karan733

Morning all

Ive been lurking here a while but finally been enticed into posting for the first time today!

I have recently picked up a second hand bike to start commuting to work because I'm a good way overweight (~210/95kg..should be about 170/75). Ive been cycling the 4.5mile each way to work for the past week or so. Reading all the posts in here about the best way to get things done has really opened my eyes!

Couple of things I wanted to ask to see what you all thought about them...

Stretching?

Being a relative newbie to the world of commuter cycling, my thighs have been burning for the last few days/week. Now its all well and good seeing them building muscle mass, but what sort of pre and post commute stretches would you recommend to help with the burn? or do you just live with the burn?!

Climbs!

Theres only one climb on my route, on the way to work, of 250 ft elevation for about half a mile. And I cannot overcome it. I just havent found a good way to tackle this thing without it winning half way through. Tried low gear and spinning, higher gear and mashing. Even tried out the saddle but couldnt sustain it. So I was really hoping for some pearls of wisdom of how to approach climbs ( I know this is a small one, which is why its so frustrating!)

Eitherway, its been nice to finally post on here and join in the fun!
Karan

CB HI

Stretching is good, but may not help with the soreness. Try massage and/or Icy Hot (or similar heat cream).

Ride up as far as you can for now, using a low gear and then walk. Each week or so, as you get stronger and lighter, you will make it up farther until that hills is easy.

labelcd6

Welcome and congrats on deciding to commute!

scoatw

Read this. https://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm. Get a mirror and ride safely.

Pobble.808

Congrats and welcome!

I don't know about stretching, but certainly when you aren't used to exercising you are going to feel sore for a while. Your muscles need some rest time to recover. If you commute M-F, do you feel the burn more at the end of the week than at the beginning? If you still feel it even after you've had some recovery time, there may be something else going on and it may be time to check with the medicine men/women.

On the climb, I would just try to go a little bit further each day, even if it's just a couple of feet more. That way you'll enjoy the feeling of seeing steady progress, and it's only a matter of time til you make it all the way up. But no need to force it if you feel like you just don't have it on a particular day -- the day after that you should be able to go further again.

Go get 'em -- and enjoy the ride!

cruzMOKS

250 feet in 1/2 mile is a steep hill. About 9% I would not be worried about walking up part of that as a newbe. You are doing great. Keep at it.

One thing you could do if it is safe without much traffic, is to criss cross up the street to cut down on the steepness of the hill.
2 Stand up on the pedals for a short time but sit back down before you are exhausted.

FreddyV

I don't think stretching is needed before a ride, muscles will loosen up during the first mile, no big issues.

In the road bike section of these forums you might get a tip about climbing. 1 Minute out of the saddle standing up, 2 minutes in the saddle.
My experience has taught me that people like us (overweight, I have the same issue) should stand for 30sec, and sit for 1min. You can build up from there.

I started commuting on a steel 1986 Raleigh Marathon. The bike was just keeping me down from the start, so it took me about 3 months to decide I would get a lighter, aluminum road bike to crank up the speed and cut down on the travel time. Right now I ride a 2002 Giant OCR and am loving every second of it. It cut my 32 mile (round trip) down by 20 minutes, to 110 minutes and is actually keeping me within the hour one way.
One thing I learned is that it actually is pretty addictive riding a bike for such a distance. It clears the head, keeps the body in shape, even though the air is polluted on this side of the country. I love it, and I think you'll do too.

colleen c

If your body gets too sore from your commute, then perhaps you may want to cut down to four days of week taking a rest on Wednesday until your body is used to it. Stretching help loosen up the body but does little for sorness from the work out. I do some limted of stretching in the morning while I'm still in bed because I have a weak back and hate having it snap on me while I do the morning commute. My routine consist of pulling my knee to my chest and hold it there for a while then slowly swing it to my left and right. Then I do the same with the other knee. This may do very little for your thigh burning, but if it is a result from sorness, then perhaps a nice hot soaking bath in the evening may help.

Climbing hill on a bike is hard as it is and even harder when you are commuting or touring assuming you will have some things you have to carry on your bike. Any extra weight will slow you down that much more. If you are carrying your stuff to work, you may want to try that same hill on a day off with the bike empty to see what cadence your comfort level is for tackling that hill. Keep working that hill every with the unloaded bike until you conquer it then start adding some weight to your bike. It won't be long before you can do it. One more thing about hill climbing, try to concentrate all energy into pedaling and not wasted energy such as gripping your handle bar tight nor trying to speed up too much before a long hill.

You mention a new bike, that being said, you may look into how you got the seat setup and all that good stuff that goes along with setting up a new bike which you may or may not be used to it by now.

swwhite

Stretching is very important just for general physical maintenance, not necessarily related to riding a bicycle. I have developed a few aches and pains (knee and neck), gone to the doctor, and come away sometimes with drugs and sometimes without, but always with a list of stretches to do. When you have things like repetitive stress (biking) and inactivity (sitting at a desk, or bent over on a bike), things get stiff, or unbalanced in interesting ways, or pulled out of proper alignment, and pain can develop.

tsl

Riding this route for only a week? You're doing great! Be patient and give it time.

I don't know what your starting point was, but I went from absolutely sedentary to riding to work all at once. It took a month before I could ride all the way without resting--three months before my legs didn't hurt all the time. And my commute is flat!

As for the hill, that sounds like one of my training hills. I'm glad it isn't on my commute. Just keep at it. Try for ten yards or one yard or just one foot further every day. After a while, you'll be riding to the top.

The important thing is that it takes time. So give time time. And enjoy the process. And the rides.

AndrewP

Climbing - when you stand on the pedals shift up a gear or two, than shift back down when you sit again. Unless the last part of the ride is uphill, take it real easy in that last half mile - keep the feet moving around with the pedals but dont put any effort into it. The movement keeps the blood flowing through the muscles and flushes out the lactic acid.

karan733

Thanks for all the tips over the past couple of days. Managed to get up the hill without walking today - although I did have to stop for a quick drink halfway through. Really buzzing and I think ive caught the biking bug again! Just gotta keep this up all week and forget about the painful bum!