August Cycling Challenge 2013

Just curious if some of the people here who cycle everyday/or most days could help me out. Is it normal to see a weight increase when upping rides/mileage? I used to do about 3-4 days a week and now I am doing 5-6 days. Other than aspect I have not changed anything and I have gone up 2lbs. Will it eventually go back down? Or should I be doing something different.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Yep. I noticed the same thing. Some people will start riding more (or increase cardio in general) and thier appetite will increase, so they consume more calories. The problem with biking is that depending on what kind of riding you do, the calories burned estimates on here, and on other websites, can be very inaccurate. I ride in the mountains where the vast majority of my ride is climbing (sometimes 2500+ ft elevation gain in under 2 miles) and my for an hour of riding, my estimate will be around 559 calories. Well, heck...if I ride for an hour on more flat, paved surfaces, my estimate will still be 559, but I gaurantee you I burnt half the calories on that ride.

I fell into this trap for the first month of riding. Now, I simply add carbs during my ride and eat pretty normally the rest of the day. My weight has returned to normal and is dropping slowly. (I'm not trying to lose) If I am doing a longer ride (over two hours) I will eat approximately 100 calories, 10 g of protein, 15 g of carbs and a few fat grams every hour for the entire ride. This keeps my energy up, but doesn't over load me on calories. I don't over eat afterwards either because my body doesn't go into "holy hell, I need some calories and carbs NOW" mode after so many hours of work without fuel. If my rides are under 2 hours they are very intense, so I will eat a few quick carbs beforehand, then eat a normal recovery meal, high in protein, afterwards...then business as usual. I hope this helps. Enjoy the ride!!

Hi there, a few weeks back I increased my mileage / training in general quite substantially, I was burning 2k calories and my weight wasn't shifting, I wasnt eating all my calories back either. But I then increased my calories so that I could burn more and this helped somewhat, also you need to bear in mind when TOM visits and also that when you start increasing mileage/exercises that your muscles hold on to water (water retention) so after a few weeks you'll notice a difference.

Stick with it, it'll work. I'm losing weight now and upping my calories although not going stupidly over, maybe I'll be eating 1600 cals a day so eating theoretically 400 into my training calories.
Good luck!

Logged a quick 4 miles last night in the mountains. It was steep climb and a wicked decend. EPIC! Tonight....planning a similar ride, only 7 miles long. Love interval hill climbs!

Well my bike was brand new out of the box when i got it in the beginning of June but no, no oiling. But then again, I don't ride in bad/muddy conditions. I did inspect the chain yesterday when I was looking at the derails. The shop I took the bike to for a once-over after I assembled it made some adjustments but said to expect some necessary adjustments after breaking it in for the first time.

Now.... the noise is down but the gears don't shift quite as smooth.

I'm no oil/techy geek but you need oil on the chain... I get some stuff from Muck off and it's really good, everything works well and the chain isnt rusting, not only caused by bad/muddy conditions, just by wear and tear. I'd suggest you get some oil and oil the chain...

Yeah, you really need to clean and oil your chain, just like a car needs maintenance, to keep things running smoothly. Go to Wal*Mart and pick up some White Lightning Clean Streak in the aerosol an and Clean Ride Lube in the bike section.