New to riding and have some ?'s

As far as i know what distance you go on a turbo doesnt really matter the more important thing is the time. The last time i went on the turbo i went on for an hour and only did 10 miles yet my heart rate was in my aerobic training zone, so as long as you've got your heart rate at a suitable zone time is more important than distance on a turbo. In terms of the saddle i'd recommend trying a few different ones out borrowing them from your local bike shop until you find one which suits you personally

Thank you for your response.....i will ask my bike shop guys to help me out with the saddle issue.......and it makes me feel better to know that i'm not the only one that can go only 10 miles in an hour on my trainer...i need to check my heart rate though while riding, one thing i forgot.....🙄

pedalpushin said:

Thank you for your response.....i will ask my bike shop guys to help me out with the saddle issue.......and it makes me feel better to know that i'm not the only one that can go only 10 miles in an hour on my trainer...i need to check my heart rate though while riding, one thing i forgot.....🙄

As well as geting a properly fitted saddle, make sure you wear padded cycling shorts for any ride over 10 minutes, especially on the turbo as you tend not to move around on the saddle as much as you would if you were riding on the road.

sounds likr you are just getting started - the bike-butt will subside, however it can be a real pain until those parts get used to the new activity. Bike trainers really do a good job of high lighting how much coasting we really do when we are out on the road...

I'd say a great investment would be a fairly inexpensive Heart Rate monitor, and figure out your heart rate zones I prefer the Karvonen method ( briancalkins.comHeartRate.htmOpen ↗ ) - this will help give you some structure and let you know if you are working hard enough. even though weight loss is you main goal, staying at 60-70% all the time isn't the most effective way to loose weight, be sure to make efforts that will take your HR up to the 70-80% zone.

Once you get the bug - there is tons of great info out there...

HR

Let me second what hooky is saying. Get a HR monitor, work out a training zone, and focus on that, not on the distance covered.

And yes, a pair of decent shorts really help, although your rear end will be sore for a while... gotta train that part of your body too! 😉

The important thing is... NEVER stop riding. If you get the riding blues and stop for a few days you may be in danger of loosing it.

That was my panic when I re-discovered riding 4 years ago... Use it or loose it !

The great day came when I realized at the end of a 3 or 4 hour ride that I did not think "Oh gosh... not another climb" but "Oh YEAH ! Another climb!"

Now I need to ride a lot otherwise I feel low. Ain't life great?

But yeah... Trainer time is important... Try to get distracted as well during a 1+ hour ride... TV and Stereo are my weapons of distraction. A DVD or a tape of some Tour de France stage or some other race... some hard rock music and off I go for hours on end on the trainer when the roads are covered in snow.

As for meeting new people... Try and find a local club. Oftentimes there are other newbies that are in the same position as you. Plenty of help from experienced riders as well.

Keep on riding !