Hello there

cg.cycle said:

I've been snooping around the site for a while now, so I thought I'd finally register and say hi. Seems like this site may be a little out of my league, but I'll take my chances. 🙂

I've never participated in a race, my bike isn't my only mode of transportation, I have difficulty riding more than 5 miles at a time... blah blah. I'm your ultra casual rider. For now. Sorry if this question should go somewhere else (haven't found that thread yet)... what's the best way to go from casual rider to doing distance rides as exercise? I ship out for boot camp in a couple months and I want to up the riding along with the rest of my training. Thanks for the help!

hey guy, i just want to say that since it's oh so obvious that i suggest you never hang around people who only buy and ride bikes and ride them in circles for years and go nowhere unless it is amongst themselves, which is a slippery slope in itself because look at how far they have gotten (no where at all), so as you never have to go through what i went through with the likes of complete and utter idiots.

try and stay true to why you started riding in the first place and the pieces will eventually fall into place and as i suspect, anyone who tells you any different in your just cause of riding will inevitabely be resourced to the things i am enountering on this site, which is weak and impotent behavior of those who are only out to best themselves as we all can recall from kindergarten but i expected nothing more than just that. you will learn, but i'm sure you already know.

hang in there, ride because you love it and never look back.

and btw, out of your league is nothing more than what you expect of yourself.

and if you want weak and transparent, try teamsmack.org. they are the best of the best at that.

Ya know, that was probably exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes, it just takes someone else to say what you've already been thinking.

And not that I gave any indication, but I'm a girl. 🙂 No offense was taken at the "guy" comment, just clarifying.

Just ride,ride,ride!!

Hey, I'm brand new to riding too, but this is what I've found out so far...
-Make sure you have a decent bike, it's hard to go more than 5 miles on the road if you're riding a bike designed for dirt. You might be able to just change your tires and make the going a lot easier.
-If you have a decent bike, it might need a tune up to get the gears shifting easier and the wheels rolling easier.
-Get fitted to the bike at your local bike shop. Something as simple as your position on the bike could double your ability to ride longer.
-Other than that, just ride. Pick a loop around your house until you get used to shifting and handling, then challenge yourself with local destinations, you know, to and from a coffee shop or book store, whatever.
-Lastly, have fun!!

the first time i raced a guy bike for bike, he was on a specialized tarmac and i was on a gary fisher mtn bike with road tires, 1.5 metros. that was 56 miles of fun but i was used to riding that bike on the road.

there's a guy down here in h-town who rides the racer boi ride at west end bikes ( a real down to the nitty gritty , good hearted and earnest bike shop with great riders) called the death ride and he dominates with his mtn bike, that's all he rides on the road from what i've witnessed.

cg.cycle said:

Ya know, that was probably exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes, it just takes someone else to say what you've already been thinking.

And not that I gave any indication, but I'm a girl. 🙂 No offense was taken at the "guy" comment, just clarifying.

Charleston is beautiful but flat...but a lot of fun too. Like Two Wheels said, ride ride ride. If you ride enough, the speed and long range endurance will come to you. Start riding and push your distance every other day. This will build your endurance. On the days that you aren't pushing the distance, just ride a ride that you are comfortable with, maybe throw in a sprint or two to begin working on your speed. There are several great bike shops in Charleston and I am sure that they would be happy to hook you up with a group or two who can help you improve in the areas that you want.

Actually two months is not a lot of time to work with, and unless things have changed a lot, they won't let you have a bike in basic. You will come out of basic with a much stronger core, endurance, and overall strength...and that will help your foundation. Depending upon your branch of the service, you may be able to keep a bike or you may not. If you are Navy, bikes and ships don't go well together. The other branches are OK as long as you have a secure place to store your bike during deployments. Oh, they don't want you keeping your bike in the barracks, you have to keep it out back where it can get scratched, rained on, snowed on, and easily stolen unless you have a good lock that won't rust up when it gets rained on or snowed on. I always snuck mine in except on days when they had inspections.

As for being out of your league, we all have to start somewhere and we all learn. I've been riding for over 40 years and I still learn things every day on this site. Good luck with basic, just do what they say and you will be OK. Drop a post when and if you can and let us know how your doing. My hopes and prayers are with you and thank you for your service to our country!