Mountain Biking Adventure in Inner Mongolia

I've ridden on and off casually for the last couple years and am looking to become more serious about cycling. It seems that a lot of the advice out there is for absolute beginners or experience cyclists looking to compete - I'm a bit between the two.
 
Over the last three months I've been riding 3-5 days a week doing 50-100 miles a week. Fairly steady rides averaging between 18 - 20 mph. I'm sure I have 5 pounds that could come off but am generally pretty fit and I'm 29.
 
Two major areas of confusion - equipment and regimen.
 
EQUIPMENT: I currently ride a old aluminum Trek 1000 from the late 80's upgraded the saddle and have newer Shimano pedals/shoes. Bike seems to be in decent shape, didn't have many miles on it when I picked it up and I've maybe put 2k miles on it. Has down tube shifters on it which are are a little annoying. Not very familiar with modern bikes and not sure what to look for in a new bike - probably looking in the $700-$1000 range. Also, short of a new bike, is there anything I can do with my current bike to improve it that I might not be aware of.
 
REGIMEN: Looking to spend 8-10 hours a week riding. Current rides are solo unstructured ranging from 15 - 40 miles. I'm completely lost when it comes to heart rate zone training and looking for direction for the next steps. I have a basic computer but no heart rate monitor. At this point I am looking to increase my overall fitness and speed but not looking to compete (might do a small tri but nothing serious). Any direction or suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks.
 
Chris

Chris, I'd say your next step is to join a club and get into longer group rides. Riding all those weekly miles solo is great for training, but boring if that's all you do. Time to get out and meet some fellow cyclists. You'll learn how to ride in groups, get to enjoy some drafting and informal competition. If you're like me, you'll get all the racing challenge you need just trying to stay with the leaders on Saturday's club ride and make some great new friends along the way.

Thanks for the advice. I've been toying with that idea - there's a local shop that hosts a group that rides my route daily that I've fallen in with on accident before. While I can keep up physically, I do feel self-conscious in a group like that since I'm riding a $250 bike and I know that specialized hobbies breed gear snobbery - but I should probably just man up and get over it.

FWIW -I know what you are talking about in being self-conscious about your bike, but in truth I've found that other people will generally be less critical of you than you are of yourself. And if you are riding in the 18-20mph range you'll have the added satisfaction of going plenty fast on older hardware.
 
And I'm guessing more than a few folks will comment on the old-school cool factor of riding an 80s bike.
 
If some guy on a whiz-bang carbon wonder bike gives you grief just make sure you beat him. (You can go puke in private later.)
 
Ben

Hi, Chris!

I'm one of those absolutely new beginners, having just started biking in July, but I'm also trying to work up my speed and distance. I ride a Pacific Hawaii candy-apple red 3-speed beach cruiser! It's very pretty, lol, and I loved it when I bought it. But now I'm embarrassed, too, when I see other bikers with their oh-so-serious 75-gear titanium-forked gun-metal gray and black mean lean machines. But you know what? The last time I rode down our river trail here, one of the guys on those rode past me, gave me a big grin and a thumb's up, and said "Nice bike." I really don't think he was being mean, I think he was serious, and it made my day. [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/IMG] (I'm still currently shopping for a hybrid to go on a beginner's tour next summer, though.)

What it taught me was to be sure there was no reverse racism in me -- to be sure that I wasn't blaming them for being snobby/elitist, if it didn't actually exist. I guess what I'm saying, lol, is that nobody you should care about would make fun of your bike -- or mine.

Sierra

I ride with one of those "sobby" bike clubs where everyone shows up every week in pristine matching kits, fancy bikes including many identical custom painted "team bikes", etc. Anybody who comes across our ridiculously well-organized rather impressive looking group on the road would be intimidated. But the reality is that we are actually all really nice people! All we care about when someone joins our ride is that they are at least strong enough to hang (or doesn't mind being dropped), and knows how to ride safely. If he/she shows up with retro equipment, it is actually all that more impressive. So, what I mean here, is that looks can be deceiving, and for the most part, cyclists are nice people and not as judgmental as it appears sometimes from the outside!

Riding with groups is a GREAT way to learn handling skills, pack skills, etc. Also, you will meet more experienced cyclists who can give you pointers about everything from equipment, to wardrobe, to group etiquette.

If you get into racing there going to be elitist in the club, it's part of life in almost any hobby, you just have to ignore it and remember: their the small people.

I use to race for 10 years and 5 of those in Cat 3 level with downtube shifters, in fact back when I race we all raced with downtube shifters, so it's nothing to worry about.

If you decide later to buy another bike then take a serious look at the various road bikes that Bikes Direct sells. Sure their not Look or Colnago etc, but you can get really nice bikes with top end Dura Ace components on either Carbon fiber, titanium, or aluminum. I'm personally seriously considering the Motobecane LeChamp Team TI, it comes with all Dura Ace components for cheap considering what Habaneros and Lynskey sell for at least $1,000 more with only 105 or Rival components which are the next cheapest TI bikes I could find.

[FONT= times new roman]Re the fancy bikes; [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]I ride a group ride on my 15 year old SingleSpeed (freewheel) steel framed bike. [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]I’m one of the fastest (when I’m fit) riders in the group and can beat all or most of the other riders up hills and spin out to keep up with them on the flats. [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]People really admire what I can do on it – against their latest and greatest carbon bikes (including one guy on a Wilier Cento Uno Di2 that retailed for $18k here). [/FONT]

[FONT= times new roman]If you’re fast enough and friendly enough – the bike you ride doesn’t matter much but…stuff like sti shifters and light wheels really help. [/FONT]

[FONT= times new roman]BBB[/FONT]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Bigbananabike [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

[FONT= times new roman]Re the fancy bikes; [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]I ride a group ride on my 15 year old SingleSpeed (freewheel) steel framed bike. [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]I’m one of the fastest (when I’m fit) riders in the group and can beat all or most of the other riders up hills and spin out to keep up with them on the flats. [/FONT]
[FONT= times new roman]People really admire what I can do on it – against their latest and greatest carbon bikes (including one guy on a Wilier Cento Uno Di2 that retailed for $18k here). [/FONT]

[FONT= times new roman]If you’re fast enough and friendly enough – the bike you ride doesn’t matter much but…stuff like sti shifters and light wheels really help. [/FONT]

[FONT= times new roman]BBB[/FONT]

Exactly; it boils down to the engine. Lance Armstrong could beat anyone on this forum riding their best bikes while we put him on a Schwinn Varsity!

When I first entered into cat 3 racing I had a cheap 400 series Trek steel frame with mid line Suntour components (back in 1980), and got laughed at because my bike cost me $360 and theirs were over 2k...yet I could still beat them or place at least in the top 5. Needless to say they didn't like that, and in fact had some hatred spill over resulting in some confrontations that got quite heated.

HEY! I LOVED my lemon yellow Schwinn Varsity back in 1972!!!