cycling question

I am not a cycling expert but to me it sounds like a run/walk interval philosophy which is widely accepted and suggested to those who are get starting.

Go for it.

Hi all, I just started cycling about a month ago. I've been building up slowly and can now do 4.5 miles in about 25 min. My question deals with lactic acid build up. I've been having more problems with it on like my last 3 rides. Will it ruin the affect of my ride if I stop for a minute to relieve some of the build up? I know this sounds wussy to some, but if I stop and relieve my legs for a minute every so often I can keep going longer.

Are you hydrated?... that would be my first question.. if you have to rest or spin in an easier gear, thats totally fine. build up no more than 10% a week. you will get there. what kind of bike are you riding?

I have never had pains from riding in my legs I would often get pain in my lower back from riding in intense heat. These are just during like a 15 mile ride round trip on a Mt. Bike.

glass of tomato juice or a banana before exercise should solve your problem. Its only lack of potassium.

Use your gears and keep your cadence up on the hills. With a MTB you should have plenty of gears to choose from!

Unless you are cycling a really severe hill you shouldn't have to stop - in many ways it's counter productive as you would be better keeping your legs moving and blood pumping to flush any lactic acid (if that's the problem, sounds more like plain fatigue to me).

Usually a run/walk approach is not needed when cycling. When my legs are tired from pushing hard for a few miles or climbing a hill, I have always just shifted to an easier gear to let myself recover by spinning lightly for a minute or two. On long rides, my legs usually hurt the most in the first 30-60 secs of riding after stopping for a few minutes.

The only time I've really seen people need to stop is on climbs that are too steep. At a certain point, you can actually run out of gears if your legs aren't strong enough for the climb. Most of the time though, you can just shift down and spin lightly to recover.

I'm currently riding a beat up old mountain bike. Less problems tonight but I did stop twice for like 30 seconds. I also ate a banana cause my roommate told me too lol. I took a diff rout tonight and I think I know my problem. When I am going around the block the entire first half of the block is solidly up hill and the last half is solidly down hill. Did the same amount of miles tonight but with less lactic acid build up. Will try this again tomorrow and see if it works twice.....

Maybe take the bike to a bike shop to make sure a mechanical problem isn't slowing you down. Also, if you have not already done so, put street tires on your mountain bike rather than knobbies. Street tires have a smooth tread pattern and are optimized for riding on pavement or paved trails. They are lighter, faster, more comfortable, and safer for riding on the street.

Not sure about the gears thing myself.... how would you learn when to switch gears and to what?

Not sure about the gears thing myself.... how would you learn when to switch gears and to what?

The whole point of gears is to keep your legs spinning at an efficient rate - roughly 60-90 rpm - regardless of wind and terrain. It's not very hard to learn to shift. Basically, if your legs are spinning really fast, shift to a higher gear and your cadence (pedaling speed) will slow down. If they are slowing down (less than 1 revolution per second), shift to a lower gear so that your cadence will go up. On my morning ride today, my speed ranged from 6 to 31 mph, but my cadence was almost always between 80 and 90, except when coasting downhill or taking a short break.

It's actually slightly more biomechanically efficient to pedal slowly: that is, you go further for the same amount of energy. But it is hard on the muscles and joints, so you can't go as long. If you pedal 60-90 rpm, each pedal stroke doesn't take much out of your legs, so you can keep going longer. Racing cyclists, especially track racers, often pedal significantly faster than 90 rpm, because it lets them put out a lot of power without fatigue setting in prematurely.

If you have a typical triple crank in front, i.e., there are three toothed rings attached to the right pedal arm, then you can think of the small one as an uphill gear, the middle one as a gear for flat terrain, and the big one as a gear for going downhill, or riding with a strong wind behind you. Then use the gears in back to adjust your speed within those broad areas. Eventually you get the hang of it and it becomes second nature.

just slow down a bit should relieve that nasty stuff

Love the info on the shifting! Thanks! That was info I had never heard explained before. Turns out one of my roommates used to be a serious biker and knows how to do tune ups so he is going to help me with that, Yeah!. I get the point with the tires but money is kind of an issue atm...soooo. I will have to make do for now and may just buy a road bike when I can and fix up the MTB for the trails I really appreciate all the advice and feedback from everyone. From what I'm hearing I was definitely shifting wrong or not shifting enough. It probably doesn't help that I'm 38, 5'2 and 186lbs (as of today). I've just started working to lose the weight and get in better shape and biking seemed like a good idea as it is less hard on my feet and knees. Until about 3 weeks ago I was having so much pain in my feet that just walking around the house was excruciating. Happy to say I haven't had anymore issues with that recently! Once again thanks all for your time and info, keep it coming as I am always willing to learn more!

Thats fine, but if money is tight, $50 for tires is a lot less than $800 tp $1,000 you will need to spend for an entry level new road bike.