cyclists

Keep the heart up,but pushng a gear that is too hard will blow the leg muscles so spin and the effort in maintaining a certain level is seemingly less.

Heart 140-180bPM (Beats Per Minute) Warm up slowly, start gently for atleast 20 mins and step it up as that time passes... Flatter stuff with then odd climb wll really help.

Warming up and down properly is very important... never push hard straight on the saddle, it is the most common mistake....
Once the muscles have titened... Game over..

On simple terms, your muscles are bunches of fibres. In controlled and correct excersize you are breaking individual strands... You let them heal and break them down again... this is how you become stronger.

However a day off is key and a very gentle ride on the day off of say five miles will stop you getting cramps..
 
right atm I am hitting 3.5 hilly miles a day 20 mins - half hour, pushing quite hard

So need a better route and stick with current bike for now then

What would you recomend for a beginner then on a fairly road biased mountain bike living in cornwall (v steep hills everywhere)
 
photon said:
There are several good old names; whether the bike is in good nick and suitable for you is a different matter. Claud Butler, Dawes, Saracen, Raleigh, Revell, Thorn etc have all made good mainstream tourers.
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cheers buddy, will look at ebay when I've been going a while longer so know more of what I need :D
 
No joke, Try Downhill

The effort of pushing a heavy bike to the top of a big hill is a constant burn on your quads, calves and upper body. And then the run down is good for muscular endurance of calves, quads, biceps, triceps, pectorals etc. It Will also improve our dynamic strength too (y)

I can find a way to link everything to Downhill Mountain Biking, I think I have an addiction, wait, I KNOW I have an Addiction:LOL:
 
Hmm... Get a lift with some mates? If not then, for you my friend, the joys of the world of DH biking will be missed out on!
 
If any of you have an iPhone or and iPod touch have a look at the runkeeper app. There's a free version which does things like track your route on gps and calculate speed. You can also get a breakdown of speed by distance or time increments which can be really helpful. It also tracks climbs and descents to let you know what you're doing. The paid for version adds more statistical evaluation of the work you're doing.
I'm pretty target and results driven so seeing what I did at stages of the ride and how I'm improving really stops me from getting bored and giving in. Having said that I never keep up a routine for long before it slips. I blame the student lifestyle.

I just need to get a better bike now. Currently making do with a crap old mountain bike that I can't get to go over 25kmph in top gear even with a hill in my favour. My speed averaged out at just over 8kmph on the last ride. It also weighs a ton and fits me horribly. At the moment 3km on the hilly terrain around my house and I'm pretty spent because it makes everything such hard work. It's making my efforts feel pretty futile given that I know in the gym I'd be averaging 30kmph and sustaining it for significantly longer and further. I'm taking the positives from it though knowing that I'm getting a similar workout in about a third of the time. Plus the country at 6am is really quite beautiful...much nicer than that fat guy's sweaty arse crack that always finds its way onto the machine in front of mine at the gym :LOL:!
 
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There is a country park near me. Its the sort with paths that are fairly smooth but with gravelly bits (I know what Im trying to say but its difficult to explain). Would I be best with a mountain bike on these sort of paths?

I already have one which Ive not used in years. Or would I be better getting a road bike, or even a hybrid?
 
TriggerHappy said:
I just need to get a better bike now. Currently making do with a crap old mountain bike that I can't get to go over 25kmph in top gear even with a hill in my favour. My speed averaged out at just over 8kmph on the last ride. It also weighs a ton and fits me horribly. At the moment 3km on the hilly terrain around my house and I'm pretty spent because it makes everything such hard work. It's making my efforts feel pretty futile given that I know in the gym I'd be averaging 30kmph and sustaining it for significantly longer and further. I'm taking the positives from it though knowing that I'm getting a similar workout in about a third of the time. Plus the country at 6am is really quite beautiful...much nicer than that fat guy's sweaty arse crack that always finds its way onto the machine in front of mine at the gym :LOL:!
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How much money are you looking to spend? Road bikes vary wildly in price from a few hundred to a few thousand. I got mine for £600, but wouldn't have been able to afford it if I hadn't done it through my ride2work scheme at work. I'm loving it, but not loving the onset of bad weather
 
NikonSimon said:
How much money are you looking to spend? Road bikes vary wildly in price from a few hundred to a few thousand. I got mine for £600, but wouldn't have been able to afford it if I hadn't done it through my ride2work scheme at work. I'm loving it, but not loving the onset of bad weather
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At the moment I'm not sure I'm looking to put any money towards it. Currently I'm at home in the countryside where it's nice to cycle. Come September I'll be back at uni in Bristol and even though it's a cycling city it's just not the same as an early morning ride in the country so I'll return to the gym and do my workouts there instead. If I were to spend some money on a decent bike I think it'd be worth putting £500+ towards it to get something that fits me, will last and will make me want to ride it. At the moment I just can't see it getting enough use to make it worth the spend. If I hold off for a little bit I might be able to benefit from the ride2work scheme as well which would be a huge help!
 
Have you finished Uni Dave, is this a summer job or semi-permanent? If it's semi-permanent why not look at the ride2work scheme? I'm getting the boss to sign the company up now, I'll get £700ish for bike and accessories for £35ish per month for 12 months, massive savings in VAT, Income Tax and NI.

Might be worth a look
 
david1701 said:
do claude butler make good bikes, looking at close racing/touring bikes to me on ebay and there seem to be a few
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To be honest... Not really. they used to be and the road bikes are better generally than the MTBs.

Work out what you want to spend, and whether you want a road bike or mountain..

Then let me know.. Making sure the bike is the right size too..

So... How tall are you....

What is your inside leg with the shoes you will be riding in from the floor to your crotch?....
A mountain bke should have a 3 inch gap between the top tube and your danglies...
 
Is that 3" gap measured on a warm or cold day? That makes a big difference in the angle of dangle!
 
I wouldn't dream of inflicting myself in lycra on the public. In fact, I wouldn't dream of inflicting myself in lycra on a darkenned room at midnight. Unless I'm about to go snorkelling and can't be bothered to apply P20 to my torso!
 
I wore lycra, and while I would never wear it off the bike like some do, on a bike it is the best thing for comfort, though baggy cycling shorts are available with the chamois (SP) insert the tighter fitting of lycra is much better as it doesn't flap about... allowing you to concentrate on the riding..
 
Courtesy of Cycling Weakly

VictoriaPendletonOlympickit2008.jpg
 
Miss Pendleton has bulges in the right places. I do not!
 
I wouldn't put my self down as a hardcore cyclists but I do my normal commute to work which is 7 miles each way up & down hills & in the summer months the hard tale comes out so I can go accross the fields and through the woods.

You wouldn't believe the difference a fairly good bike makes to a cheap bike until you ride one. I've got a 2010 Cannondale Disc & for my first hybrid road bike can't fault it, its lite & feels solid on the road and I can ride alot faster then when i had my hard tale which is a GT Aggressor XCR 2010 got both bikes on the cycle to work scheme :) £1000 each :p.
 
Nod said:
Miss Pendleton has bulges in the right places. I do not!
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but no breasts :p

I have a pair of lycra shorts cos of the padding but I don't stop/see people when I cycle and If I'm likely to I'll put other shorts over

as to buying I'm gonna ride for a few months and work out what I want first

No ride to work - no work :s
 
Do they make either cycling shorts or boxers designed to go under shorts/trousers? Similar to the compression shorts you get for football but with padding? I refuse to join the ranks of lycra clad cyclists :LOL:
 
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