Tis, except…
Watch out for your fans!
Opi and Omi: Nope, never heard of her…
Stolen from YT comments :)
I kind of wish I lived in Austin, this would be pretty cool.
So I think I learned the secret: Get in reasonably good shape. Three months of fairly steady riding and my HR doesn’t go through the roof when I hit a hill. Today I went for a ride, not trying to take it easy, but not trying to push too hard either since I was planning a long ride. My HR stayed pretty low most of the ride. Got off the bike at the end and felt great. Finally feel like I am getting some pay off.
Now I just have to figure out the running part…
I wanted to report that my cycling is going great so far. I have started riding now and then. I hooked up with a local bike group and joined a 20 mile beginner’s trip last Saturday. I hit the wall at about 17 miles and the ride leader had to hang out with me till I recovered my stamina. But I did eventually finish, though undoubtedly at the end of the pack.
I have been purchasing some specialized gear for riding, like padded shorts, bike shirts, and some gloves, things like that. The proper gear always helps. It makes you go faster too, right?
Right now I’m biking around 8 miles every other day. Trying to increase my average speed a little so that the next time I’m in a group ride I won’t be near the back of the pack. Been going in the mornings so the temperature is comfortable. So far, so good!
That’s really good seeing that you have only had it a couple of weeks. I always feel exhausted after my 20 mile rides, but part of that is we have a lot of hills here and that I push harder than I should.
Haven’t thought about looking for any local groups, but I would be too scared I couldn’t keep up. My ego is too large and my fitness level too low. :-)
15 years ago I went all in with the spandex, pedals, gloves, etc. I was doing much longer rides than I do now. This time I haven’t bought anything. I just wear what I would wear to a gym usually. I do have some loose fitting Pearl Izumi shirts that are still in good shape that I really like.
I really want a new helmet, but finding something in my size at a reasonable price is proving difficult. Everything is sold out.
What are you using for a bike computer? Love my Garmin, but they aren’t cheap. Wahoo seems to be the more popular brand from what I have seen on YouTube though. Regardless, highly recommended if you like stats and maps.
I do 8 mile rides. It’s not that hard. I hope to work up to doubling that and doing 16 miles. I may just do my 8 mile route twice a day.
I just do it for the exercise and the pleasure of the ride. I don’t have any real desire to really long rides.
That said, I’d love to ride the Katy Trail in Missouri someday. It follows part of the route Lewis and Clark took. There are some bed and breakfast places on the way so I could break it up into four or five days maybe. When done I can take Amtrak back to the beginning.
I found this group from a link on a local bike shop and it’s a meetup group so maybe you have one of those in your area? They feature beginner rides that are super clear that they are “no drop” rides where the group stops periodically to let everyone catch up. So on the way out we made two stops and let the group reassemble. On the way back it was a lot looser and everyone pretty much did their own pace. It’s on the bike trail though so you didn’t really feel abandoned. I think any decent group that offered beginner rides would operate similarly.
I have found padded bike shorts to be pretty useful for my longer rides (at the end of my 20 mile ride I was, uh, in pretty uncomfortable in the nether regions). I used some today for an 8 mile ride and I feel it’s helped ease the ride.
I don’t have a bike computer, for now I use the Map My Ride app. Is there a compelling reason to use a dedicated bike computer?
I just want to say “Bravo!” for that guy. Aside from the showing of human kindness, that’s how you help out the new folks, make them feel included, and grow them into regular group members. With leadership like that, I’m sure you have found a great group!
Just being able to see time, distance, speed, heart rate, etc. If you don’t care about seeing that stuff, then no. Plus with Garmin the software is better than Map My Ride (I haven’t used that app in years, but I remember not liking it myself and used something that was later bought out by a shoe company). Fitness trackers are also good if you want some feedback as you ride.
I like seeing my stats, that’s what motivates me.
How does it see heart rate?
My Garmin came with a chest strap. Or you can can get one of the watches that will measure it through your wrist.
I use my Apple Watch and iPhone and MapMyRide. With the $30/year premium I get heart rate so long as my watch is on. And distance incline/decline speed etc. it was bought by under armor a while back. Which is probably less offensive than Nike. Even if I don’t like their shoes.
There are some iOS apps that you let create routes with your finger which are pretty neat, but there is a subscription to get directions while riding/running/walking. I figured Garmin must have something like that, and of course they do. It’s not as easy, since they don’t have an iPad app, but you can draw with the mouse and it snaps to the map. It also highlights roads that are popular with cyclists as you do so. I haven’t actually tried it on a ride yet, but it seems like it will work better than the phone app.
Although, I am considering just picking a direction and riding. If I get lost I can always use it to get back home. Only problem with a that is it might be difficult to avoid the busy roads with little to no shoulders, which there is a lot of around here.
We have the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and their website has recommended routes available through their app. First week of August we are renting a farmhouse in a part of Maine I have not been to and I need to log a 70 mile ride that week. Boom, the site has three contenders recommended by riders. Which is a relief because biking in rural Maine can be dangerous with logging trucks careening about.
Maybe there are similar organizations in your states?
I haven’t checked here, but the area I am in now is the most bike unfriendly place I have ever lived. The Garmin cycling heat map I can see where people are riding, and they are going on highways, country roads with no shoulder, and weaving through housing settlements. I don’t feel comfortable on either around here because I don’t trust the drivers.
Makes me really miss WY/CO where you could find long stretches of road with very little traffic.
I am getting to the point where I need to branch out though. If I start at 6am the traffic isn’t too bad. I just need to get a spare tube and some tire levers so I am ready for the eventual flat.
If I am going to do more of these 2+ hour rides, I need to start wearing proper shorts and bringing snacks. My butt was killing me today and I was out of energy by the end.
Bike shorts are a must. They have mountain bike shorts that are more the padded road shorts but inside a more normal looking short. I have those, but but don’t use them much because on road/gravel bikes I prefer the ass and nut hugging traditional bike shorts.
And they have the gel bike seat covers. Those help, but once you’re riding a bit I think you’ll be fine with just the padding of a bike short and not need extra on the seat itself.
I still have all my road shorts from 12 years ago. They should still fit. I haven’t dug them out because I wasn’t supposed to be that serious about this riding thing. I did score a new helmet today at least. My old helmet was a mess.
Went to the local big bike store and asked about road bikes. September to February if I paid $300 to get on a list now. Except Specialized is shifting to 2022 models, and they don’t know when they will get those. With Trek, they expect them to start the shift in September and that will throw a wrench in things.
I use Nooyme bike shorts with gel padding and I recommend them for long rides. And I replaced the seat with a Bontrager that has a cut out in the middle with minimal padding and I find it more tolerable.