Biking Advice?

pedermj2002

For me, biking seems to be the best cardio I can do. Low impact, and provides a decent workout (my house is in the middle of some hilly terrain, so learning to ride those hills is really working my muscles out!).

That said, I feel like I'm probably doing some things poorly. Any suggestions on how to get the most out of biking my area?

Replies

NorthCascades

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/

This is where people ride bikes. Well, that's not the most accurate way to put it. This is the sum total of ride data that Strava has. Most cyclists don't use Strava, and the ones who do are mostly "for serious exercise" kind of cyclists.

But, this is a fantastic source for ideas where to ride.

kcjchang

If you have an android phone with Ant+, I would recommend IpBike. It can basically do everything a $400+ Garmin can do, and more. It runs natively on Sony Xperia and Samsung S series phones. If not one of those phones, check out Ant+ Enabler if your phone can run Ant+ using the Bluetooth radio. Only downside is your phone's battery life. This was my go to setup, w/Sony Xperia Active, until I started doing over 5 hour rides. Apple is not supported.

Machka9

pedermj2002 wrote: »

Apologies for my delays answering. I had to actually get out there and ride it to find the answer: My legs are what was giving out. I breathe heavily by the top, but it's definitely been my legs giving out. On the very happy note, though, today I made the climb without having to stop!

Climb stairs!

That made a world of difference for me.

As I mentioned, I was a flatlander who moved to hilly Tasmania and struggled with the hills so I needed to find ways I could increase my strength.

Stairs have always been a problem for me, even when I was cycling long distances. First time up 5 flights I probably looked like I needed medical attention. But I kept at it and built up to 35-40 flights a day.

I was cycling during that time too, and gradually I noticed that hills were becoming less difficult ... to the point now where I don't entirely dread them.

In fact, late last summer, I tackled the Mount Wellington climb which is something I never ever thought I'd actually do ... and it was OK.

My increased cycling helped, but I think climbing all those stairs made a big difference to my leg strength.

scorpio516

Sheldon Brown's site is great. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
Unfortunately some of it's getting kinda dated, Sheldon died 8 years ago. Some people still keep it up, and there is a lot of great info there.

Park Tools has a lot of great info on fixing bikes (and trying to sell you their tools to fix bikes). http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/

Books: Zinn and the art of bike Maintenance. Lennard Zinn is a smart guy, and a giant IIRC 6'7", he makes custom big bikes. His books are great reference for repairs and maintenance. He's got a road bike, a mountain bike, and IIRC a tri bike book (but the road bike book has a lot of TT/Tri bike info)

sarahjen92

pedermj2002 wrote: »

Tomorrow, I'm going into a local bike shop and having them take a look at it. Bluntly put, it's a bike I bought at Wal-Mart 10+ years ago. I very much doubt it's worth saving, and they are likely to have issues doing any work on it due to age and the quality of the bike. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask, and could help me out, so I'll ask. Most likely, after I'm done, I'm going to go and get another Wal-Mart one, mainly because they're cheap, the gears will shift how I need them to, and I can keep pushing on rather than waiting for the repair. And considering where I am, even a few days of waiting for it could be bad. I have no other option for it, no indoor trainer, etc.

First, I would suggest going to a bike shop to buy another bike. They often sell used bikes, and I picked up a nice used Scott road bike for $300 (like new, with an original price tag of $800). I would stay away from Wal-Mart if I were you.

Next, what type of riding do you want to concentrate on? Riding the road, or doing trails? I love road cycling, and it sounds like that's what you're doing, so you should get a road bike. You can go further faster, and it's a blast

Whatever you do - DON'T avoid hills! They are what will make you strong. Riding flat all day is easy, hills aren't what make the rider. I love to challenge myself to go faster/harder on different hills, depending on how many miles I want to put in. A shorter route means I'm pumping up hills as hard as I can. Try to keep a faster cadence as well (RPM). The slower/harder you're pushing the pedals, the more pressure you're putting on your joints.

Doing additional weight training will make a huge difference in your power as well. Squats, deadlifts, lunges.

meritage4

I don't know if anyone else has said this but ATTACH your FEET to The PEDALS. The easiest way to do this is a cage-that your foot can slip out of - always reminds me of a saddle stirrup.

Then when going uphill you can PULL your feet up as well as PUSH your feet down. It lets you use another whole group of muscles in your legs.

When you upgrade your bike you might want to consider bike shoes that clip onto special pedals .

pedermj2002

@rileysowner I like using the phone to track what I can, since I already have the phone. Might as well get solid use out of it, right? As of today, I've switched to Strava for tracking my ride. It just does too many things too well, and way better than the Runtastic site does. Runtastic is good, but Strava has blown me away entirely.

@NorthCascades Since I'm not planning on building my own bike from scratch, and definitely don't have the skills to repair actual damage (beyond a flat, most anything will be outside of my capability to fix), I'm not going to memorize everything. But having the information available to actually be able to point to something and say "that spot is a problem" is a good thing to have. Hence why I appreciate all the help you've given me. I'll need time to actually absorb everything, but I have places to start. I think I'll start lurking on bikeforums.net now, too. Might as well see what I can glean there. Thank you.

And thank you as well for pointing out the Strava labs site. That has some really neat stuff there. I'll definitely be perusing it more.

@gjw1911 I'll definitely check out those youtube videos. Are there any specific people you'd recommend I follow, though? Or is it one of those things where personal taste will vary too much, so I just need to experiment and find what I can? As for the bike, I'm seeing a local bike shop in the morning (so around 8 or so hours), and we'll see what happens from there. I might well wind up walking out with a brand new bike.

@kcjchang IpBike/Ant+. Noted. I'll have to see how much I can do with it once I have my basics squared away. After all, if a Bluetooth is connection is needed, then I'm going to need something to connect it *to*, and I definitely don't have that yet.

@machka9 Leg muscle work. You'd think that would have been obvious, but for some reason it wasn't. We have a gym that's less than a mile from my house. This gives me another reason to sign up with them, which I was already thinking of doing come October. Thank you!

@scorpio516 Nice! Thank you. Between you and @NorthCascades, it looks like I have a bit of reading I can do as I learn more about this!

@sarahjen92 I'm seeing some options in a nearby bike shop's website that aren't the wal-mart specials, but are still in the affordable range. I'll be checking them out tomorrow too. One of those might just be coming home with me.

I'm definitely more interested in road biking, though there are some spots around here that I could wind up off-road. I think my main aim will be a hybrid, though I'll "settle" for a road bike only if needed. It's not much of a restriction, really, since I'm designing my routes to stay on the roads so far. And yes, I do have a reflective vest and helmet, and wear them both each time I go out.

Finally, I'm not avoiding hills. Hell, there's only one spot I've seen within an hour of me that's got any kind of flat for more than 100 meters. Avoiding hills isn't an option

I am trying to keep my speed up, but at my current level of conditioning, I'm just happy to keep moving. Once I can reach some actual distance, I'm going to start focusing on getting my speed to a more usable level. My goal there is to maintain about 14-16MPH, I think. At least for now. We'll see how that changes when I reach that goal

@meritage4 They haven't said it, and for the very short term future, I'm debating the wisdom of it for me. I'll need to see how easily I can disengage in the event of a fall before I'll commit to that. Getting tangled up in a fall could be nasty, and I'm not positive I won't do just that yet. Once I have more confidence, though, I'll do just that. It's just a "not right now" thing.

For everybody, thank you. All of this advice *is* being heard, and I appreciate it so much. I can't thank you enough.

canadianlbs

i was where you were (aka first bike since childhood) in 2002, and i've commuted by bike ever since then. but this summer was the first time i've been a bike commuter while my heart really belonged to lifting. so one thing compound weightlifting does, it makes you body-conscious in ways that i wasn't before. fwiw, here's some of the semi-physiotherapy stuff i have learned from the intersection:

- biking disposes you towards internal rotation of your arms, which is bad for your shoulders whether you're obsessed with your overhead press weights or not. some things you can do to counteract pec tighening and front/back strength imbalances: broomstick 'dislocations', pull-aparts with a theraband, y's, t's and 'airplane' holds, waiter's walk, that chicken-wings thing with the upper arm close to your body and forearm at right angles.

- biking can give you tight/short hip flexors; that's the muscles at the front panty-line zone. this can set you up for hip impingement. tight/overwork through the quads can also put pressure on your kneecaps and give you things like bursitis. look for hip flexor stretches and/or things like lunges [ugh] to work against this.

- i.t. band bursitis sucks. so a great thing to do is the 'banana stretch' now and then.

- squishy abs. in my case anyway

planks suck but they do help with reminding them to stay awake. it's better to have abs that are taking in interest while you're on a bike, because they can help to stabilize your pelvis against the force you're putting out through your legs. that saves energy leakage, and also works out much better for your spine because side-to-side pelvic rocking isn't great for your si joint, t/l junction or spine in general.

- i never was able to stand up on the pedals and drive up a hill until i learned how to deadlift. the other thing that made a difference was learning to do turkish getups, and then doing them. ymmv on this one but something about doing deads and tgu's just pulled together the whole concept of how to pull it all together for me.

you don't have to do this stuff. just thought i'd mention it, and most of it should be google-able.

pedermj2002

@canadianlbs Thank you! Those have also been added to my list of things to learn. Today is a busy busy day. Time to get it underway. Hopefully, tonight I can focus on getting some of this detail into my head.

meritage4

So wthe compromise I did on my bike was that I got dual purpose pedals. Flat on one side and clip in on the other. When nervous about terrain etc. I just unclip and ride on flat side.

Start with the "cages" so folks even take the straps off. It's just a simple pull back and your foot is out. At least look at them in the bike store. The extra power when riding is amazing.

rileysowner

I prefer the clips. I had cages on my road bike, but found they held my foot in an uncomfortable position. Switched to platform pedals, then went with a clip in. I wouldn't mind the dual ones where they are flat on one side so I can bike comfortably with street shoes.

MeanderingMammal

pedermj2002 wrote: »

I'm definitely more interested in road biking, though there are some spots around here that I could wind up off-road. I think my main aim will be a hybrid, though I'll "settle" for a road bike only if needed. It's not much of a restriction, really, since I'm designing my routes to stay on the roads so far.

So ti might be worth looking at a CX bike rather than a hybrid. More roadie performance than a hybrid, but with the flexibility to take it offroad.

Personally I have a road bike, a CX and a mountain bike and am tending to find myself using the CX for many moe rides than I anticipated. The road bike is used for training and the CX is becoming the go to.

@meritage4 They haven't said it, and for the very short term future, I'm debating the wisdom of it for me. I'll need to see how easily I can disengage in the event of a fall before I'll commit to that. Getting tangled up in a fall could be nasty, and I'm not positive I won't do just that yet. Once I have more confidence, though, I'll do just that. It's just a "not right now" thing.

Once you've made the transition to clipless you won't regret it. But do build up some confidence first. It's inevitable that you'll mess up once or twice, generally at junctions when you're moving slowly, but it doesn't take long and the training benefits are significant.

pedermj2002

Frustrating. Took the bike into a bike shop to be checked out. Worked great for about 1mile. After that, it is now crapping out. Chain really tries to stick in one gear, makes rattling noise nearly constantly when riding, and won't downshift easily.

I think I'm going to have to give up and get a new one. Maybe there's a financing plan I can use somewhere. Too much outflow lately, dammit.

rileysowner

pedermj2002 wrote: »

Frustrating. Took the bike into a bike shop to be checked out. Worked great for about 1mile. After that, it is now crapping out. Chain really tries to stick in one gear, makes rattling noise nearly constantly when riding, and won't downshift easily.

I think I'm going to have to give up and get a new one. Maybe there's a financing plan I can use somewhere. Too much outflow lately, dammit.

I take it you had them adjust things? If so, they will often do minor adjustments afterwards.

mishafan03

Hills are hard! If you stand up on your bike normally to get up hills, just watch that you don't do a ton of moving side to side as you are pumping your legs to crest the hill. That side to side movement will cause you to lose momentum and actually make the hill harder to climb. So either really focus on your movements if you stand, or try getting up the hill sitting and see how it goes.
Honestly, a lot of it is just doing it a lot of times. Eventually your body will get used to the amount you have to work to get up the hill on your 2nd and 3rd pass, but it will take a while.

SingingSingleTracker

Gearing. Spin. Stand. Sit. Shift. Embrace the pain. Find what HR Zone you can climb in for short hills, medium hills, and those 9 mile long axx climbs.

denversillygoose

pedermj2002 wrote: »

Frustrating. Took the bike into a bike shop to be checked out. Worked great for about 1mile. After that, it is now crapping out. Chain really tries to stick in one gear, makes rattling noise nearly constantly when riding, and won't downshift easily.

I think I'm going to have to give up and get a new one. Maybe there's a financing plan I can use somewhere. Too much outflow lately, dammit.

Some of the big companies like Trek have financing options, but once you find a bike you want to buy, you'll find that you're super motivated to save. You also don't necessarily need to spend a ton of money. REI has great lower priced options and a lot of LBS have used bikes available. Also ask about demo bikes. Some are hardly ever ridden.

canadianlbs

pedermj2002 wrote: »

Frustrating. Took the bike into a bike shop to be checked out. Worked great for about 1mile. After that, it is now crapping out. Chain really tries to stick in one gear, makes rattling noise nearly constantly when riding, and won't downshift easily.

blegh. rattling sounds like the chain's probably rubbing the chain guard. happens with a tiny bit of cable slack, ime. if they changed cables for you, there might be a little stretch going on in the new ones. idk if it comes on after only a mile, but it does happen with new cables. every place that's worked on a bike of mine has told me to bring it back after a little while for a micro-adjustment on that. so unless they were super-obnoxious and you just don't feel up for it, it might be worthwhile to take it back and ask them to take a look. honestly, even a 'cheap' bike shop that worked on an 'old' bike ought to give you more than a mile's mileage in exchange for whatever you paid for their work.

rattling could also mean your chain is a bit loose (happens when the little cogs in the chain get worn to a point that puts more space between them) or your gear teeth are worn, same thing. but start with the simplest possibilities and don't worry about the next level until you need to. one helpful tip is to do as much of your shifting as is feasible while the drive train is not under torque. i know shifting is inevitable as you work your way up a hill, but constantly doing it at max load is a good way to stretch a chain or even break a gear tooth. shift before you really need to and it'll be better for both you and your bike.

sarahjen92

pedermj2002 wrote: »

@sarahjen92 I'm seeing some options in a nearby bike shop's website that aren't the wal-mart specials, but are still in the affordable range. I'll be checking them out tomorrow too. One of those might just be coming home with me.

I'm definitely more interested in road biking, though there are some spots around here that I could wind up off-road. I think my main aim will be a hybrid, though I'll "settle" for a road bike only if needed. It's not much of a restriction, really, since I'm designing my routes to stay on the roads so far. And yes, I do have a reflective vest and helmet, and wear them both each time I go out.

Finally, I'm not avoiding hills. Hell, there's only one spot I've seen within an hour of me that's got any kind of flat for more than 100 meters. Avoiding hills isn't an option I am trying to keep my speed up, but at my current level of conditioning, I'm just happy to keep moving. Once I can reach some actual distance, I'm going to start focusing on getting my speed to a more usable level. My goal there is to maintain about 14-16MPH, I think. At least for now. We'll see how that changes when I reach that goal .

That's the way it is around here, hills galore

But I think you misunderstood the speed part. Having a faster cadence or rpm isn't equal to going faster. I used to leave my bike I'm a higher gear and pedal slower (therefore push harder), till I learned it's not good for your joints and simply wears you out faster. That's why I mentioned it.

As for speed, 14-16 is a good pace for hilly terrain. I tend to average in the 14s, but am getting closer to 15 now that I'm making weight lifting a higher priority.

Good luck!

pedermj2002

I have a feeling that the bike shop I went to did everything as right as could be done, it was just a junk bike. I know it was, especially after today. I went and got a Trek DS 8.3. First time out, right after I got home, and I've knocked 4 minutes off my ride time. So, even though they might have been able to make the older bike usable for longer, it just wasn't worth it to me anymore. And after that much better performance, it *really* isn't worth it to me anymore

My only complaint about the new bike is that the seat post looks suitably different that I might not be able to take the seat from the older bike and put it on the new one. That's a shame since the new one is *way* too narrow for me, and I thought I could use the old one. I'll check it out tomorrow over lunch and see if I can switch them around or not.

I did look at getting clips for me, but the added expense was just not usable for right now. I can see it happening by end of year, though.

@SingingSingleTracker Getting a heart rate monitor going is something else I need to do. Adding that to my list now!

@sarahjen92 Once I can hit 5 miles of riding (which looks to be pretty soon), I'm going to join a local gym and then start riding to and from it (hey, it's only 1mi from my house, why *not* ride it?). And not killing my ability to work is some good advice. I need to figure out my current best zone, and then work on improving it without removing the ability to get back home. Thank you for reminding me to be a little bit smarter.

@canadianlbs I know, I probably should have gotten them to rework the chain a bit, but I was just so damned annoyed by everything about this. I even ignored advice and bought a cheap wally-world bike for the sole purpose of getting me another month or two before buying a good one. I didn't even get 1000 feet from my house before the rear tire blew out on me. That got returned immediately, for some odd reason

canadianlbs

pedermj2002 wrote: »

@canadianlbs I know, I probably should have gotten them to rework the chain a bit, but I was just so damned annoyed by everything about this. I even ignored advice and bought a cheap wally-world bike for the sole purpose of getting me another month or two before buying a good one. I didn't even get 1000 feet from my house before the rear tire blew out on me. That got returned immediately, for some odd reason

eh, when it's time then it's time. you should have seen how fast i went out and bought myself a pair of real squat shoes, when my flag finally dropped after literally months of faffing around. trek are good bikes, and being comfortable is worth an enormous amount when you're actually making it past of your life.

it's a better investment than all the stuff you could have spent a year nickel-and-diming that money away on instead: physio, chiro, workaround attempts, tuneups, self-pity treats because your bike is a *kitten* and makes you hate life . . .