Allen55

Im just wondering...because I rode every bit of two miles...LOL. The hills here are awful and I tried them first thing. I got a mile out and was give out. Breathing like an old man with a free pass to a cathouse.

Legs were on FIRE, but it burned really good! This two miles on those hills was an awesome workout. I can't wait to actually go somewhere flat. LOL

Mr. Beanz

I've always been active, on and off the bike since childhood, running, playing ball. So actually going for a ride as a recreational hobby, 25 miles.

RedShoedRider

One. Point. Three. Miles.
Which was one lap around the block I lived on. Kicked my ass, too.

chefisaac

2.1 miles flat and somewhat downhill! That was two months ago. I just finished a 51 mile ride... personal best. Also rode 31 miles after work today.

The point is.... stick with it. Throw in hills too which will help you. Remember recovery is just as important as riding. You will hurt tomorrow.... thats normal.

Allen55

Whoa, cool...Im not the ONLY one doing 2 miles...LOL. Makes me feel a little better!

chefisaac

trust me my friend, you will get better and better and better. Dont force it.... it will come. Be smart about how many miles you do at once. You want it to be a great experiance.

Allen55

Im ALREADY in love with it! I can't wait until tomorrow so I can ride again.

Haff

3.5 miles.
Any start is a good start, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

jethro56 

.4 miles on a way too small single speed. 2 miles on the Trek 7300 I bought last fall. Most beginners use too high of gearing. Do yourself a favor and stay in the low speed gears. Turning the pedals faster with a light load will allow you to go farther and be easier on your knees. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e-for-a-newbie is a good thread where this is discussed

olejason

Distance isn't necessarily all that important. Racking up a 10 mile ride just leisurely coasting around the neighborhood probably isn't going to provide the workout a really hard 3 mile ride would.

goldfinch

This is an interesting post. In some ways distance is important simply because time in the saddle is important. I try to be somewhere between leisurely coasting and really hard workout. Probably closer to leisurely coasting. Which may have been a good strategy for someone coming to biking from a total lack of fitness. My CV system would always give out before my legs would give out. So I rode slow and spun those pedals as fast as I could (Jethro's linked thread is great). And added on the miles. I am at close to a 1000 miles since I started this spring.

I am still slow though. But I am much faster than I was and can ride a 50 mile ride. So, I think I more or less have been using the right strategy. I have started pushing it for parts of some of my rides, like pushing up a hill that I would formerly slowly roll my way up, barely staying upright. I also am walking and I push it when I walk as I walk with friends who walk fast.

My first rides were 2 to 4 miles long and were hard and uncomfortable. I was fat and my bike didn't fit and I was out of shape.

TrojanHorse

I normally go 15-30 miles for a "workout" ride... which causes problems when I don't have the time to do it, so tonight, rather than NOT go for a ride, I rode around the block - almost 4 miles. The first 1.8 miles were all uphill, the next 1.8 were all downhill and the last half mile was all uphill again. Not a single flat patch of asphalt to be found. I've been dreading trying that hill for oh, 10 years and finally knocked it off.

So don't sweat it, doesn't matter what everybody else is doing anyway.

jethro56 

Most experts on training suggest 500 minimum base miles before working on speed. This is for experienced cyclists starting out in the spring. Someone just beginning would need far more.

shawmutt

I rode my usual running route...3 miles. It didn't take me quite as long

cyclokitty 

I remember my first ride. It was at the local park and I rode up and down the trail for about an hour. I walked my bike to the park because I was afraid of riding on the street and the road into the park is steep and terrifying for me. The walk up that hill made me re-think the whole cycling idea because it seemed so steep going uphill home. I'm gonna be generous and say that first ride was 2 km. That was about 6 years ago and now when I ride up that little hill I don't even give it a second thought.

guybierhaus

Back in 2004, rode one lap around the neighborhood....1.5 miles. By second week was up to two laps for 3 miles. Took two months before I got to 6 miles.

BHOFM

Less than four miles. It took a couple hours. I went to Wally Wally to get a computer for my bike the day after I bought it. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I had been up and down the street a few times, maybe 1/2 a mile the day I got the bike. About a week after I got the bike I did eight miles in six hours and was ready to take the damn bike back to Wally Wally. That was 80lbs ago. Now I do forty or fifty before breakfast.

Homeyba

Experts - Shmexperts. Good thing I never listened to them (I'm lying ). My first bicycle ride (as an adult) was about 18miles and I just about puked. Three months later I started and completed my first century that just happened to have 10,000ft of climbing. I had no idea what 10,000ft of climbing was but I learned. Haven't looked back since...
If I listened to all the people who say "you can't do this" or "you can't do that" I'd never have done most of the things I've done in my life.

Neil_B

One mile. Crashed when a mailbox jumped in front of me.

Homeyba

At least it wasn't one of those guys who hides in the bushes with a deer canon and shoots deer at unsuspecting people.

Seve

My first ride was about 75 yards.

My dad put on a bike at the top of a hill (lawn) and gave me a push. I did pretty good until I needed to turn to avoid a fence at which point I promptly crashed.

There was no stopping after that.

Mithrandir

6 years ago when I first started as an adult, 5 miles. This year after 5 years off, 10 miles.

skinnysanta

10 miles after 25 years off. Thought I was going to DIE!!!

RuggerJoe

First ride in nearly 20 years, 6.5 miles to work. I took the bus home that night.

Neil_B

This isn't a laughing matter. Pennsylvania doesn't have a leash law for mailboxes. We need one.