Originally Posted by
big john
Don't worry about speed or mileage, just get out there and get some saddle time in. Don't forget to take rest days when you get tired.
Try to figure out how to get comfortable on the bike, change the saddle, your shorts, handlebar position, whatever.
Mostly try to keep it fun and it will help keep you fit and sane.
Good advice.
People are all different, and different things motivate them. Try to find where your motivation and your fun intersect, and do it.
This isn't advice regarding how to get as fast as possible as quick as possible. For that, hire a trainer. This is advice on how to work your way into shape in a maintainable way ... and to enjoy yourself while you are at it.
You asked a question: "
If I do 2 or 3 5 mile rides does it still count as riding 15 miles, or is it better for fitness to do the distance in a single ride?" I would tell you this. At our age, the most important thing in any exercise regimen is consistency ... doing it every day or at least nearly every day. The gains you get won't be dramatic, but at the same time, they will not disappear so quickly either.
I used to ride 34 miles ot work and back every day. And because I did it every day, it really was no challenge whatsoever to do it. If I had a race or a big longish ride coming up, I might ride it a little harder to get into peak shape, but once aquired, that peak condition would disappear rapidly once I stopped doing it. Not so the basic condition I had from riding 34 miles a day. That residual conditioning was long lasting and took literally months of almost no riding at all to dissipate. So no ... don't be a "weekend warrior" or anything of the sort. Go out and do it consistently every day.
Everyone is different, but the last thing I want to do is to start to view riding a bike ... something I enjoy ... as a job. So I really would not respond well to a trainer telling me that I need to follow some kind of regimen where I have some truly arduous ride that I have to do to bump up my conditioning. I'm not that motivated to be fast, and the last thing I want to do is take something I enjoy and turn it into work (been there, done that). So when I finally lost all my conditioning because I was off the bike for months at a time, my goal was not to ride a certain distance or a certain speed. It was just to ride a minimum time, at whatever speed or effort I felt like. If I was feeling it that day, I might hit the hills. If I wasn't, I might just roll along the beach and admire the bikinis. But in either case, I would ride.
Be patient. Do that and you'll build up your endurance. And if you like, once those rides become trivial to you, you can try extending the time or trying some challenging rides. And you'll also have a level of conditioning that will not disappear so fast. If you have a challenging ride planned, by all means, take the previous day off. You'll be surprised how much stronger it makes you feel when you hop back on the bike.
About losing the belly: As others have said, you can't ride yourself into losing weight (absent very unusual circumstances), as your appetite will increase. To lose weight, you really have to focus on eating less or eating better. I try to focus on eating foods that are better for me and less calorie laden. No one ever got fat eating plain oatmeal or broccoli,