Cycling training

[Starblossom]

Yes so I finally bought a gym pass as I have a real motivator for going. I want to train on the cycling machine so I'll be ready to use my bike this summer. I have a bike I plan to get fixed this spring and once it is warmer outside and the roads are better, I want bicycling to be my main mode of transportation. It is partly for health, also partly because a 2 month long bus strike in the dead of canadian winter made me feel bitter towards public transportation. I would love to save some money this summer...to make up for all the money i lost cabbing into work...*ahem* anyway!

I'm in terrible shape. I think the last time I rode a bike was 2 years ago, and after 20 minutes I could hardly walk up the stairs after. So I would rather not kill myself cycling all summer. However I have no idea how to start training. Should I be focusing on time, distance, or level of difficulty? Or all three?

Tonight, I simply did 10 minutes of cycling on level 4, about 90-100mph, then I did strength training on my legs using weights and machines. Tomorrow I'll probably do 15 minutes of cycling then strength training on my upper body. Is that a good way to ease into it? Should I be stretching first or after? Should I do the biking before or after using the weights?

[ForestGlade34]

90-100mph, hell you're beyond professional already, :D in fact, are you sure you don't have rockets on that (gym?) push bike? :D It must have a super fast mechanism. Whatever it is I want one!... Do you have a example of such a (gym?) bike to show?
or what speed monitor system is on it?

Time/Distance/Level.... All important considerations if you wish.... and I suggest.... the degree of emphasis on each you can vary and fluctuate for whatever combination of things, and there's no leaving one out... The only question is what do you focus on the most :) The Level & Distance of the biggest discerners though. You should not be killing (yourself, lol) for time, until you are comfortable by getting yourself broken in....without after being in the saddle dropping on the floor.. :)

I think do the biking before the weights...

stationary cycling does not use the arms a lot like on the road (when arms do benefit from having a prior proper work out, whatever you consider a proper workout).... But yes re: indoors too + arms MY opinion is WHY NOT} its still a good idea to work on your arms/(upper body if you wish) so that your body is full appreciated in all its use generally (if only to limber up some parts if you feel the need). Anyhoo- The stretching if you do that, you will feel the benefit of more or less straight away, but don't over-stretch to begin with, as you have not been execising for a long time!... but over time to give a feeling of over-all workout working on all of you, you will definately benefit you're overall oneness of being quite quite simply... and in some ways, that is as much as a person ever needs to know about exercise of whatever kind in general. :)

[plus_sign]

Think about your routes you will be taking once you start using your bicycle as transportation... Are they hilly? Then you should focus on level of difficulty. Are they very long? Then perhaps you should focus on time. Biking at 90-100 mph (that seems very high for a stationary bike...or any bike for that matter....) is not really going to train you for how you're going to be riding, is it? So try and make out some routines that are most like the areas you're going to be biking around.

Personally, I prefer training on a stationary bike based on heart rate (trying to keep my rate as close to 150bpm as possible for 45-60 minutes, usually at about 20mph).

As you are starting out, I would definitely focus on level, but as ForestGlade said, don't kill yourself. In my experience it pays off much better to do a workout at an intensity of 80% for 30 minutes rather than doing a workout at an intensity of a 100% (dying, cant-hardly-go-on intense) for 10 minutes.

[Starblossom]

well i don't know, the bike said i was going at 90-100mph maybe it is some other measurment like km/h? I have never understood measurements of distance. I'm not sure what type of gym bike it is. I just know I pedal it and it works lol. It has a difficulty level ranging from 0-12 and I was on 4 so maybe that's how I was able to go fast?

Anyway my workout last night must not have been intense enough because I do not feel the least bit sore today. I think I'll focus on level as well as time since I do know approximately how long it would take me to bike to and from work, grocery store, friends' houses and so on.

[plus_sign]

well i don't know, the bike said i was going at 90-100mph maybe it is some other measurment like km/h? I have never understood measurements of distance. I'm not sure what type of gym bike it is. I just know I pedal it and it works lol. It has a difficulty level ranging from 0-12 and I was on 4 so maybe that's how I was able to go fast?

Anyway my workout last night must not have been intense enough because I do not feel the least bit sore today. I think I'll focus on level as well as time since I do know approximately how long it would take me to bike to and from work, grocery store, friends' houses and so on.

Maybe it means we are freaks of nature but I am almost never sore after a difficult ride! It is the strangest thing. Like yesterday, I thought I was going to die (figuratively) from how much I was working my quadriceps... And then today it's like I didn't do anything with them.
Good luck with your training!!!

[Nessus]

90-100mph, hell you're beyond professional already, in fact, are you sure you don't have rockets on that (gym?) push bike?

:D Yeah, what he said. That definitely doesn't correspond to what your speed on a real bike would be. Expect more like 15-20mph for your commute speeds. (And your average will probably be a bit lower than that because of stop signs and such -- maybe about 10-13mph average to start out.)



I want bicycling to be my main mode of transportation.

:guitar:


I'm in terrible shape. I think the last time I rode a bike was 2 years ago, and after 20 minutes I could hardly walk up the stairs after. So I would rather not kill myself cycling all summer. However I have no idea how to start training. Should I be focusing on time, distance, or level of difficulty? Or all three?


The general rule of thumb when you're starting out is to just put in a lot of time in the saddle and not to worry so much about speed or high resistance training. In general, try to keep your cadence fairly high. I think somewhere around 80 or 90 rpm is considered ideal. (If I'm remembering right; I just go by feel, myself.) It's a typical newbie mistake to grind away in a really difficult gear and wear yourself out right away. (Although you might want to do some high resistance interval training - aka "hills" - at some point. You probably don't need to do much of that now.)


Anyway my workout last night must not have been intense enough because I do not feel the least bit sore today.


It may be that you aren't using as many stabilization muscles on the trainer. On a real bike, I would expect some soreness after years of not riding.

Being a commuter cyclist is great fun once you get used to it, but it isn't necessarily about intense training the way road racing or mountain biking would be. In my experience, the most important things are learning to plan your routes (it really is a different approach than driving) and learning to ride in traffic.

I'd definitely suggest doing a google search for bike riding in traffic if you haven't already done so. When I started riding on busy roads I got freaked out a lot. After a while I started thinking that I was going to need a mountain bike so that I could ride on the sidewalk or in the gutter when necessary -- boy was I wrong. After talking with the guys at the bike shop and doing some reading online, I realized that I just hadn't been asserting myself enough. It seems counterintuitive, but riding up against the curb is actually a lot more dangerous than when you give yourself a few feet from the edge of the road. And sometimes, when the situation warrants it, you need to "take the lane." Learning about those kinds of considerations really has been a lot more important for my cycling than the physical fitness side of things (which is, of course, important too) so make sure you spend some time reading about them. (Also, make sure you read up on how to shift gears. It's totally different from driving a car and seems to confuse a lot of people.) If you haven't already, I'd suggest that you spend some time looking at www.bikeforums.net/ -- particularly the commuting and car-free sections.

And feel free to ask further questions. I love talking about bike commuting. :smitten: