Nervous wreck

[Fat and fifty]

Hello, new member here and terrified. My husband has cycled all his life in and out of Birmingham and Coventry now he’s down in Cornwall with me. My son is a keen cyclist and taken part in the Grand Fondo in Plymouth twice so he’s confident. I’ve not had my bum in a saddle since I was 14. Decided it would be good for me. I’m surrounded by people that go on cycling holidays, Retired RMs , regular cyclists. Then there’s me. I’ve had my bike since Friday and go out when it’s dim, I’m too embarrassed to go out earlier in the day. I’m more unfit than I thought. I may cycle for about 15 mins slight down hill slight incline and some level and I’m puffing a bit and my legs ache. I have genuine support from my family but am I being unrealistic to think I can do this.

 

[tom73]

Don't be slowly things get better with support you can do anything.
Go slow , steady and rest up don't ride every day . If you ride for a few mins and have to rest a min to recover then do it.
Start with short rides round the block the miles do come and before you know it you will be well away.
Set little goals like riding to next lamp post or tree then soon the next tree becomes the every other tree and so on.
Take a water bottle out with you and if you need a drink have one.
carry on posting here you will find plenty of support on here.

 

[johnnyb47]

Hi and welcome to Cycle Chat.
First things first.
You've got nothing to be embarrassed about.
Cycling is for everyone and it doesn't matter what level of fitness there at. Whether you can cycle 100 miles or 3 miles it's totally irrelevant.
What matters is that you've made a conscious decision to get out there and start cycling.. Soon enough those (for argument sake) 3 miles will become easy and you find yourself doing 6 miles. Your fitness will gradually get better and better with each ride out. Everyone has to start somewhere and now is the perfect time with so little traffic on the road. If you done 15 minutes today i can guarantee the same 15 minutes next week will be easier if you keep up the cycling.
Just make sure you take it easy to begin with and enjoy it.
All the very best
Johnny

 

[newfhouse]

Little and often to start with, don’t make it an ordeal. Set yourself modest, achievable targets each week and when it gets easier to hit them - and it will - congratulate yourself and think about the next point you’d like to get to. I guarantee you will make noticeable progress within a few weeks, either doing the same route with less effort, or choosing to extend.

If your family are cyclists they should be able to ensure you have adjusted your bike to suit, as getting saddle height right makes a big difference to comfort as your body learns what is now expected of it.

Keep checking in here for further encouragement and tell us about your progress.

 

[Fat and fifty]

Don't be slowly things get better with support you can do anything.
Go slow , steady and rest up don't ride every day . If you ride for a few mins and have to rest a min to recover then do it.
Start with short rides round the block the miles do come and before you know it you will be well away.
Set little goals like riding to next lamp post or tree then soon the next tree becomes the every other tree and so on.
Take a water bottle out with you and if you need a drink have one.
carry on posting here you will find plenty of support on here.

Thank you for your encouragement

 

[roley poley]

chill ,enjoy, maybe get a loaf from a local shop on it and back to build confidence make a sandwich and be proud you did something under your own steam your worth it .Your bike is a tool to improve your life not a race to the top

 

[Fat and fifty]

Hi and welcome to Cycle Chat.
First things first.
You've got nothing to be embarrassed about.
Cycling is for everyone and it doesn't matter what level of fitness there at. Whether you can cycle 100 miles or 3 miles it's totally irrelevant.
What matters is that you've made a conscious decision to get out there and start cycling.. Soon enough those (for argument sake) 3 miles will become easy and you find yourself doing 6 miles. Your fitness will gradually get better and better with each ride out. Everyone has to start somewhere and now is the perfect time with so little traffic on the road. If you done 15 minutes today i can guarantee the same 15 minutes next week will be easier if you keep up the cycling.
Just make sure you take it easy to begin with and enjoy it.
All the very best
Johnny

Thanks for your reply, it means alot

 

[Fat and fifty]

Little and often to start with, don’t make it an ordeal. Set yourself modest, achievable targets each week and when it gets easier to hit them - and it will - congratulate yourself and think about the next point you’d like to get to. I guarantee you will make noticeable progress within a few weeks, either doing the same route with less effort, or choosing to extend.

If your family are cyclists they should be able to ensure you have adjusted your bike to suit, as getting saddle height right makes a big difference to comfort as your body learns what is now expected of it.

Keep checking in here for further encouragement and tell us about your progress.

Thanks, yep they made sure everything fits....

 

[Fat and fifty]

Hi and welcome to Cycle Chat.
First things first.
You've got nothing to be embarrassed about.
Cycling is for everyone and it doesn't matter what level of fitness there at. Whether you can cycle 100 miles or 3 miles it's totally irrelevant.
What matters is that you've made a conscious decision to get out there and start cycling.. Soon enough those (for argument sake) 3 miles will become easy and you find yourself doing 6 miles. Your fitness will gradually get better and better with each ride out. Everyone has to start somewhere and now is the perfect time with so little traffic on the road. If you done 15 minutes today i can guarantee the same 15 minutes next week will be easier if you keep up the cycling.
Just make sure you take it easy to begin with and enjoy it.
All the very best
Johnny

Thanks Jonny

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Of course you can do it!

My wife went from being erm, larger and completely unfit (and approaching middle age, a definite non cyclist), to doing a 100km night ride in about 5 months training... and that wasn't hard "athlete" training either. Just little increases, she simply got used to riding. You could do this too (if you ever chose to that is, I'm just using it as a "what's possible". See my last paragraph!)
For now just do a little bit more each time and allow your bum and legs to get used to it. Have a day or two off between early rides, this helps your body recover.

Don't ever feel any pressure to get better, faster, further..... just pootle and have fun, then some of the above will just happen naturally.

 

[Reynard]

Everyone's got to start somewhere - we all did.

Little and often is the answer right now, and no need whatsoever to be embarrassed.

 

[bruce1530]

As they say - keep going, keep it fun, don’t push yourself too hard, little and often. Don’t make it a chore. Don’t make it a competition, unless competitions do it for you.

I hadn’t been on a bike in years, and decided to start again when I was in my mid-late 40s. I can remember doing about 2 miles down the cycle path, turning and coming back. Feeling quite pleased with myself. Seeing new places, exploring new paths. I can remember my first “big trip” - 5 miles down the cyclepath, stopped at a cafe, then came back.

Now when i’m returning from a trip via the same path, I think “there’s that bit where I used to turn back - that means I’m nearly home.."

 

[I like Skol]

Fifty is no age, you will be just fine.

The main advice I can give is to make your rides a trip with a destination, rather than a ride for ridings sake (easier said than done with the current Covid shutdown). If you have a goal like a landmark or a specific cafe, or visiting a relative, etc then the trips have a purpose and mentally it is a much easier undertaking.

 

[steve292]

Welome to Cyclechat. As the others have said we all started somewhere around where you are. It gets easier, just be realistic and cycle little and often, It's meant to be a fun way to get about not a chore. it is suprising how fast you will get bike legs.

 

[derrick]

Hello, new member here and terrified. My husband has cycled all his life in and out of Birmingham and Coventry now he’s down in Cornwall with me. My son is a keen cyclist and taken part in the Grand Fondo in Plymouth twice so he’s confident. I’ve not had my bum in a saddle since I was 14. Decided it would be good for me. I’m surrounded by people that go on cycling holidays, Retired RMs , regular cyclists. Then there’s me. I’ve had my bike since Friday and go out when it’s dim, I’m too embarrassed to go out earlier in the day. I’m more unfit than I thought. I may cycle for about 15 mins slight down hill slight incline and some level and I’m puffing a bit and my legs ache. I have genuine support from my family but am I being unrealistic to think I can do this.

Course you can do it. you could get to Thin and sixty.