gwpowers

If I overlooked a thread that's been started already just ignore me..
I like the idea of having a place to throw some daily updates without starting a new thread all the time. I know a few of the other sub forums have a "post your ride" thread but I feel a little out of place in those since I'm new to riding and slightly out of shape!

My first ride was Saturday and 2.8 miles, I thought I was going to pass out when I got home! After that everything has gone really good. Since then every night after my ride I've felt better and better. I keep telling my wife after each ride that I've got more left in the tank. So every night I've increased my distance little by little.

Last night after 4 trips out I planned on a 5 mile. I felt pretty good on my last leg in to the house so I looked at my trip and was sitting at 4.8 miles. I figured I'd make sure to hit 5 and took a loop around a different neighborhood when I got home I looked down and was surprised to see 6.5 miles. I still felt fresh and if it wasn't getting dark I probably would have stayed out longer.

I had hoped to just put miles on the bike this week with the goal of hitting the 10 mile mark this weekend but after last night I think I'll be there sooner. So for tonight's ride I'm debating on either riding the same 6.5m loop but pushing it a little harder or stretching it out to a 10m loop. Thoughts?

It's official though, I'm addicted!!

So how was your ride? Those of us that are new or still trying to better your times/distance what are your goals for the next few days?

magohn

I have a "schedule" that i have stuck with for over a year now. Three work nights a week I ride a 6 mile loop around the local neighborhood. When I first started the loop would take me 45 mins. I now have the loop down to 21 mins and will be making it longer as the longer nights approach. Then, at weekends, I ride anything from 30 - 50 miles on either Sat or Sun. This will also increase as the better weather approaches.

I ride a mix of flats, rolling-hills and weather. I think its important to establish a routine that is not daunting and counter-productive to your fitness. For example, giving yourself a 20 mile nightly ride is something that is easy to talk yourself out of 3 months from now.

I would keep it simple, 3x5miles rides on weekdays and a longer one at weekends. Just until it the addiction "sticks"

Mr. Beanz

Don't be shy, start the "Did you ride today" thread! I will post in it. I think it's a good idea here in the clyde forum as everyone her pretty much understands that every rider here is is different and not all about racing. Big variety of riders, touring, racers, race, hybrid, MTB, long distance etc. I think it wil work well.

I myself like posting reports but don't have a set place here in this forum to post them. So I stat a new thread just to others know it's there. They won't if I add/post a Wed ride along with my Sat thread. If there is a ride today thread, we can post and others will know where to look if hey care to see the reports.

TrekDen

Todays ride consisted of 1 hour in the basement doing the Sufferfest "Angels" video. Still recovering Ha-ha!! It's goal is to improve climbing, we shall see...

Aahzz

It's very wet here today, so I am sad. Scouring Craigslist for a cheap exercise bike to use on days like today...

And, in a bit over a week, I've gone from 2 miles to 3.5. My personal goal is to get a good 10 mile loop going 4 days per week.

Aahzz

Oh, and goal part 2 is to find a route to work that doesn't scare the crap out of me such that I may try bike commuting.

magohn

Dont let the rain scare you.

I have a 2010 Roubaix that at first I would not ride in the rain. After missing one too many ride days because of rain, I decided that if my bike gets trashed because Ive ridden too many times in bad weather, that would be fantastic becasue for the first time in my life I will have worn out a piece of exercise/sports equipment. Now that would be worth every penny.

Kind of like that addage on life "if I arrive at the pearly gates in a high-speed skid with everything worn out, I will know I have lived life to the fullest"

1FatBikeRider

You should look into a trainer. I got a Sette Glyde for Christmas. It was like $80.

prompterbob

I'm a newbie. A bit too cold and windy to ride in NJ today and tomorrow we're expecting a lot of rain. But yesterday, I took my first trip on the Ridgewood bike path. I usually do 5 miles a day on a 2/3 mile loop in my local park, but it was a lot of fun riding on the path and actually traveling somewhere. I managed to do a 9 mile round trip. It was cold and parts of the path were covered with mud washed in from the big rain a few days ago. I'll be riding Ridgewood a lot in the coming weeks and months.

bbeasley

I went out and did 10 miles after the rain stopped. 2 mile warm up, 6 miles as fast as I can, 2 mile cool down. Beautiful day post rain, did the middle 6 at a bit over 18 MPH. Had a blast, I dig my bike.

gwpowers

Just got in from tonight's ride, I got to tackle a lot more hills than I had hoped but I made it back alive! Just under 8 miles and still averaged 12.8 even with all the climbing I had to do. Definitely feeling the saddle after this ride, I was beginning to wonder why every complains about them hurting but it just seems I needed to spend a little more time in it!! lol

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/29396952

Rhodabike

The sun is coming back! I didn't need my headlight to ride to work today. Temperature was -24 C/-11 F, the pathway was packed snow. They've plowed, but unfortunately haven't thought to scrape a sort of ramp to get you off the path, across a road, onto the next section.
My glasses frosted up badly and my forehead was very cold by the time I got to work, but it felt great to be riding again.

poperszky

Well my goal is to spend an hour a night on the bike on weekdays, the fun part is that I keep going farther and farther to get to that hour. I think I hit 55 minutes tonight, but I am not sure since the battery on my Garmin ran out about 40 minutes into the ride. I was a bit intimidating tonight since there were still patches of snow on the MUP. But the new knee did quite well, I only had to stop and oil if a couple of times to get rid of the squeak

tortugaflats

20 miles in 1 hour 5 minutes. small breeze. it was crazy. able to maintain +19 mph out and back. overall great ride pleasant temps (70ish)

DX-MAN

Wet.

It rained for about 12 hours (not hard, but steady), and was just easing up when I went out the door. Since it was my B-Day, AND a Wednesday, I decided my junk-food belly gremlin needed a fix. So off I went to Whopper Wednesday.

There was only one JAM, and I was able to play a bit of urban MTB along the way, so it was good. About 4-5 miles RT, had a chance to get re-acquainted with the 'summer' tires (Michelin Country Dry 2.15's -- they DO work in the wet, too); I only had one person ask me with incredulity: "You rode your BIKE today?"

The gremlin told me to cross BK off the list, though.........

gwpowers

Another 8 mile loop tonight, decided to up my time instead of distance tonight. I improved my time by 5 minutes and my average speed by 1.3mph!
https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/29442184

Weather wise it was by far the best night I've had so far, 60* out and virtually no wind. On top of that I got to watch the sunset the entire ride! I'm really looking forward to this weekend and being able to get out without a time constraint. I'm going to find me a nice easy 15 mile route and see how it goes.

rick458

I bought my first bike Friday picked it up Saturday, Rode it once around the Hood Saturday, and Twice Sunday,rode 3 times around the neighborhood today.
I don't have a trip computer yet, so I just up the number of circuits
I hope to pick up a bike for my wife Friday or Saturday, along with a Bike carrier, so we can spend time together, and get healthier.

TrekDen

Spent another hour in the basement yesterday. Snowing again here today, so more than likely I'll be down there again this afternoon. It is a good workout, so I really can't complain all that much...

RichardGlover

Rode to work this morning; third day this week, which is about average. Wind made it feel colder than it was, or the weather report was wrong. Was supposed to be ~40 F, but felt more like 35.

mymojo

For the first time in 8-9 years I rode on the road today. It was fantastic! I normally ride a 10 mile paved circuit on a local park system. But that has gotten a bit tedious. So I decided to brave "the road."

I was on my Trek 950 cuz the 1000 is still getting a tune up. While it was definitely the wrong bike for what I was doing, that didn't diminish the pleasure at all. I stopped by the LBS during the ride to price Mavic Open Pros and found out they are $80 cheaper than the LBS I priced yesterday... so I got that goin for me.

I did roughly 12 miles and decided to call it cuz I didn't want to overdo it on my first day out. Man, I can't wait til next weekend when I have the right bike for the ride!

P.S. riding against the wind up-hill SUUUUUCKS!

DX-MAN

Another short one, although I thought about making it longer....

Had to drop off some clothing donations (daughter's growing out of too much!); 4 bags of stuff either hanging off the bar or my shoulders, riding into a near-20mph wind. I just took it easy, got to the dropoff center, unloaded, and WOW! 30 lbs. lighter, unencumbered, with a tailwind! What a glorious ride home!

Really, though, it just wasn't warm enough to go ride an interesting part of town........

TrekDen

Well, I once again did a basement gig. Just a bunch of 5 minute high cadence drills @ 100rpm with 3 minutes recovery @ 80rpm. Really took note of my heart rate today. It stayed pretty stable @ 85 - 87% during the hard efforts, and recovered to around 75% during the rest efforts. I do need to get a fan down there to help with cooling. I don't mind sweating, but sheesh I look like someone hit me with a firehose when I'm done.

Aahzz

Weather let me get back out there today - I know I *could* ride in the rain, but I hate it, so I stick to good weather. Can't wait to get an indoor solution so I can pedal something every day

So, still chilly and mighty windy here today - wish I had worn regular gloves rather than fingerless bike gloves. Enjoyed the heck out of the ride, though. The rolling hills of my neighborhood are getting more manageable every time - I no longer have to start by walking my bike up my street. In 2 weeks I've gone from doing 1.5 miles to 3.35 miles, plan to be at 4 by Monday or Tuesday. The final hill on my ride, that used to leave me wasted, still leaves me breathing heavy, but not unable to continue.

Onward and upward, while my weight goes downward!!!

gwpowers

Decided to take a shorter route today and see how fast I could push it. I would've liked to see a little quicker pace but I averaged 13.2 vs the 10.8 from my last 5 mile route. I think I've found a good training route though, while this one is short it's got a nice steady climb on the back half that really seems to test me. I think I'll start running my sprints on this route and try to get faster over all.

Beautiful weather this weekend, looking forward to a long slow ride!

Team Ogre

I just read through the posts on this thread...I like the idea of this! Keep us all honest and working towards our goals!

Good job everyone!

I had my second ride of the season today...I took a half day from work because the thermometer said mid-40's! Once my legs are in good distance shape, I ride out in the farm areas just west of town. Until then (and until my riding partner get's out to ride) I found a nice 12.5 mile bike trail along a river near by. I rode it today and logged 24.7 miles! First decent ride of the season.

On another note and maybe unrelated - I bought a Garmin Edge 500 Bike computer...and as soon as I figure out how to do this, I'll post (a feed to the site maybe?) so that anyone that is interested can check it out.

Keep up the good work everyone! Summer is just around the corner!