London to Paris Charity Ride

[simmiwoodwal]

Hello All,

I am a complete newbie and hadn't been on a bike since I was a child until 8 weeks ago when I decided to sign up for the London to Paris charity ride which is in 8 weeks time.

3 months ago I bought my first bike ever which is a Specialized Vita (Hybrid) and 6 weeks later got the clipless pedals. I do only road cycling and I am finding that this bike tires me out quite a bit and hills are really really difficult despite being relatively fit. Is this the bike or me??

Do you think I should change over to a road bike when I have only 8 weeks left to go and need to train quite hard. I am already a bit nervous riding and even more so with the change to clipless pedals....would changing bikes take me over the edge??

I am a 5ft 5 female so any suggestions on suitable bikes (if you think I should get a road bike) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you all in advance.

 

[Crackle]

I've seen the Vita it's a decent bike. I don't see how, it tires you out, any more than another bike and as it's your first ever I'm not sure what you're comparing it too?

Common mistakes beginners make which are worth mentioning are, having your seat too low and pedalling too slowly in too high a gear, let us know how you ride so we can consider that.

Other than that, the common advice is to just ride your bike, the more you ride, the fitter you get, changing it at this stage doesn't seem logical but we need a bit more info of how you ride and how far, to judge.

 

[rugby bloke]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Blimey, you certainly like a challenge ! First thing first, cycling can be tiring and hills can be hard work, that goes with the territory. Also it takes time to become "cycle" fit, regardless of your general level of fitness. You will be working different muscles for starters. The best thing is to ride as much as possible, both to improve fitness and confidence. There are lots of considerations when it comes to bike choice - do you need to carry your own kit or is it supported for instance.

 

[vickster]

The Vita is quite road oriented, you might find some narrower/slicker 25mm tyres help (although the ride may be harsher). Also as above, are you using the gears as effectively as you can? How many chainrings are there by the pedals? Two or Three? Do you have a link to the bike - was it new?

I'm not sure I'd go out and spend £500+ on a roadbike for the sake of a 3 (?) day ride, I doubt it would make much if any difference if your current bike is well set up and maintained. Just get out and ride If the ride is with a group make sure you practice riding in a group with others

 

[Tim Hall]

That's quite a lot of cycling to do if you haven't ridden since you were a child. I'd concentrate on just getting comfortable on the bike, as you'll be spending quite a time on it. Get out and do some rides that take a long time, rather than focusing on speed. That can come later. Do the organisers provide you with a training regime?

Looking at what I think is the ride http://www.londonparisbikeride.co.uk/itinerary-L2P.aspx it looks like day 1 is the longest, at 95 miles. That's a decent distance, but if you're riding for, say, 8 hours, it's 12mph, so not too arduous.

 

[simmiwoodwal]

Thank you all so much for your advice, I will continue to ride on my current bike and hopefully increase my fitness. In answer to some of your questions, I probably do need to work on my gear work, however, the seat height is fine and there are 3 chain rings by the pedals. I am cycling up to 30 miles on a Sunday and shorter rides during the week. Of course, I will be increasing this weekly. The ride is 300 miles over 3 days. I bought the brand new; here is the link:


https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-vita-disc-step-through-2017-womens-hybrid-bike-EV279740

 

[Crackle]

Definitely use your gears to spin your legs rather than grind. There are lots of rules of thumb about how much training you need to do but it all depends on what kind of form you want to do the ride in.

One of them is that if you are doing the distance in a week you need to cycle in a day, you can do it. Lob in some consecutive days riding amongst that and you'll manage the ride. Do more if you want to suffer less and less if you don't mind suffering.

Hills don't need to be practised as such, so long as you ride you'll get fitter. If you do want to practise then give it a few more weeks and then ride some hills or ride at an intensity that simulates the effort you put in on the hill but as a beginner it's generally enough to just ride. if you're not bike fit it'll take 2 or 3 months to build up, so keep going.

 

[vickster]

Thank you all so much for your advice, I will continue to ride on my current bike and hopefully increase my fitness. In answer to some of your questions, I probably do need to work on my gear work, however, the seat height is fine and there are 3 chain rings by the pedals. I am cycling up to 30 miles on a Sunday and shorter rides during the week. Of course, I will be increasing this weekly. The ride is 300 miles over 3 days. I bought the brand new; here is the link:


https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized-vita-disc-step-through-2017-womens-hybrid-bike-EV279740

If you have three chain rings, you should have a good range of gears for hills following Crackle's advice above. Just go up the hills at your own pace (assume there's no massive time pressure for the ride)...if you need to get off and walk, there's no shame in doing so Walking will be easier in the two bolt type clipless system with recessed cleats (SPD) than the three bolt types

Do you have comfortable padded shorts which will help your nether regions and comfort (worn without underwear)

Good luck for the ride, have fun