Getting Back Into Biking

[TallPaul_S]

Get the mtb style shoes and pedals if you're just starting out with clipless, the road shoes are a nightmare to walk in, and the pedals single sided.

Get yourself a pair of shimano m520 or m540 pedals, they'll last years, and then choose your style of spd shoe, there's lots out there!

 

[AndyCr15]

I ordered Shimano ME3 SPD Mountain Bike Shoes and Shimano M424 SPD Pedals. The pedals can, in theory, be used with regular trainers, which is exactly what I need. The shoes look like they'd be okay to go to the gym in too, so I have a few options I guess.

 

[AndyCr15]

Not having a clue what I was doing, it took me ages to get them set up. I basically got a pedal stuck on a shoe too, had to fit it to the bike to be able to use my foot to un-clip it!

Had my first ride, didn't fall off at a junction or something, so all good!

Didn't feel all that different to be honest, unless I actually thought about using the power through the whole circular motion.

The pedals seem ideal though, I think I will be fine using them with trainers to go to the gym.

 

[AndyCr15]

Just to update this, tomorrow will be 5 months since I started cycling and this morning I weighed in at 16st 8.2 lbs, which means I've now lost 5 stone in a day short of 5 months. I plan on eating a little more, at least for a while, to enjoy some slightly naughty foods. I'll keep cycling, which has really picked up recently. I just keep going for longer and longer rides. On Wednesday I went out and did 29 miles before work with my best average speed by far. (In retrospect, it might not have been a great idea as I was pretty tired at work, even people commented on it, but still, I wouldn't have been able to do that at all a few months back.) When I look back at my early rides in March, it's great to see the progression.

Now looking to book a Sportive and some big group rides (Ride London? London to Brighton) for next year. Also have plans for a nice road bike, maybe in March perhaps. (Although I do get impatient and could crack much earlier than that)

 

[mattyfez]

That's a hell of a weight loss, well done!

I'm a bit naughty with food once or twice a week, no harm in that as long as you're eating sensibly most of the time.

 

[garnett]

Just to update this, tomorrow will be 5 months since I started cycling and this morning I weighed in at 16st 8.2 lbs, which means I've now lost 5 stone in a day short of 5 months. I plan on eating a little more, at least for a while, to enjoy some slightly naughty foods. I'll keep cycling, which has really picked up recently. I just keep going for longer and longer rides. On Wednesday I went out and did 29 miles before work with my best average speed by far. (In retrospect, it might not have been a great idea as I was pretty tired at work, even people commented on it, but still, I wouldn't have been able to do that at all a few months back.) When I look back at my early rides in March, it's great to see the progression.

Now looking to book a Sportive and some big group rides (Ride London? London to Brighton) for next year. Also have plans for a nice road bike, maybe in March perhaps. (Although I do get impatient and could crack much earlier than that)

Well done on the weight loss, that's incredible.

Funnily enough I've told myself I can get a new road bike in March too if I hit a weightloss target I've set myself by then.

 

[UTmaniac]

Congrats, that's a huge weight loss in five months!

 

[Josh]

Great effort

 

[AndyCr15]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments.

I'm a bit naughty with food once or twice a week, no harm in that as long as you're eating sensibly most of the time.

That's the great thing with cycling so much. At least twice a week I eat a huge meal. Sunday night is normally one of them, donna meat and chips, battered sausage and chocolate fudge cake. I can often literally see the weight loss pause for a few days after that, but then it drops again from Wednesday onward

 

[mattyfez]

I'm a bit sad, I keep a spreadsheet of my progress. I weigh myself every morning and add it to a bar graph as it's interesting to see daily fluctuations, based on how good/naughty I've been, can fluctuate up or down by about half to 2/4 a kg some days.
But I also take the average from each week to overlay a line graph, and I take this weekly average to be my actual weight as somedays u might be retaining more water etc.

 

[AndyCr15]

I'm similar, but I let software do the hard work for me. I use Withings as they monitor my weight, sleep and blood pressure through different connected devices. I weight myself the same time every morning (straight out of bed) and you do see some days it goes a lb or so against the grain of where you expect it to be. Usually comes back in a day or two (like after a huge big meal). On their site you get a graph showing your pattern and I get a weekly email telling me my average weight for the week.

 

[AndyCr15]

It's not news now as it's been documented in other threads, but I feel like I should keep this thread updated with new events So, I bought a new bike this week -



I've only ridden it a couple of times so far, but loving it so far. Very responsive, great breaks, love Di2 gears, really comfy and seems to be pretty fast too

In other news, I found out a couple of weeks ago I was named the John Lewis Partnership Cyclist of the Year and I've been put forward to Halfords national competition and could win an eBike. I won't hold my breath, but the recognition is nice still.

Also, I've not been cycling as much since it's been getting dark early and cold and wet far more often, but I've found I can jog now I'm lighter. (Back and knee problems have always meant I certainly couldn't go jogging) I've been running quite a bit over the past few months but certainly don't enjoy it like I enjoy cycling. Maybe part of it is I've not seen the drastic speed improvements I've seen when cycling. I guess I've started jogging and a decent weight and level of fitness, so there's not as much to improve.

My weight loss has been interesting over the Christmas period and my birthday a few weeks back. During both I ate really very badly and peaked back up at 16st on Jan 1st, but weighed back in at 15st 3lbs this morning.

 

[Trox]

Nice bike Andy, I'm a little tempted to get a new bike this year and a canyon is high on the list. Just out of interest how did you find buying from Canyon and did you use Canyons size guide?

 

[AndyCr15]

Canyon have been great so far. I ordered Sunday evening and I got an email saying it would be dispatched at some point in the week starting in 7 days. On Monday night realised I wanted them to send me a mount for my Wahoo, so contacted their customer service asking if they could charge me for the mount and send it with the bike to save postage. On Tuesday morning they replied saying my bike had been shipped already! But, they would send me out the mount and remove the postage costs! Can't say fairer than that! I then asked a few other questions about the Di2 system and they were generally very responsive and helpful. So far, so good!