Bikeless Training

TheCycologist said:

Hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this, as I'm new to cycling and am not too sure what to do about my current situation.

My bike is currently getting worked on at the shop and it will be at least a week before I get it back. I've managed to get myself into pretty decent cycling shape and don't want to lose the hard training I've done thus far. So my question is this, what can I do over the next week or two (without a bike) to minimize the lost training time and subsequent recovery from so much time off?

Thanks,
BG

Borrow a bike.

TheCycologist said:

Hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this, as I'm new to cycling and am not too sure what to do about my current situation.

My bike is currently getting worked on at the shop and it will be at least a week before I get it back. I've managed to get myself into pretty decent cycling shape and don't want to lose the hard training I've done thus far. So my question is this, what can I do over the next week or two (without a bike) to minimize the lost training time and subsequent recovery from so much time off?

Thanks,
BG

I would think that you could either run or swim as both seem to be good for cardio fitness. Friel's website had the following information for Training while travelling which my apply ultrafit.com%2311 Travel.docOpen ↗.

Thanks for the input guys. I might be able to fix up an old mountain bike I have lying around just to get the legs going.

The article was helpful, a little weight training and running will probably help things quite a bit as well.

I appreciate all the help again, keep posting if you've got other suggestions. 🙂

~BG

TheCycologist said:

I appreciate all the help again, keep posting if you've got other suggestions. 🙂

Buy another bike. You can never have too many, you know, and anything less than 3 or 4 is just too few. 🙂

If you can't borrow a bike, AND budget doesnt dictate buying another one, AND a pool is nowhere in sight, THE best thing is to put on your running shoes and run! When I'm on vacation or something that wont allow me to cycle in any way, running is the best thing to keeping in shape or at least not lose the fitness already gained. You do have a running shoes, don't you?

Good luck!

TheCycologist said:

Hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this, as I'm new to cycling and am not too sure what to do about my current situation.

My bike is currently getting worked on at the shop and it will be at least a week before I get it back. I've managed to get myself into pretty decent cycling shape and don't want to lose the hard training I've done thus far. So my question is this, what can I do over the next week or two (without a bike) to minimize the lost training time and subsequent recovery from so much time off?

Thanks,
BG

O.K.
Here is the truth.
Rest is good as it allows your body to benefit from previous effort. Do not underestimate the power of doing nothing.
After enough rest, anything is better than nothing. Aerobic fitness can be maintained by whatever gets you out of breath or makes your muscles tired. Walk. (For hours.) Run. Climb stairs, go to a gym and get sweaty, it does not have to be cycle specific to be of use. Upper body exercises are good not because they help you cycle but because they fill in the bits that cycling leaves out.
The specicifity of your training depends on your goals but anything that raises your general level of fitness is better than hibernating until you get your bike back.

frenchyge said:

Buy another bike. You can never have too many, you know, and anything less than 3 or 4 is just too few. 🙂

I have one and I get tired before it does.

tanggoman said:

If you can't borrow a bike, AND budget doesnt dictate buying another one, AND a pool is nowhere in sight, THE best thing is to put on your running shoes and run! When I'm on vacation or something that wont allow me to cycle in any way, running is the best thing to keeping in shape or at least not lose the fitness already gained. You do have a running shoes, don't you?

Good luck!

And if you don't, a good pair or running shoes only costs about twice as much as a cheap bike.

TheCycologist said:

Hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this, as I'm new to cycling and am not too sure what to do about my current situation.

My bike is currently getting worked on at the shop and it will be at least a week before I get it back. I've managed to get myself into pretty decent cycling shape and don't want to lose the hard training I've done thus far. So my question is this, what can I do over the next week or two (without a bike) to minimize the lost training time and subsequent recovery from so much time off?

Thanks,
BG

Go to a different bike shop. Unless the bike's unrideable without a special order part, you should be able to book it in for same day service and not be without your bike for more than 12-24 hours. If your shop won't do this, find another shop. Their lack or organisation likely presages a lack of care with your steed. Of course, if you have done something horrible to a difficult to find part this doesn't really apply.

Roadie_scum said:

Go to a different bike shop. Unless the bike's unrideable without a special order part, you should be able to book it in for same day service and not be without your bike for more than 12-24 hours. If your shop won't do this, find another shop. Their lack or organisation likely presages a lack of care with your steed. Of course, if you have done something horrible to a difficult to find part this doesn't really apply.

I believe this falls under the "something horrible" category. I completely stripped the inside of my left crank arm. It's essentially smooth inside, apparently so much so that they couldn't re-thread it🙄. I almost pulled the trigger and got a new crankset, but decided against it. Bike shops tend to gut you on pricing. Wish I knew how to install, I could upgrade from Bontrager Select to something better for about $100. Looks like I'll end up paying $60 at the bike shop.

What I don't understand is that they're a Trek shop and stock 1200's, why can't they just pull a crank arm from the back, slap it on my bike and order a new crank arm to replace the one they took out of the box?

This is my first road bike, I've had it for about 2 1/2 months. After 700 miles I've already had squeaking in the bottom bracket, a bent frame (apparently bent out of the box), subsequent shifting problems from the bent frame, and now this. I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE :eek: .

Thanks for all the help guys. Oh, I pieced together a workable MTB to ride on in the meantime. Inner tubes for MTB's are a lot more expensive than for road bikes, I was a little surprised by that for some reason.

~BG

TheCycologist said:

I believe this falls under the "something horrible" category. I completely stripped the inside of my left crank arm. It's essentially smooth inside, apparently so much so that they couldn't re-thread it🙄. I almost pulled the trigger and got a new crankset, but decided against it. Bike shops tend to gut you on pricing. Wish I knew how to install, I could upgrade from Bontrager Select to something better for about $100. Looks like I'll end up paying $60 at the bike shop.

What I don't understand is that they're a Trek shop and stock 1200's, why can't they just pull a crank arm from the back, slap it on my bike and order a new crank arm to replace the one they took out of the box?

This is my first road bike, I've had it for about 2 1/2 months. After 700 miles I've already had squeaking in the bottom bracket, a bent frame (apparently bent out of the box), subsequent shifting problems from the bent frame, and now this. I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE :eek: .

Thanks for all the help guys. Oh, I pieced together a workable MTB to ride on in the meantime. Inner tubes for MTB's are a lot more expensive than for road bikes, I was a little surprised by that for some reason.

~BG

I agree with Roadie, you should go to a different bike shop. Is this the same one that sold you a bent bike? They should replace it.
Cranksets are not hard to remove and fit. You just need the right tool, and it is not expensive.