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Ben B
Yahoo User
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 Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:47 am Post subject: New to Cycling - Advice wanted!? |
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| I have just got myself a 2007 Trek1000 for my daily commute to work. It is just over 7 miles and very hilly (Yorkshire dales). I am currently completing this in just over 30 minutes with an average speed of 13mph. What advice would you give me to ensure I can get fitter and 'better' times etc.I try and keep a high gear (? Harder to peddal!) but what else would you advise to improve my speed and fitness. I have heard it is better to try breathing through my nose but don't know if this will help. Any advice for a newbie would be great.Thanks |
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ohiojeff
Yahoo User
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:02 am Post subject: |
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| first, you want to spin, not push. harder to pedal is not a good thing. it will damage your knees and actually slow you down in the long run. what you are looking for is to use a gear that allows you to spin up the hills as much as possible. also, dont get hung on on speed too much. you have to consider the terrain you are in. lets face it in hard hills you spend a lot of time climbing, and only seconds going down to the next climb. that has a way of just killing your average speed. |
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PK
Yahoo User
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| The bike has a lot of gears for a reason. Lower ones are for climbing hills and the higher ones are for flats and downhills. The longer you ride, you will increase your strength and aerobic endurance unless you screw up your knees and hurt yourself.P |
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Ride!urban
Yahoo User
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| Keep riding and you'll get the fitness and strength naturally - sounds like you have an awesome training route!! If you ride that a couple times a day and vary your pedalling routine, your body is going to react quickly and your performance will improve by leaps and bounds. Spinning vs. mashing depends on your goals and on your bike fit. You do want to be careful not to hurt your knees, but if you're reasonably fit physically and if your bike setup is proper, then you can mash up some hills and be fine. You'll gain more muscle faster and it's a harder workout. It's not cycling-proper to mash, but many people actually focus on this when hill training because it works. Just don't push too big a gear to where you put undue strain on the chain and chainrings up front....they'll wear out faster and you could snap a chain someday. Spinning quickly is something you should also do.....the lower impact is great for endurance and cardio fitness, and it'll use energy much more efficiently so that you can stay in the saddle all day. If your cyclocomputer has cadence, try to keep it from 85-95 most of the time, but work up to 100+ on occasion and hold it there. On the uphills, many people select a gear that will keep them in the 80-85 range, but that won't get your power strength training anywhere, so just do what you feel like.As far as breathing goes, just suck in as much oxygen as you can, any way you feel like it. If your body is using oxygen efficiently and your fitness makes you feel ok with it, then you can practice exhaling through your nose only, or exhaling slowly. If you're working hard, though, just Breathe! Your body may not let you do anything else with it anyway when it's under load in the hills.Mix up your rides, or incorporate both types of pedalling into your commute every day. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy rolling! Fitness will come naturally since you're riding frequently in hills! Listen to your body and don't push when you feel your muscles are too sluggish, or when your recovery time is taking longer, etc. If you want to improve, you have to push yourself harder sometimes, but don't get too fixated on it and take the fun out of riding. That's just my two cents on it. |
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