Biking Advice?
pedermj2002
Posts: 180 Member
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?
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?
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Replies
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I used to have a map in my head of where all the hills were and how to get around them the flattest way possible. I still do that sometimes, but riding hills makes me stronger. Nice views at the top, and the way down is rewarding too. Don't (always) avoid yours.0
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How can you do anything poorly? Ride for fun! Be a kid again!3
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I am having the same difficulty with Tasmanian terrain. I have spent a lot of years cycling in relatively flat areas, or at least areas where I had a choice of riding in the hills or on flat. Now I live in a place where I have to climb. Unfortunately it has put a serious dent in my cycling time and enjoyment.
One of the things my husband and I do is to drive to flatter areas and cycle there.
And I have been gradually improving my climbing.0 -
The climbing is the area where I'm having the hardest time. There's a hill less than 1/4 mi (0.5 km) from my house that's a 9% grade for about 200 ft (60m), and I can only get up it once without stopping. Since I hit it three times on my current route, I'm stopping for about 3 minutes at this point.
Not sure how to improve that though. Hence my question ☺0 -
- super-short duration sprints make a difference for me when i'm hauling myself off the couch and getting used to a brand-new commute. as in, 10 to 20 seconds out of every 3 minutes or so. in the past i've re-acclimatized myself by setting a six-week time frame and saying i would do several cycles like that, at least three times a week.
- for hills, the best success i've had at getting used to a bad one was by using my granniest gears if i had to, and just setting two rules: you must keep moving, no matter what, and: you can not hurt yourself. i take a c25k kind of approach in the sense i invest more in strengthening ligaments and tendons than i do in the speed aspect of it. may not be as important to you, as i have rheumatoid arthritis and i'm over the whole inflamed-this-and-inflamed-that kind of thing.
- i took up strength training in the interim between this commute and the previous one, and this one has gone better because i was actually using the muscles i've been using for deadlifts and squats. for me, the form principles learned in the weight room seem to have been useful on the bike too.
caveat: i quit the job just shy of 3 months, so i never really got to find out where this approach would have led
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pedermj2002 wrote: »The climbing is the area where I'm having the hardest time. There's a hill less than 1/4 mi (0.5 km) from my house that's a 9% grade for about 200 ft (60m), and I can only get up it once without stopping. Since I hit it three times on my current route, I'm stopping for about 3 minutes at this point.
Not sure how to improve that though. Hence my question ☺
What kind of gearing do you have?
I've got a 750 metre 10% right next to where I live and at first I struggled up that thing. I think I walked half of it the first time. But then I got so I could do it in my granniest of granny gears and travelling about 4 km/h. The last time I tried it I was still in my granny gear but I'd increased my speed to about 7 km/h and I didn't feel like I was going to die half way up.
That said, I live about 3/4 of the way up a 14% grade. I've made it to my house without stopping and walking once.
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. . . i guess too i should ask: what's stopping you? aka, are you running out of legs, or running out of lungs?0
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Keep your cadence up - especially when climbing to use your heart/lungs more than your legs.
I cycle with a couple of exceptional hill climbers (I hate them at times!) and two things they have in common is that they both weigh quite a bit less than me but also for years they have pushed themselves really hard on hills.....0 -
I live in the Southern Adirondacks, and I know that learning to bike in the mountains is an ego buster. That said, the rewards are great. If you can, get out of the saddle. It will give you more leverage. If it's completely ruining your fun, try a different bike with a different drive train setup. If your bike is a decent road bike, they may be able to replace the cassette and give you a different gear range albeit the same number of gears. If you go with more of a mountain bike setup, they might need to change the derailleur and possibly the rear wheel as well. Duplication of gears can be an issue when you're in the hills. If your bike is old or low end, the cost of replacing the drive train may be more than the bike is worth. I have a 450' climb over about 3/8 of a mile near my house that completely eludes me, even in my granny gear. I'm sure you'll see the parade from your house when I finally make it up that thing. I'm not in the bike component business, so I may be over simplifying here, but my husband has played around with the gear ratios on his MTB, with some success.0
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It never gets easier, but you just go faster. Spin until you run out of gears and learn to climb standing up. I'm more a grinder and it took some time for me to be able to spin constantly at 75-80 rpm up 6% using 34x25. My cadence drop pretty sharply after 8% and I have a hard time pushing above my lower tempo, grinding, at greater than 12%. What've help me to go faster on a 6% was to work on my muscular strength, hill repeats and turning big gears against the wind. I live on flats and ride slopes on weekends. 3, 5, 10, or 20 minute intervals (eg 7, 5, 3, & 2 times per) from 150% to 105% of threshold power once or twice a week (I start with 3 minute intervals and once I can complete the numbers and at intensity for two sessions in a row, I move to next longer duration). Sundays I do 5-7 hill repeats on a half mile ~5% climb at 125-150% of threshold (depending on how much hard the day before). Saturday, I kill myself trying to stay with the climbers in my club.0
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Low gear, higher cadence and repetition.
What type of bike are you riding? My mountain bike is geared low enough that it feels like I could pedal it up a vertical surface (slight exaggeration.....), I just changed the cassette on my road bike to be more hill friendly as I'm signed for a hilly triathlon next year.2 -
Lighter bike
Lighter motor
Better hearing
Time in the saddle0 -
Personal experience is that you get better by doing it. As stated, use the easiest gear you have available to you while climbing. Over time you will find your ability to climb will increase. I am also interested, is it your legs or your breath that give out?
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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!
Right now, I'm doing a very short ride by most people's standards: three loops around two blocks at home. It comes to 2.4miles. That one hill is part of it, though, and has stopped me at least once/loop this entire week, until today. I made it all three loops without stopping. I got *super* slow, but I didn't stop. Felt amazing!
More details about my setup: It's a cheap bike (<$200), bought over 10 years ago, and allowed to sit in storage at a higher gear for several years. Because of that, it tends to stick at that gear, and I have to keep tension on the shifter to prevent it moving (and if I let the tension off, it will shift on me). Fortunately, the shifter is in the handle, so it's only a slight wrist turn to maintain the tension. I'm thinking of replacing it because of that reason sometime this weekend. For now, until I can reach a 5 mile ride, I'm going to stick with super cheap. Getting a decent bike is my reward for making it to a decent distance (for me, anyway). That's probably the end of the year.
@scorpio516 I think that, instead of "better hearing", you probably meant "better gearing". Is that correct? And if so, aside from new bike, how do I determine the type of gearing that I have, and what's better?
Here's where my naivete comes in: For me, biking was always "pick up whatever you can at the local department store, and ride around without much purpose". I'm not even sure how to research what I need to know to go from that mindset to a training type of mindset. I want to go further, ride longer, and turn my body into something better than it is right now. I'm really that basic at this time.2 -
If you bring it in to a bike shop, they can change the gearing pretty cheaply (~$50) to make it better suited to hills.
How long have you been at it?1 -
If you're keeping the rubber side down, you're doing it right.4
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I would have *sworn* I hit the submit button earlier. That's weird.
@NorthCascades If it's that small an amount of money, then I'll talk to a local bike shop and see if they can fix this bike a bit. It might not be worth even that much, but asking doesn't hurt! As for how long I've been at it, just since about mid-August.
@kcjchang I'm sorry, but most of your vocabulary there went right over my head. I understood some pieces of it, but have no idea the details of what you're suggesting, or how to implement them. I'm sorry
@misskris78 I'm actually not feeling too much of a bruised ego over these hills so far. When you're as far out of shape as I let myself get, not getting up a hill isn't too much of an embarrassment. And making it up one, even a small one, is an accomplishment to be proud of, so I'm definitely feeling good so far. Now, if I'd been at this for three years and still struggling up this tiny little hill, then maybe I'd feel not so great. But, since it's only a week so far, why feel shame?
@sijomial I'm actually considering, for my next bike, having something to measure my cadence/speed. Until I can do that, though, is there any suggestion for how to keep it up other than just refusing to stop?2 -
If you keep going up hill a lot, the fitness gains should come pretty quickly at first.
This is a cassette:
Having a different cassette is usually the fastest and cheapest way to change the gearing on a bike. Without knowing what you have it's impossible for any of us to recommend anything, but any shop should have plenty on hand, including some that are compatible with your stuff. They'll be larger, less like saucers and more like dinner plates.
If you say "I need better gearing for hills" they might try to sell you a new crankset. You don't want that at this point. So tell them "I need a cassette that's better for the hills."0 -
If it is sticking in a gear, you probably need some other things at the very least lubricated, probably adjusted, and possibly replaced. I would find an actual bike shop, bring it in, and see what they say. Not being able to have gears shift smoothly and stay where they are supposed to be will make longer rides less enjoyable.
I started at about the same distances you do. I now ride 30 miles no issue. I could go longer, but injured my leg in June and it took most of the Summer to recover, so I am back to building up distance. Another month and a half or so and snow could be on the ground, so then it is back to indoor on my trainer.0 -
pedermj2002 wrote: »Here's where my naivete comes in: For me, biking was always "pick up whatever you can at the local department store, and ride around without much purpose".
nothing wrong with that. i started out with 'pick up whatever you can at the local department store, see if you can ride it to work'. it's not a bad gateway approach so long as you don't ride the first bike long enough to give yourself repetitive-stress injuries. then when i knew i was serious, i went and got me a serious bike. before then i wouldn't have known the right bike for my needs if it had run me down in the street.
some thoughts.
- if you run out of quadriceps muscle, try standing up and letting your whole body weight force the next pedal down. that uses your glutes and hamstrings more and gives your quads a bit of a break.
- it's REALLY hard to get up on the pedals once you're already maxed out, so keep that in mind for how you time it. and maybe practice the mechanics of doing it on less-challenging slopes until your body has the idea.
- \o/ \o/ \o/ on getting all the way up the hill.
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If you don't already do so, I recommend using Strava to track your rides, you can set your loops or your local hills as individual segments, then each time you ride you can compare your times to your previous efforts. You'll be surprised how much you're improving without even realising it. Seeing the evidence can give you a big boost. Sometimes those hills feel more brutal than ever but then when you look back on the stats and see that you achieved a new record time, then you feel proud and realise why it was so tough.
Another thing to consider; get a steady beat tune in your head and grind those pedals to the best of the music, I have one song that we used to listen to lots in Spin class, I always think of that when I'm cranking my way up a toughie.1 -
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.
@NorthCascades Thank you, that does help me out a lot. I should probably find a site that'll actually talk about the pieces of a bicycle, just so I can learn what's where and not be quite so flailing about for the words.
@rileysowner We all have to start somewhere, true. And I am making progress. I'm hoping that, by spring, I'll be able to comfortably ride between towns in the area (anywhere from 5-15 miles apart). The tough part there is going to be the difficulty of training in winter. I'll need to find a solution for that, definitely.
@canadianlbs I think you just explained to me *why* I was able to make it up the hills today. I was downshifting a bit earlier as I approached the hill, which meant the muscles had more left to give as I got further along. I also did the standing up trick a bit earlier, letting my weight carry more. None of this was conscious on my part, I just did not want to stop again, so tried to make sure I didn't. Now I can see where the specific muscle groups came into play to make this happen. Thank you!
@sarabushby I've actually been using Runtastic Road Bike (and having my rides imported into MFP automatically) for it. Being able to mark specific segments, though, might make Strava better enough. Do you have any other comparisons between these two apps that could help me out?1 -
Sorry, I haven't used Runtastic apps but you'd only need the free Strava version so why not give it a try and see how you get on. If you're riding with your phone just set them both to record, or if you're uploading from a cycle computer/GPS watch etc just link the device to both accounts. Easy. Enjoy your riding 0
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pedermj2002 wrote: »Right now, I'm doing a very short ride by most people's standards: three loops around two blocks at home. It comes to 2.4miles. That one hill is part of it, though, and has stopped me at least once/loop this entire week, until today. I made it all three loops without stopping. I got *super* slow, but I didn't stop. Felt amazing!
If you're only riding 2.4 miles, you're just beginning. Keep riding and you'll get better at climbing "the" hill and any others. You're already seeing that happening. This is not to belittle the achievement of riding for 2.4 miles and everybody has to start somewhere. It just shows that struggling on hills is normal until you've developed your cycling strength. Then as others said you'll find yourself cursing up it easily or you struggle up it only faster.
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Wow. I just went and did a single loop of my route with Strava, and now really wish I'd heard of it before Runtastic. The analysis is so much more detailed. For example, I just found out that the hill I was talking about starts off at about a 5% incline and changes to an 11% incline by the time I reach the top. And that's over the span of about 0.1mi (161m). I think it's going to be my new cycling companion from now on.
Thank you!3 -
Most good bike shops will work on most bikes you bring in, including old ones. But WalMart bikes are ... a special case. You might be right and the shop may not be able to improve the gearing economically. A cassette has to be compatible with your wheel (that's where they put it on) and also with your derailleur (that's what shifts from one gear to the next for you). Depending how the bike is set up it may be a challenge to find, and there will be a labor cost.pedermj2002 wrote: »@sarabushby I've actually been using Runtastic Road Bike (and having my rides imported into MFP automatically) for it. Being able to mark specific segments, though, might make Strava better enough. Do you have any other comparisons between these two apps that could help me out?
Strava is by far the most popular app among "serious" cyclists. A lot of people don't even use an app (instead buy a ~$400 Garmin GPS bike computer) and still use Strava. @sarabushby's advice and reasoning are very good.
You asked about a parts of a bike chart:
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@NorthCascades Please feel free to call the bike a hunk of junk. I know that it is, and I'm okay with that
And damn, that diagram is useful. I had no idea of somewhere around 90% of those names. Rather than making you spoonfeed me all of this info (and make no mistake, I *do* appreciate it!), is there a site you'd recommend, or a book you'd recommend? I want to learn more about this, and learn to do better. A lot of that is just getting out there and doing it, but there's also aspects which are easier to learn from others, too.
As for buying a bike computer, the real investments are still a ways off. Too much expense has happened too recently for me to afford to get a a good bike, and anything else that comes with it, right now. I need to focus on basics for a little bit before I'm ready for that anyway.0 -
Personally I like using my phone to track things. I use it with my Moov Now which gives cadence (speed I am pedaling) as well. It is not synced with MyFitnessPal, so I have to enter calorie burns manually. For years I used Endomondo, and before that Mapmyride until and update to Mapmyride messed up their calorie numbers completely.0
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You don't need a bike computer at this point. Run Strava on your phone.
I like bikeforums.net but it's not the most educational place in the world.
I don't know what every part on a bike is called, and I'm not very good at working on them. I know how to fix a flat because road bikes get regular flats. And I can do a few other things. But for the most part, I just like to ride bikes. This kind of knowledge is real useful when you need to fix something or pay somebody else to do it, but you don't need to understand why you'd get horizontal or vertical dropouts to ride a bike.0 -
You can visit youtube, there are a lot of videos having to do with bicycle basics, from setting them up, to maintaining them.
A good bike isn't very expensive, and the difference between and $200 dollar walmart bike and a bike like a low end Giant at the $600 mark is quite a large difference in quality. I mountain bike with a Giant talon 4 and even on the lower end of the price scale it is a great bike.
If you legs are giving out try to work in some leg exercises like squats or linear presses to strengthen your legs, and I added some stationary pedaling as well. Both of these helped my stamina while biking.0
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