first ride

Great feeling isn't it. 😄

Don't despair I too was the same on the old road bike many years ago. I gave it up for about 3years after regulary doing 10 ks a ride thinking that was good, then following a knee reconstruction, putting an end to my footy, I took up the bike again and now, work permitting ride between 200-280km a week and love it and if I could, I would ride more.

I now have all the gear and I live by the saying "if you can't be one at least look one" . Those with hairier legs, older bikes, wearing the tracky dacks and the like still pass me but I dont give a rats. My next step will be to join a club or bunch rides.

Skull

after my legs recoverd it felt great, just deff not used to it. put 30ks on it tommorow with a mate who just picked up a norco ccr1, hes in the same boat as me being away from it for awhile

Quoted post said:

200-280km a week and love it

thats my plan, work and back is a 60k loop. fuel is costing me 50bucks a week for the car and i only bring out the motorbike on sundays.

Quoted post said:

now have all the gear and I live by the saying "if you can't be one at least look one" . Those with hairier legs, older bikes, wearing the tracky dacks and the like still pass me but I dont give a rats.

true that, i like trick stuff and hey you gota look the part even if you arnt haha. i dont need a 260dolla helmet, but ill still buy one to look fast 🙄 .

Kind of similar story here, got the same ocr at the end of July, took it out for a spin that night with a mate and ended up doing 20k's! 😄

Since then, tried to get out 2-3 times a week - work and weather permitting. I get the feeling figured out cycling is my addiction, going for a ride is getting a hit, and buying accessories fer my bike is like scoring some crack :P

Its kind of scary to me that i managed to do 500km's in my first month of owning a bike, considering last time i had one was about 13+ years ago and i rode to school on it.

Ash.

when I first started riding, it was an alternative to running and leg weights, so I thought I was pretty fit..... :p

Me and my mate went to the Carnegie velodrome and rode as fast as we could for about 30 mins, speeding up for the last few minutes.

When we got off our bikes, our legs we so wobbly that we could barely stand up, and we both stumbled down the bank of the track and fell onto the grass 😄

There have been other times when I have missed a month or so of riding through illness, and I actually loved that first day back on the bike, even though I could barely breathe -- I was just wrapped to be back again.

Skull said:

Great feeling isn't it. 😄

I took up the bike again and now, work permitting ride between 200-280km a week and love it and if I could, I would ride more.

Skull

How do you manage to do 200-280 Km a week? What are your rides like and how often?

cheers

jetsan said:

after my legs recoverd it felt great, just deff not used to it. put 30ks on it tommorow with a mate who just picked up a norco ccr1, hes in the same boat as me being away from it for awhile...

You know that, when you're suffering, he will be, too. Try to turn your grimace into a cheezy grin so that he'll feel even worse. It takes a lot of the pain out of it when you can make someone else suffer even more.
Whenever I've been off the bike for a while (work / illness / alcohol consumption), I tell myself to take it easy on the first ride. Somehow I never listen to what I tell myself - there's always a holeshot to grab at the lights, or a bus that needs chasing down...dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

Quoted post said:

You know that, when you're suffering, he will be, too. Try to turn your grimace into a cheezy grin so that he'll feel even worse

haha yup thats exactly what we did, a 20k loop around the lake here in canberra and we baited each other the whole way.the hills were fun, fire in the lungs must beat each other fun.
legs feel much better today thats for sure!

jetsan said:

haha yup thats exactly what we did, a 20k loop around the lake here in canberra and we baited each other the whole way.the hills were fun, fire in the lungs must beat each other fun.
legs feel much better today thats for sure!

Congrats on your new bike! I wished I could be cycling around lake burley griffith again! Canberra has nice cycling routes!

I started riding again about a year and a bit ago.

I remember taking the bike out onto the road and riding up a local hill for the first time. My lungs were on fire, my legs felt like they were borrowed from a 8 year old girl. I had to stop twice to catch my breath and consider whether I was sane or not. Only a 10km round trip but it felt like the Alp d'huez.

A few weeks months later I struggled up the same hill again chasing down a mountain biker. As I past him gave a cursury 'It's a tough one hey mate' whilst trying to look like I was just taking it easy. Once past though I wheezed and spun trying to get further and further away. Come on, you've all done it.

Now when I do the same hill it's no easier, although I do get up there in about half the time, strange... 😎

my first few commutes back from work were terrible... I remember many a time when I was so close to getting off and pushing... i was riding a duallie with road rims...

the meadowbank up to eastwood ride, i thought, i would never enjoy and always struggle

BUT, since I've been riding solidly since the start of the year and got myself a flat bar roadie, i have more than doubled my climbing speed and felt fine at the top...

It is this improvement which has made cycling/commuting so satisfying!

... and the awesome thing is, i got so much more improving to go....

i've played all sort of sports, like squash, basketball, volleyball etc... and i get to a point where the improvement seem to be so minor (or i get injured and have to take a break from it), and it just seems to depend on the day how you play....

... there is something about cycling, there is an awesome feeling of freedom when you hop back on... it's something you can't describe... maybe the wind in the hair thing??

Ronanmk said:

How do you manage to do 200-280 Km a week? What are your rides like and how often?

cheers

Easy (sort of). Plan for it. Try to have two rest days, cycling between 40-50ks on the other with every second weekend (not totally commited to this though) doing a 70k ride.

If I don't plan my rides I would never have time to do them with recent change in job and commitment to the kids sport. With time limited on week days, it makes me put more into the ride.