Getting Back Into Biking

So I did just trade in my old helmet, huge thanks for that tip. I did that on Monday and I got the call today to say it's ready, so I pick it up tomorrow :)

I am wondering though, at the moment I'm cycling around 5 times a week. Am I perhaps overdoing it? Should I rest more to let my body and my quads recover? (I also have knee pain today, but I don't want to talk about medical things and get the thread locked!)
 
I'm guessing what you want is a cross county style hard tail mountain bike, with a good 120mm air fork..

Also good tyres too, and don't under estimate how much your tyre pressures can make a huge difference.

It's worth investing in a good track pump, or what I do.. A cheap £10 track pump and a topeak d2 digital guage.
 
Today was my first real ride on the new bike... wow... I covered 18 segments and made 16 new PR's! I didn't imagine it would make that much difference. I didn't feel I was pushing it that hard (I've got a cold, so thought I was going a little easier) but at the same time, I think my average heart rate was up. One uphill segment, my previous best this year was 11:11 and I did it today in 9:19! I really didn't think the bike would make that much difference!
 
AndyCr15 said:
Today was my first real ride on the new bike... wow... I covered 18 segments and made 16 new PR's! I didn't imagine it would make that much difference. I didn't feel I was pushing it that hard (I've got a cold, so thought I was going a little easier) but at the same time, I think my average heart rate was up. One uphill segment, my previous best this year was 11:11 and I did it today in 9:19! I really didn't think the bike would make that much difference!
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Nice. Your making me jealous cos I tried to buy the 8.8 in medium but its out of stock :(
 
I got my old bike back from Halfords after a service and replacement of back wheel and cassette, new chain, new brakes, new cables and and all round clean up. Felt weird riding it home, but I can keep that should I ever venture to places off road... Things are building nicely though, did just over 10 miles this morning, either side of lifting weights at the gym. 16lbs off in the first month :)

I ask the below again. Maybe I should start a new thread asking about recovery times?

AndyCr15 said:
I am wondering though, at the moment I'm cycling around 5 times a week. Am I perhaps overdoing it? Should I rest more to let my body and my quads recover?
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It's interesting, now I have a HRM plumbed into my Wahoo, it gives me a 'Relative effort' score for each ride. After today's ride I've hit 145 for the week and it tells me - "You're building fitness nicely. Try to keep the remainder of the week under 168." Last week I totalled 215, so I guess that means another 168, not stop at 168.
 
My advice, for what it's worth, is not to worry about numbers, or benchmarks, or pbs, or strava, or what your computer algorithm tells you.

Just get out on your bike and enjoy riding it.

Listen to your body. If you feel tired, have a rest for a day or two. If you feel fine, then go out for a ride. Not to beat a PB, or to attack a hill, or to ride a specific segment. But to go out and see the scenery, explore your local area, get lost exploring somewhere new. Find other cyclists at your level, and go for a ride with them. Or don't.


I see way to many people come into and leave my Cycling Club because they burn themselves out. They come in full of energy, full of bravado, spouting this number and that performance. Claiming critical power this, and VO2 max that. Heart rates through the roof, and recovery times through the floor. All of it's ********. As soon as they stop beating pbs or claiming KOMs, they reaslise they don't actually enjoy cycling.

Forget the numbers. Find the enjoyment of cycling. Once you're at point where you feel like you want to TT or Race, then you can start thinking about the metrics. It's more important that you enjoy simply going for a ride, riding with a smile on your face, feeling the freedom of two wheels.

[/end of hippy cycling rant]
 
I guess my problem is, I love the tech involved, I love chasing the PR's and seeing progression. I like to put numbers/ratings to everything, that's how I am. I do see your point, but if I wasn't recording it and seeing how I did, how far I went, did I get any PR's, I'd likely lose motivation. Having said that, the other motivation is that I'm losing weight better/quicker than I ever have before. But again, I have scales that connect to my phone and I can track my weight loss in an app! :)

I definitely see your point and I'll try to accept the joys of cycling more. It's a little like the gym though. I've been going for about 30 years now, I don't enjoy it, but I have decent self motivation I guess and keep going as I know it's good for me and I like the results of it. I suppose as the weather gets better it's easy. I wonder how I'll cope as we head back into winter in a 5 or 6 months time...
 
ShowdownPhil said:
My advice, for what it's worth, is not to worry about numbers, or benchmarks, or pbs, or strava, or what your computer algorithm tells you.

Just get out on your bike and enjoy riding it.

Listen to your body. If you feel tired, have a rest for a day or two. If you feel fine, then go out for a ride. Not to beat a PB, or to attack a hill, or to ride a specific segment. But to go out and see the scenery, explore your local area, get lost exploring somewhere new. Find other cyclists at your level, and go for a ride with them. Or don't.


I see way to many people come into and leave my Cycling Club because they burn themselves out. They come in full of energy, full of bravado, spouting this number and that performance. Claiming critical power this, and VO2 max that. Heart rates through the roof, and recovery times through the floor. All of it's ********. As soon as they stop beating pbs or claiming KOMs, they reaslise they don't actually enjoy cycling.

Forget the numbers. Find the enjoyment of cycling. Once you're at point where you feel like you want to TT or Race, then you can start thinking about the metrics. It's more important that you enjoy simply going for a ride, riding with a smile on your face, feeling the freedom of two wheels.

[/end of hippy cycling rant]
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A really nice post, struck a chord with me as I’ve got back into cycling over the last month or so and popped out at 5:20pm for a quick ride after work, which ended up with my doing nearly 19 miles (mtb) and rediscovering some of the spots I used to hang around and ride as a kid 10-15 years ago :D Ended up getting on at 8:30pm and my flat mate wondering if I’d died in the woods haha!
 
AndyCr15 said:
I got my old bike back from Halfords after a service and replacement of back wheel and cassette, new chain, new brakes, new cables and and all round clean up. Felt weird riding it home, but I can keep that should I ever venture to places off road... Things are building nicely though, did just over 10 miles this morning, either side of lifting weights at the gym. 16lbs off in the first month :)

I ask the below again. Maybe I should start a new thread asking about recovery times?



It's interesting, now I have a HRM plumbed into my Wahoo, it gives me a 'Relative effort' score for each ride. After today's ride I've hit 145 for the week and it tells me - "You're building fitness nicely. Try to keep the remainder of the week under 168." Last week I totalled 215, so I guess that means another 168, not stop at 168.
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Got a Strava account?
Got Google Chrome?

Get Elevate (formerly known as Stravistix), a free plug-in for Chrome. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/elevate-for-strava/dhiaggccakkgdfcadnklkbljcgicpckn?hl=en

Give it your currently known athlete settings, the "fitness trend" will give you an indication when to either ride nice and easy ("recovery ride") or avoid your bike like the plague (when "form" becomes more negative than approx -30), equally when you in theory are rested to challenge your PBs (when "form" goes more positive than approx +10).
 
Well that was quick. Had my new bike nicked already. From my garage... As far as I know, it was never left unlocked and there's no sign of forced entry, so a little confusing. I don't (yet) have any extra locks, so I guess they might have picked the lock???

Got one of those big garage defenders being fitted tomorrow along with a couple of ground anchors and also have a decent Abus D ring lock on it's way.

It's a good job I kept my old bike (and that the thief didn't want that too!) so have been out on that this morning. Wow it feels slow and heavy!

Insurance have moved very quick though, Halfords voucher in my inbox within about 30 hours, so new bike is already on order.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Well that was quick. Had my new bike nicked already. From my garage... As far as I know, it was never left unlocked and there's no sign of forced entry, so a little confusing. I don't (yet) have any extra locks, so I guess they might have picked the lock???

Got one of those big garage defenders being fitted tomorrow along with a couple of ground anchors and also have a decent Abus D ring lock on it's way.

It's a good job I kept my old bike (and that the thief didn't want that too!) so have been out on that this morning. Wow it feels slow and heavy!

Insurance have moved very quick though, Halfords voucher in my inbox within about 30 hours, so new bike is already on order.
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Heartbreaking mate, absolute bar stewards!

Good that insurance have acted so quickly though :)
 
So the bike was replaced and all is well. A neighbour actually had a photo of the person nicking my bike, van reg and happy to be a witness, but the police weren't interested! Outrageous really.

7mJCfFzl.jpg

Anyway, I can't believe how much quicker I'm getting still. I thought it would have plateau'd by now. A couple of days ago I went a route I haven't done for 6 weeks. One particular uphill segment I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had done 11:11 than a 9:19 on the new bike... I did an 8:12 this week!

The weight loss is possibly slowing, but I'm now 2st 2lbs below where I started just over 2 months ago! I've upped my rides to generally be around 10 miles with a couple of 20 mile rides thrown in for measure too.

Someone at work is tell me I really need to get clip in pedals... I think I'm scared of how many times I'm going to fall over with my feet stuck in them!
 
AndyCr15 said:
So the bike was replaced and all is well. A neighbour actually had a photo of the person nicking my bike, van reg and happy to be a witness, but the police weren't interested! Outrageous really.

7mJCfFzl.jpg

Anyway, I can't believe how much quicker I'm getting still. I thought it would have plateau'd by now. A couple of days ago I went a route I haven't done for 6 weeks. One particular uphill segment I mentioned earlier in the thread, I had done 11:11 than a 9:19 on the new bike... I did an 8:12 this week!

The weight loss is possibly slowing, but I'm now 2st 2lbs below where I started just over 2 months ago! I've upped my rides to generally be around 10 miles with a couple of 20 mile rides thrown in for measure too.

Someone at work is tell me I really need to get clip in pedals... I think I'm scared of how many times I'm going to fall over with my feet stuck in them!
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yeah sad that the scum nicked your bike.. I had mine stolen.

Ive beefed up my garage I got those Enfield Garage bolts into the ground. I would also recommend a motion sensor alarm if you have power in your garage. For around £35 it connects to WiFI and sends you a notification on your phone.

I got my HYB8.8 for a bargain £450 like new it was. Anyway I can recommend getting new slick tyres on the bike.. it will absolutely fly.. get some Marathon almotions or Marathon Supreme on it.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Interesting idea, thanks. Hadn't thought about that.
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I did that and it shaved 10mins off a 50min journey *.. and thats with me just going at a normal pace !! The almotions have a really good (low) rolling resistance, check on the rating on Schwalbes tyre website !

* The tyres on the 8.8 are different and a bit slower than the 8.9 but you should still see good returns.
 
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All is going well, my rides have increased in length so my usual route is now about 14 miles. Last week I did around 78 miles in all. I just can't decide about clip ins. Honestly, I think my big fear is falling over when I forget to clip out. Okay, not a huge thing, but I think about if I do it at lights and fall onto a car and the huge ball ache that could be with the driver etc.

I also posted in the power thread about power meters, I like the Vector 3's, but maybe I should just try clip ins first before I shell out £600 on power meters that are clip ins. So, what's the deal with shoes and clip ins? There look to be two types of attachment on the shoe -

ZUZmRq0l.jpg EfKixxWl.jpg

Do I need the right shoe for the pedal I get? I'm sure someone mentioned the Vectror 3's aren't compatible with the Shimanoe or something? I might as well get a system now that I can use if I do get the Vector 3's...

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks :)
 
AndyCr15 said:
All is going well, my rides have increased in length so my usual route is now about 14 miles. Last week I did around 78 miles in all. I just can't decide about clip ins. Honestly, I think my big fear is falling over when I forget to clip out. Okay, not a huge thing, but I think about if I do it at lights and fall onto a car and the huge ball ache that could be with the driver etc.

I also posted in the power thread about power meters, I like the Vector 3's, but maybe I should just try clip ins first before I shell out £600 on power meters that are clip ins. So, what's the deal with shoes and clip ins? There look to be two types of attachment on the shoe -

Do I need the right shoe for the pedal I get? I'm sure someone mentioned the Vectror 3's aren't compatible with the Shimanoe or something? I might as well get a system now that I can use if I do get the Vector 3's...

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks :)
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i started clipping in just over a year ago. I dont think it's the "forgetting to un-clip" bit that causes that much concern. from my experience so far (fell off about 4 times over since i started), it's more like A) I had to do an emergency stop say car or people suddenly cross my path last moment (happened once). B) i unclipped for a traffic light, but misjudge how far i am from the light and ran out of momentum, ended up have to do half of pedal stroke on the unclipped side...except i clipped back in/half stuck in the pedal by accident... This one happened three times, i since then figured out it's because the decathlon pedals are not as good as shimano ones and never look back. touchwood, i havent fallen off for 6 months since the last time lol.

there are a few types of clipless system. shimano make two types: SPD (shimano pedal dynamic) and SPD-SL. SPD are mostly double sided pedals and the cleats are bolted to the shoes via two bolts. The SPD-SL are more designed for road users, they use a 3-bolts design. the normal SPD are more forgiving in the way that they can cope with a lot of dirts and mud stuck under your shoes, hence you see them mostly on mountain bikes and commuter bikes. Also normal SPD sole are normally not as stiff and has a rubber contact at the bottom of the shoes, hence they are abit easier to walk with. You will fine a lot of casual riders use them for this reason. the SPD-SL have slightly bigger contact point and often come with much stiff sole to allow for better power transfer during hard effort. they are almost never double sided to save weight and argubly abit more difficult to clip in from standstill. you will see a lot of road users keep looking down to see if their pedals are in the right position in the process of trying to clip in.

There are other systems out there, like Speed plate, Keo, x-track etc. but most will fit the 2 or 3 bolts system. My understanding is that garmin vector only offer LOOK Keo system, and does not offer 2 bolts cleat design, so you may not have much choices in terms of cleats system. the shimano SPD system and their shoes are quite good for value, so perhaps start with those first then look into getting the power meter. both shoes and cleats seem to wear fair fast for beginners, so i wouldnt try to lock yourself into LOOK Keo system straight away. There are shoes that offer both 2 and 3 bolts pattern, so if the shoes survive long enough then you can convert to 3 bolts.
 
Some great info, thanks. I'll probably search out a few videos now on YouTube. I assume your on Shimano SPD-SL now? Are there two elements then, the clip style itself (how the clip attaches to the pedal: SPD, SPD-SL) and then how the clip attaches to the shoe (2 bolt, 3 bolt)?

Today is kind of my 3 month anniversary of 'getting back into shape' too. I've lost around 3st / 40lbs / 20kg, give or take a couple of lbs. :)
 
AndyCr15 said:
Some great info, thanks. I'll probably search out a few videos now on YouTube. I assume your on Shimano SPD-SL now? Are there two elements then, the clip style itself (how the clip attaches to the pedal: SPD, SPD-SL) and then how the clip attaches to the shoe (2 bolt, 3 bolt)?

Today is kind of my 3 month anniversary of 'getting back into shape' too. I've lost around 3st / 40lbs / 20kg, give or take a couple of lbs. :)
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first picture, the 3-bolt cleat on the left is Look Keo:
https://drivemybike.wordpress.com/2...ing-cleats-on-shoes/?_sm_byp=iVVw258C4w4MPF7R

The 2-bolt cleat on the right is the SPD (not SL version). Shimano SPD-SL also use 3-bolt design.
https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycl...cleats/10782302.html?_sm_byp=iVVw258C4w4MPF7R

X-Track and crank brothers cleats are 2-bolt design

With 2 bolt design, you are relying on the rubber contact point on either side of the cleat (this rubber is part of the shoe). The 3 bolt design, you are walking on the yellow/red/grey small rubber bits on the cleat itself. hence, you can walk fair abit longer with SPD. you can see in that Look Keo, the cleat is quite wron out already.

I have a set of SPD-SL but i generally use SPD for 99% rides (i dont really do time trial/triathlon i.e. races where once cliped in, i dont unclip until the very end).

There are shoes that can take both 2 or 3 bolt cleats (but if you use 2 bolt, you are walk on the metal cleat itself which will get detroyed quite quickly):
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1093/4054/products/Bottom_1024x1024.png?v=1515524918
 
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