Biking kicks my *kitten*

Stick with it. You'll make some quick progress starting out. Shift down to easier gears so you are spinning the pedals a little quicker without applying a lot of force. It's evil, but going back down a hill does not counter act going up it. The time you spend going up is much longer than the time going down. So more of you time is spent at high effort (and going slow) with your rests being shorter in duration.

Is your seat at the right height?

I just discovered this yesterday, I raised my seat and riding became worlds easier.

Your seat should be high enough that your legs are almost fully extended while pedaling. Your feet should not be able to touch the ground while on the seat.

What a timely topic for me. Just got on a bike after a 10 year hiatus. Rode 3 miles with a family friend who is helping my daughter learn to ride a bike. He brought a tandem so my daughter rode on the back of his bike to get comfortable with the idea of biking. I followed behind in the hopes that I would be inspired to start riding with my kid and exercise. Words cannot describe the pain in my backside area from that hard thin seat. I will take fire belching hemorrhoids over this any day. My calves are still twitching. My shoulders are aching. And worst of all, I almost had a head on collision with a little kid on a bike because I wasn't used to steering quickly. We'll be riding again tomorrow - the kid is excited to try it again...

I know this isn't really advice, but your post brought a smile to my face, because I too recently decided to add biking to my activities, my first ride lasted less than 15 minutes, and there was a couple of times, I was beginning to think I might really die before I made it back home. I got back, and nearly passed out in my chair!! Grant it, I am 49 and have not ridden since I was a teenager, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be, with me being out of shape. Anyway, I hope it gets easier for both of us!!

I know you can do it. I started biking almost now 5 months ago. I have lost 41 pounds total and I bike 12 miles to work & 12 miles home total of 24 miles a day. Bike along the canals and you will enjoy it so much. It's great fun!!!!! I know I am not at my weight loss goal but I like the fact that biking seriously will get you to your goal.

I just bought a bike and dear god did biking kick my *kitten*.

i want to thank you for this, sincerely. i bought the first adult bike of my life 11 years ago, with happy expectations of a second childhood and all . . . you just reminded me about the first time i set out to ride to the grocery store five or six blocks away. dude, i like to teh died. and it took me forever to get myself properly habituated . . . granted i was fighting anaemia and a big rheumatoid arthritis flareup at the time, both of which just make you want to sleep under the nearest big bush. but still. bikes look easy, but they use the biggest muscles in your body. and that uses up oxygen.

whenever i start out to go back to bike commuting after a layoff, here's what i tell myself every time: the first four weeks are your plan. expect nothing during those weeks. just do it and get through it, and if you still want to quit after that . . . well then you can quit. but do the four weeks. it takes me about that long to get myself and my legs reconditioned to where riding gets to be fun.

but it is really fun. truly and really, it is. put in four weeks if you possibly can, and be kind to yourself while you're doing it. after a while, you start getting the feel for it - not only do you start getting stronger, but you also start to build up the sense of how to use all that energy efficiently, so you're not just flailing and thrashing and tiring yourself. i hope you do have the same experience, because honestly, once it stops hurting . . . there's nothing like the feeling of being on a bike. it's the closest thing to getting to fly that there is.

I second the idea of having professionals fit your bike to you, since you don' t know how to do it yet.

I'm 50 now with all kinds of weight and orthopedic issues. However...

In my 20's I did sprint-length triathlons and trained for tin-man length (but never competed--the training is what gives benefit anyway).

Back then there was a concept called "LSD"--not the drug, but "Long Slow Distance".

The idea was that when starting out road biking after a long haitus, you needed to do about 1000 miles (! not all in one session) of long, slow distance over flat terrain, using your target heart rate zone (web search if unfamiliar) to guide your exercise intensity.

Only after completing your LSD would you have enough aerobic capacity to start doing hills, wind-sprints, and all those other sorts of exercises that build speed for competition.

Frequency of your exercise depends on how much time it takes to recover. if you have over-trained, your resting heart rate in the morning, in bed, before you get out of bed, will be 10% higher than usual. This indicates you should take the day off.

Exercise doesn't build fitness--it sends the signal to your body to do repair and upgrade work on your tissues during the rest periods between the actual exercise periods. This is why it is important not to neglect rest between exercise sessions. How much rest you need depends on age and fitness level, which is why the resting heart rate criteria is nice as it is self-adjusting to your unique body.

I forgot about seats.

There are guy seats with grooves down the middle to avoid compressing certain nerves that you probably would prefer not to damage.

There are also extra wide seats for women because our pelvises are wider than men's, and there are extra wide seats for each gender to help obese riders.

You may have to start with a wide seat then switch to a narrow one if you are a man because the wide one may start to hinder full range when you approach your ideal weight.