 20 minutes. I was done in. I couldn't believe how unfit I was. I kept at it and it gradually got easier and easier. Over the years I upped my mileage and joined cycle groups. 5 years later I am 3 and half stone lighter and think nothing of doing a 100 miler...

Keep at it, don't despair, it's hard work but it will get easier for you

 

[Lowflying]

Good to hear that I am not the only 40yr old trying to get serious about recapturing the cycling bug and also not the only one to collapse after a short ride with a few gentle undulations!!!

I have a Raleigh Pioneer Spirit hybrid which dates back to the early 90s [when I could actually ride up a hill!]. I can't remember how many gears [will dust it off again tonight and see...] but pretty sure they are Shimano which is good?. The main problem on last years outing was the ?chainring outer casing snapped off leaving the outer cog exposed. Now the chain keeps slipping from outer to inner cog unless you keep a thumb on the gear shifter!

Guess this needs sorting first and would like to sort myself if possible but not sure if parts readily available?

Thanks again for all the encouragement.

LF

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Good to hear that I am not the only 40yr old trying to get serious about recapturing the cycling bug and also not the only one to collapse after a short ride with a few gentle undulations!!!

I have a Raleigh Pioneer Spirit hybrid which dates back to the early 90s [when I could actually ride up a hill!]. I can't remember how many gears [will dust it off again tonight and see...] but pretty sure they are Shimano which is good?. The main problem on last years outing was the ?chainring outer casing snapped off leaving the outer cog exposed. Now the chain keeps slipping from outer to inner cog unless you keep a thumb on the gear shifter!

Guess this needs sorting first and would like to sort myself if possible but not sure if parts readily available?

Thanks again for all the encouragement.

LF

Just sounds like cable tension to me. At worst might need a new front mech.

 

[Lowflying]

Thanks. Will check the cable tension first. Didn't really do very much with it last year as it ended up back in the garage gathering dust.

Is the front mech the front derailleur or the cogs/crank/chain?

LF

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Thanks. Will check the cable tension first. Didn't really do very much with it last year as it ended up back in the garage gathering dust.

Is the front mech the front derailleur or the cogs/crank/chain?

LF

The derailleur

 

[Lowflying]

Thanks. I need to learn the lingo

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Thanks. I need to learn the lingo

No problems - When I started I was calling the crank arm the pedals

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Starting any pysical activity for the first time, or for the first time in years, is always hard. I've been cycling more or less consistancy since I was at school, but you should see me trying to swim! I'm fit, thanks mostly to cycling, but I can't swim any more than a width without having to gasp for air! My eight year old nephew has just received a certificate for swimming a mile!! Yeah, it makes you feel lousy!
I really like arallsopp's philosophy - why do so many people think that physical activity has to be a punishment? Enjoy yourself in the saddle and you'll soon be surprised how far you can go.