Hi - I'm new here!!!

Let me be the first to say, welcome aboard & good luck in all your endeavors. Training regimins, excersizes, eating habits, etc... are exstensively covered in here. These can all be found via the search function - if you can't find it someone will generally be glad to help you out. Another great source of help & encourgmnet is your LBS & rides / riders that you can find in your area. I measure my progress via an Excel spreadsheet & I also utilize bikejournal.com - you can track your progress along with others. Good luck

SLS said:

Let me be the first to say, welcome aboard & good luck in all your endeavors. Training regimins, excersizes, eating habits, etc... are exstensively covered in here. These can all be found via the search function - if you can't find it someone will generally be glad to help you out. Another great source of help & encourgmnet is your LBS & rides / riders that you can find in your area. I measure my progress via an Excel spreadsheet & I also utilize bikejournal.com - you can track your progress along with others. Good luck

Thank you for the response - glad to see there are others here offering me that encouragement I'll need in the first few weeks as the going gets tough :-) I've been browsing around the various forums here and I am finding them very helpful. My most pressing need is to get a computer (I have opened a thread on the Cycling Equipment forum).

For my rowing and treadmill workouts I have maintained a spreadsheet for a number of years now and will probably just extend that for my bike work (this is why I need the computer - I am SO much better when I see numbers!!!). That said, bikejournal.com looks interesting - thanks for the pointer.

I bought some shorts today from Performance Bikes. No idea what they are (don't recognize the brands yet) but they were reduced from $59 to $41 and they are very nice! I certainly had an easier ride this evening (just went out for a couple of miles to ease my butt into this new world!!!). I got the baggy type - despite my enthusiasm for this new hobby I am not yet at the stage where I feel comfortable emphasizing my crown jewels!!! :-) Not much to highlight anyway...

So, it's fun so far and, frankly, I can't wait for the weekend. Although I don't plan to go crazy I think I'll put in a somewhat longer ride (out towards Duvall and Carnation, which are east of where I live and out in the countryside). One day I hope to go past those locations to Fall City, Snoqualmie and onwards towards the mountains. Who knows where it'll end :-)

Thanks again!

Mark

Markwill

Welcome! 🙂

Welcome. Happy riding! 😄

Powerful Pete said:

Welcome. Happy riding! 😄

welcome and happy riding!
make sure you invest in some Gels and water for long rides
and padded shorts/bibs

markwill said:

Well, I got the bug rather quickly. I have, for some time, harbored a desire to get a decent road bike (actually, a couple of years or so) but that always took a back seat to other "needs" (generally, electronic equipment!!!). Well, you can add me to the list of people that Lance Armstrong has got interested in cycling. I have been watching his attempt at the 6th Tour De France and found myself fascinated (this was also helped by finding a buddy at work who is familiar with the various nuances and has been bringing me up to speed). Well, I have been getting up early (I live near Seattle) to watch OLN coverage. Really enjoying it...

Anyway, on Friday I went down to the local Performance Bikes store with that buddy and he showed me the ropes. I have VERY low self discipline and spent Friday evening and Saturday researching on the web. The Giant OCR-1 looked pretty good for my needs - so I bought one today (yes, far earlier than I expected). My rather unscientific test drive went very well (this is my first time on a "real" road bike and was blown away at how well it converts the power I supply). Well anyway, after buying (my kids and wife were with me) I cycled to the local park (the others drove) and we gently cycled alone a nice bike trail. However, that wasn't enough for me so I thought I'd give it a shot to get home (12 miles away, thankfully pretty flat). I managed to get home OK. It was rather tiring for me but it was also very enjoyable. Yes, I have the "newbie" aches and pains (particularly my butt - I just had regular shorts and assume I need to fix that soon - and neck ache). I hope and trust these will ease with frequent rides.

My starting point is: age 41 bloke, 5'7" (short-a**!!!) and "OK" kinda fitness (as a rough guide I run 4 miles in 30 mins, although I have no idea yet how that relates to cycling). I row (Concept2 indoor rower) about 7,500 meters in 30 mins (on a good day).

So, what am I looking to achieve? Well, I am not too sure. I have a VERY quantative brain (sadly so, actually) and get good motivation from competing against myself. So, I'll be on the lookout for a good computer soon. I don't think I'll ever get to the stage where I want to race (although never say never!). But I have been very attracted to the notion of some rides around the lovely Pacific Northwest when I've seen other cyclists over the past couple of years. I guess if I had any form of definition of "success" right now it would be one day doing a 100 mile ride. I have no real sense of whether that is realistic at this point in time - we'll see. I also need to find some buddies with whom I can enjoy our area. Oh, and I'd LOVE to get the point where steep or long hills seem vaguely possible (as opposed to downright scary as they are right now - I cannot handle any hill of significance yet).

So, my new hobby is under way. Thanks Lance... :-)

Mark

howya, and welcome. 😄

Hi Mark! You picked an excellent bike!

I think you'll find that all your aches and pains will diminish after a few rides. It's amazing how quickly the body acclimated to cycling compared to similar sports, because unlike running, there's no "injury" to overcome. It's just getting your muscles used to being used in a way they're not used to (did that sentence make any sense at all?).

In a few weeks, you should notice a significant improvement in your performance, and you'll start wanting longer distances. I think you're going to have a lot of fun, and this is a sport you can enjoy well into your later years.

As for shorts, the Performance Elite Multi-Layer short is a great short at a good price. Give it a lookie next time you're in the shop.

markwill said:

Well, I got the bug rather quickly. I have, for some time, harbored a desire to get a decent road bike (actually, a couple of years or so) but that always took a back seat to other "needs" (generally, electronic equipment!!!). Well, you can add me to the list of people that Lance Armstrong has got interested in cycling. I have been watching his attempt at the 6th Tour De France and found myself fascinated (this was also helped by finding a buddy at work who is familiar with the various nuances and has been bringing me up to speed). Well, I have been getting up early (I live near Seattle) to watch OLN coverage. Really enjoying it...

Anyway, on Friday I went down to the local Performance Bikes store with that buddy and he showed me the ropes. I have VERY low self discipline and spent Friday evening and Saturday researching on the web. The Giant OCR-1 looked pretty good for my needs - so I bought one today (yes, far earlier than I expected). My rather unscientific test drive went very well (this is my first time on a "real" road bike and was blown away at how well it converts the power I supply). Well anyway, after buying (my kids and wife were with me) I cycled to the local park (the others drove) and we gently cycled alone a nice bike trail. However, that wasn't enough for me so I thought I'd give it a shot to get home (12 miles away, thankfully pretty flat). I managed to get home OK. It was rather tiring for me but it was also very enjoyable. Yes, I have the "newbie" aches and pains (particularly my butt - I just had regular shorts and assume I need to fix that soon - and neck ache). I hope and trust these will ease with frequent rides.

My starting point is: age 41 bloke, 5'7" (short-a**!!!) and "OK" kinda fitness (as a rough guide I run 4 miles in 30 mins, although I have no idea yet how that relates to cycling). I row (Concept2 indoor rower) about 7,500 meters in 30 mins (on a good day).

So, what am I looking to achieve? Well, I am not too sure. I have a VERY quantative brain (sadly so, actually) and get good motivation from competing against myself. So, I'll be on the lookout for a good computer soon. I don't think I'll ever get to the stage where I want to race (although never say never!). But I have been very attracted to the notion of some rides around the lovely Pacific Northwest when I've seen other cyclists over the past couple of years. I guess if I had any form of definition of "success" right now it would be one day doing a 100 mile ride. I have no real sense of whether that is realistic at this point in time - we'll see. I also need to find some buddies with whom I can enjoy our area. Oh, and I'd LOVE to get the point where steep or long hills seem vaguely possible (as opposed to downright scary as they are right now - I cannot handle any hill of significance yet).

So, my new hobby is under way. Thanks Lance... :-)

Mark

Welcome to the forums and the world of cycling! I'm a former roadie and Washingtonian (Bellinghamster). I just switched from a road bike to a recumbent. No more aches and pains! What's more I'm jast as fast on the recumbent as I was on the road bike, except for climbing. It's not harder, just slower thanks to a nice granny gear.

As you aclimate to your new bike you should find longer distances easier as well as hills. Good luck in conquering the Cascades!

Also into electronics as well. Ham radio, and I'm an engineer.

'bent Brian

izzodesh said:

welcome and happy riding!
make sure you invest in some Gels and water for long rides
and padded shorts/bibs

Thanks for the welcome, izzodesh. Yes, I have padded shorts. I still have a few "issues" there but things are generally improving and it's not a cause for concern any more. Can you expand on what you mean by "gels"?

Thanks again.

Mark

cydewaze said:

Hi Mark! You picked an excellent bike!

I think you'll find that all your aches and pains will diminish after a few rides. It's amazing how quickly the body acclimated to cycling compared to similar sports, because unlike running, there's no "injury" to overcome. It's just getting your muscles used to being used in a way they're not used to (did that sentence make any sense at all?).

In a few weeks, you should notice a significant improvement in your performance, and you'll start wanting longer distances. I think you're going to have a lot of fun, and this is a sport you can enjoy well into your later years.

As for shorts, the Performance Elite Multi-Layer short is a great short at a good price. Give it a lookie next time you're in the shop.

Thanks cycewze. I am seeing those aches and pains diminish, as you say, although I have new ones :-) Nothing to worry about though, as far as I can tell, more just newbie issues!!!

I am actively using my Polar S720i specifically to measure performance improvements. My thinking is that my performance will increase most in the first few weeks/months and, for that reason, I want to capture the baseline. I haven't yet completely deciphered the various reports and what they mean (for example, I was surprised to learn from another thread that maximum heart rate decreases with improved fitness). But when I do figure it out at least I'll have the data :-)

Thanks again.

Mark

bentbrian said:

Welcome to the forums and the world of cycling! I'm a former roadie and Washingtonian (Bellinghamster). I just switched from a road bike to a recumbent. No more aches and pains! What's more I'm jast as fast on the recumbent as I was on the road bike, except for climbing. It's not harder, just slower thanks to a nice granny gear.

As you aclimate to your new bike you should find longer distances easier as well as hills. Good luck in conquering the Cascades!

Also into electronics as well. Ham radio, and I'm an engineer.

'bent Brian

Thank you Brian. I am very happy with my bike (apart from a difficultly getting onto the big chainwheel but that probably just means I need to get along to Performance Bikes for a tuneup). At this point, I am actually enjoying the hills - imagine :-)

I work for a large software company (in a place called Redmond :-)) so have a bent towards the software side of things. I am interested in the fact that the data from my Polar S720i is a straight text file - and may start playing around with an app to use that data at some point.

Thanks again.

Mark

Thanks to all those who have replied - it helps to know that there are others out there who can help :-)

I am enjoying my riding a great deal. In the three days I had my computer last week, I racked up 48 miles and have 71 so far this week (I would like to top 100 miles for the week, which ends on Saturday with the Polar calendar). I have a 24 mile commute (round trip) which I plan to do once a week (mainly restricted by the logistics of bringing clothes/towel, etc in the previous day - I want a light ride and don't to have a bunch of stuff in a bag). I also have a work friend (who joins me for the commute) who cycles on Saturday mornings. I am hoping he'll be up for a longer, slower ride this weekend (my rides are typically in the 14-18 mile range so far but I'd like to see how 25 miles feels).

Anyway, thanks again. I suspect I'll have many more questions :-)

Mark

markwill said:

My thinking is that my performance will increase most in the first few weeks/months and, for that reason, I want to capture the baseline.

Hmmm, I wouldn't be surprised if your performance didn't increase the most once your body gets acclimated to the bike. It's my experience that the first few weeks/months on the bike are a slow, adaptive time, and once your cycling muscles get "woken up" you'll really start to see gains.

It'll be interesting to see what your experiences are. 🙂

markwill said:

I work for a large software company (in a place called Redmond :-)) so have a bent towards the software side of things.

Ahh. I work for a large logic/memory chip company (in a place called Santa Clara) and have a bent towards the hardware side. Love my Polar though don't use the software that came with it. Blastphemy I'm sure. ;-)

I was rolling on the floor laughing when I read about the shorts- I too made the decision that I was not ready for the Lycra and bought a pair of baggies. I rode them once and loved them so much I went and bought a pair of Lycra, because they had an even better chamois.

Anyway, I get summer off (guess what I do for a living) and thus im trying to ride 20 miles a day. I'm now pushing myself to do it later in the day (today it was 92' when I finished) don't know why...but it feels like more of an accomplishment if it's hot as hell. The wife comes home every day and says, "did you ride around with your package hangin' out again today?".

Anyway- I just started again after a ten year hiatus- it took that long to realize what sitting on my ass and drinkin' beer had done to my body- and I can assure you that next week your butt will stop being sore and those hills will be cake- just ride right up until your not having fun and then go home...next day you will be able to take a little more

Well, a quick update...

I am on a bit of a roll :-) I went out with a buddy of mine on Saturday. He had a prior committment so the plan was ty bike to close to his house (about 10 miles) and then for me to head back home (different route) for a total of 20 miles, which would have been my longest ride. Well, I got lost!!! Actually, I didn't mind at all because I went through some truly beautiful countryside in a delightful valley. I racked up 30 miles (exactly) in the end, and did this in 2 hours 10 mins.

There was a fair number of hills (everything is relative - remember I am a newbie!!!) with a total ascent of 1,940 feet. One section increased 481 feet in 2 miles. Which leads me to my question...

Does anyone know of a handy grade calculator. I have a Polar S720i and love all the stats it throws at me but, as far as I can tell, it won't tell me a a grade (obviously it has the numbers to calculate over any particular part of the course). I'd like to know what sort of grade I covered on Saturday. Anyone have any pointers?

PS: Yes, I know I could calculate this but I prefer a handy calculator :-)

Thanks.

Mark