Biking Tips

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Amatambi
Amatambi Posts: 72
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm pretty overweight and I've decided that I will start biking home from college every day (Mon - Thurs) as a way of becoming more fit. It's a nice ride, the elevation never changes more than 15 feet or so with exception to one 45 foot hill (that's fun to ride down XD) so it's not that hard and I know that. But the thing is, I'm going from completely sedentary life to biking 5 miles every day and I'll be honest, even the gentle, sloping road kicks my butt!
Like I said, it's about 5 miles from the campus to my house and I can make it in 35 - 40 minutes so I'm riding an average of 8 miles an hour, which does not sound very fast, yet I come hope dripping with sweat! I'm hoping that once I'm used to it, it will become easier and I'll be able to go fast and maybe get home in 20 minutes instead of 40. Does anybody have any tips on how to make this easier or just more comfortable in general?

Replies

  • Heidi64
    Heidi64 Posts: 211 Member
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    I was in the same boat as you last year. I had a cheapo granny bike from Walmart (one gear, pedal brakes). My clothes were just your average everyday sweats and shorts. When we started, we thought doing 8 miles at 9-10 mph was the shizzle. Fast forward to this year...I have a new Trek road bike, biking shorts with the padding, shoes and saddle bags. We do 20 miles trying to maintain a speed of 11-13 mph. Best thing, that is a pleasurable ride for us! What I would recommend, is get fitted on your bike. Have the proper seat height, handle bars and pedals. Next, definitely bike shorts. I never thought they would make that much difference, but they do! I resisted cuz I thought they looked stupid. I'll take stupid looking any day of the week now. If you're riding on roads, a rearview mirror mounted to helmet or handlebar is very helpful. Be careful what kind tho. I got one for my bike, but it is not very good after a certain distance. Since it's cars I'm worried about, I'd like to be able to see them as soon as possible. If riding becomes your addiction, look into pedal cages and shoes, or even those clip on pedals where your shoes clip onto the pedals directly. Of course, a helmet is a given these days. Why chance it? Enjoy your rides! Riding was a great tool for my weight loss.
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
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    Get yourself a good leather gender specific seat with a split tongue with minimal gel padding. It seems counter-intuitive,but seats with generous quantities of gel (or are squishy for other reasons) are harder on rear ends. I currently weigh 167 lbs, and do long distance riding - 160 miles over two days in August. The brand I have doesn't seem to be available any more, but it looks roughly like this: https://www.serfas.com/products/view/218/referer:products|index|saddles|performance-saddles
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
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    Next, definitely bike shorts. I never thought they would make that much difference, but they do! I resisted cuz I thought they looked stupid. I'll take stupid looking any day of the week now.

    And the important thing with bike shorts is to wear them the way they are designed to be worn - without undergarments. It took me forever to get to the point where I felt OK trying it - but it makes a world of difference.

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