Some advice

[Niall Mattinson]

Hi guys my names Niall and am new on the site.

Basically I am getting back into cycling after several years out. I use to compete when I was a school kid but as I got older I only ever wanted to play football so the bike got forgotten about. Now I want to get back into it and was looking for some advice about training. I know I need to get some miles in my legs but what would you start of with milage wise? My fitness is ok but not great!

Any advice would be great!

Thanks

 

[Biker Joe]

Do a few 10-15 milers at an easy pace to start with and after a couple of weeks start to extend it a bit.
Have a day off every now and then to give your muscles time to recover.
You'll soon become aware of what you are capable of and can adapt as necessary.
The important thing is not to go at it hard at first but to ease yourself into it.
Do some stretches after the ride. This will reduce stiffness the next day and help to tone the muscles.
Have fun.

 

[Sittingduck]

10 Miles and step it up gradually for a few weeks.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Hi guys my names Niall and am new on the site.

Basically I am getting back into cycling after several years out. I use to compete when I was a school kid but as I got older I only ever wanted to play football so the bike got forgotten about. Now I want to get back into it and was looking for some advice about training. I know I need to get some miles in my legs but what would you start of with milage wise? My fitness is ok but not great!

Any advice would be great!

Thanks

What are your objectives, or targets? 'Training' can take many forms, depending on what it is you want to do.

 

[lukesdad]

I wouldn t worry too much about mileage, time on the bike is the important part and gradually increasing it.

 

[Niall Mattinson]

Well i would like to get back into competeing, but i need to loose some weight and get fitter!

 

[Dusty Bin]

Well i would like to get back into competeing, but i need to loose some weight and get fitter!

Start getting some steady rides in on a regular basis. Choose a distance you can manage comfortably and a distance which doesn't destroy you for several days after. The idea being that you can go out and repeat it either the next day or the day after.

Also, start thinking about the type of events you want to do. Club-level road races or crits at 4th/3rd cat level rarely go above 50 miles (road) or about 25 miles (crit or circuit). On that basis, you don't really need to be knocking out 80-90 mile road rides over the winter - just work on improving your aerobic fitness over 2-3hr rides (ie 40-50 milers).

I found I could get more training hours in by riding shorter distances more regularly - I was hitting 13-15 hours per week in the spring/summer, but I don't think I've ridden a ride over 50 miles all year.

 

[Niall Mattinson]

cheers for the advice.