Fatbiker91

Hi everyone,
So just a Lil background info for you guys before question. I used to be an avid runner and have always enjoyed the outdoors and dirtbikes when I was younger and had pretty dang good endurance. That was until i broke my leg 2 years in a row(yea the same leg) broke once on a dirtbike and once while skating. And then i got marries and had kids so now i cant get out as much.Fast forward till now and it all went away and I gained 60lbs 150lbs to 210lbs and my stamina is non existant. I thought about running again but my leg can't handle the constant pounding so I thought it over and combined three things I like dirtbikes outdoors and fitness and I ended up with a 2015 khs tempe that my lbs sold me for a steal.
Sorry for long intro but now for the ? OK I went riding for the first time today on a relatively easy trail except for a few spots. Only thing is the trail is nothing but hills down one then up the other I managed 2 miles out before I spent up all my energy and the other two miles back ended in me losing the lunch I ate a few hours earier. I may have pushed too hard. Anyway coming from a couch potato back to sports could anyone give me pointers on what I need to do to improve my stamina and learn to ride better in general idea eventually like to do xc racing.

Nstoltzner

First of all, welcome back to exercising! I recently started again almost 3 months ago doing exactly the same thing. 4 miles was EXCRUCIATING. I am now up to 12 miles and moving up to 14-15 pretty soon. Anyhow, my advice to you is to keep riding, don't overdo it either to where you end up on the couch for 3 days after your ride. My goal is to go 6 times a week with a rest every 3, which I have been somewhat successful with thus far. Have fun, keep riding, the rest will come. I started at 305 lbs and I am down to 283, nothing to write home about but it feels great to see everything fitting better.

I figure if I can do it, anyone can!

1989Pre 

If you're asking for advice, i would say to spend 2-3 months at a spinning (exercise bicycle) class at a gym before you get back into mtb riding in hilly terrain. You want to build up your cardio-respiratory fitness in a safe place and in a controlled way. I'm not saying that you have to drop back down to 180 lbs before you ride again. I'm just saying that if you stress your system to the point of fatigue when it reacts violently, you could crash or suffer acute symptoms of one kind or another.
You have a lot to look forward to. Prepare.

OldTryGuy

Advice from a current 65yo soon to be 66yo who got back into bicycling after a 15 year layoff having NEVER been any sort of an athletic guy...........take it easy so you don't injure yourself and enjoy the return to fitness. Going to take some time to get rid of the extra weight since it took some time to put it on and the same for the muscle/endurance that was lost. Hook up with a group or two and ride with others since it can make things easier. Listen to those more experienced, do some searching and reading to find answers to your questions.

BTW, having never swam I took up swimming at age 62. Never able to run or jog because of bad knees I walked A LOT. At 63.5yo I completed my first Ironman in 13:31:48.

RonH

Ride on flat roads or trails until you get some strength and stamina built up.

bgraham111

That is almost exactly my "return to biking" story. I used to mountain bike alot when I was 20, and 170 lbs. I stopped, and suddenly I was 38, and 225lbs. My first ride back was about 1.5 miles, and I threw up afterwords.

Im 41 now, and I am just getting into long distant riding (called Randonneuring). So how did I get back into it?

I rode my bike. Literally. That was it.
1.5 miles.... then 2 miles.... then 4 miles.... then 6... 10.... 12..... 14.... an so on. Just a little farther each time. As I went farther, I added in other changes. I started bringing a water bottle. I got some baggy bike shorts. I started biking to a place, hanging out, then biking back. Once I hit 30 miles, the distance starting picking up faster. Made adjustments to my fit. Got padded gloves. Hit 80 miles. Once you hit 80, things change.... at least it did for me.

But it was all just biking more, reading for tips, and biking more. And it was so cool to see how fast I improved.

Hopefully you'll see the same thing.

Good luck!!!!

kcjc

Year two on the road but three since restarting cycling after 23+ year off and gaining 50#+. The first year I just road on the the trainer with occasional Sunday on the MUT to lose the weight and rebuild my endurance. Not exactly where I like at 48 with 10# more to go (currently at 165# at 5'8", borderline BMI) and hanging for dear life on weekend group rides, but I'm at a much better place than three years ago. I started with 20 minutes on the trainer at less than 15mph average (dying at the end) to completing a flat century with 4k of elevation gain in 5:41 moving/6:11 total this January. I'm hoping to complete a flat century sub five hours this year as well as completing one solo. Just keep riding and it'll come back. Good luck.

BobbyG

If you have been in shape before, then you know how good it feels. Just be patient, but persistent.

FBinNY 

Different kinds of riding develop different kind's of speed, strength and stamina. So try to mix up your riding, with something like your hilly course one day, a long ride on the flats on another, and shorter flat ride going as fast as you can manage. Don't be discouraged, progress will seem slow ar first, then things will get better, until you get decent, then it's all small incremental improvements over the long haul.

You'll notice that on some rides you run out of stamina, with your heart and overall fitness setting the limit, and on others your legs will turn to rubber even though you otherwise feel like you can go forever.

IME, the only way to get stronger climbing hills is to climb hills, and the only way to get faster is to ride fast. If you don't push (especially for speed) you'll get into a rut and not ride faster no matter how strong you get otherwise.

canklecat

My first couple of months back on the bike late last year were rough. Seemed to take forever to make progress. But I can manage 30+ miles now and getting stronger.

For the first few weeks I'd stay close to home. Ride. Rest. Ride. Rest. Repeat. Between asthma and rubber legs, some days I could ride only a mile at a time. But I'd rest, sometimes 5-15 minutes, pedal some more, and repeat until I could do 5 miles between having to rest and catch my breath.

After 8 months, some days I still need to stop every 5-10 miles due to asthma. But the rest stops are shorter, usually only a minute, then back at it.