Cycling, bikes, indoor, outdoor etc.

awinner_au wrote: »

h1udd wrote: »

I wish it could help me lose weight ... I mostly cycle for commuting, but also throw in Mountain biking in to the mix, the odd road cycle and indoor training (Zwift / Fulgaz) on alternate days of the week

since taking it up, by bank ballance has reduced ... the amount of space in my garage has reduced (n+1) ... but it had no effect on my weight .... that said though I am scared if I stop I will put on weight !

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20180124-Eating-on-the-bike-Struggling-with-Cycling-Weight-Loss-0

Not that you may be doing any of that. I go on group rides and enjoy the social aspect of the ride, we always finish at a café for coffee. Just need to keep the food in check if you are looking to lose weight.

My family bought me a new bike as a Christmas/Retirement gift, with the directive, "Go Forth and Get Healthy, Ride Your Butt Off (as in lose weight)!"

I've been dutifully, and happily, doing that. 23 lbs so far this year. It's a chip-away process, and takes dietary mgmt (hence MFP) as well. I've been doing solo rides in the 10-15 mile range, thinking I need to get up to some sort of decent shape before joining others. Until this week, that is, when I joined a weekly no-drop, easy-pace evening group for a 10-miler.

Being solo, I've thus far this year avoided social eating/coffee/etc. contending against my weight loss. This being an evening group, the leaders suggested a nearby Italian nosh-or-dinner, which I (and most of the others) declined, all of us having had something in the mid-afternoon prior to the ride (not knowing what to expect). Going forward, it will be interesting to see what some social coffee/snacking will do to my weight loss trajectory. I think being diligent with my MFP logging, I'll have the tools to include some social snacking along with the riding. If not, then there's tacking on a few solo miles on my own rides to compensate. I'm not stressing too much regarding this.

awinner_au wrote: »

gearhead426hemi wrote: »

My wife got me a full suspension mountain bike this year and I have been loving getting out at pushing my limits on it. Went clipless this week and added a entire new feeling to biking.

Makes a big difference, though when you get on a bike without clipless it feels all weird. Watch out for the first clip stack. I went a couple of months before i had two in the same week.

Yeah i went riding at a very technical bike park and wrecked twice on the first run. Got more comfortable with each lap so we will see how it goes. Headed to another bike park tomorrow with some double black trails and jumps so we will see if it gets better this time around.

I am a huge mountain biker. Personally I do not think you can burn more calories than mountain biking. Plus, riding through the trees, seeking those wonderful vantage points, avoiding all the sounds of traffic and infrastructure, mountain biking is it.

My old bike (still have it and ride it on certain tracks:



New ride:

So speaking of calories burned mountain biking, what kind of tracker do you all use? I use Strava because that's what all my friends use but I think that assumes you are road riding not mountain biking. If I use the minutes ridden and put it in MFP using the one called "Bicycling, BMX or Mountain" it gives me nearly double the calories burned. Endomondo also has an option for mountain biking which is more than Strava.

I really need to track since I have such a small margin to lose weight. I'm a woman, older and short...the deadly combination for weight loss...lol!

AgileK9 wrote: »

So speaking of calories burned mountain biking, what kind of tracker do you all use? I use Strava because that's what all my friends use but I think that assumes you are road riding not mountain biking. If I use the minutes ridden and put it in MFP using the one called "Bicycling, BMX or Mountain" it gives me nearly double the calories burned. Endomondo also has an option for mountain biking which is more than Strava.

I really need to track since I have such a small margin to lose weight. I'm a woman, older and short...the deadly combination for weight loss...lol!

I've found that both Strava & MFP overestimate calories burned cycling.

My Garmin is pretty spot on for running but I found it was even high for cycling when I got a power meter last year......hard to argue with Watts...so if you're really interested in accuracy a power meter is the way to go.

h1udd wrote: »

I wish it could help me lose weight ... I mostly cycle for commuting, but also throw in Mountain biking in to the mix, the odd road cycle and indoor training (Zwift / Fulgaz) on alternate days of the week

since taking it up, by bank ballance has reduced ... the amount of space in my garage has reduced (n+1) ... but it had no effect on my weight .... that said though I am scared if I stop I will put on weight !

I have been riding for 8+ years from commuting to road, to dirt to jumping to circuit velodrome work and it never helped me weight wise even with a balanced maintained diet and a protein shake, losing weight the best results I can give you is for how I dropped from 147 to 113 in just under 4 months give this blog that I write a read www.justanaverageguy.xyz

AgileK9 wrote: »

Does anyone have suggestions for securing bikes in a garage? Last year I put my mountain bike in my basement but this year with my 3 high dollar bikes and my son's pricey mountain bike, I just don't have the room. My husband is infamous for leaving the garage door open and we've had an old bike stolen several years ago.

I'd like to figure out a way to store them so I can get to them easily but keep them at least secure enough for a thief to reconsider. I have a full single car bay in my garage I can work with.

eta...preferably expandable for n+1

TIA

We use these guys https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/locks/product/review-kryptonite-stronghold-ground-anchor-19280/ - Tough as bricks to be honest and I personally love the Kryptonite products never been able to fault these guys..

AgileK9 wrote: »

So speaking of calories burned mountain biking, what kind of tracker do you all use? ...

I've been making - as we all do - gradual gear investments since the family bought me the Christmas/Retirement bike. My "its-been-30-years-since-i-rode" mind had me initially thinking spreadsheets and a cycle computer as in the old days, but I've been mulling various options since January as I get in my rides. Wireless computers were not a thing in my previous riding life, and as a radio ham, I understand the interference situation with USB lights and other things crowding the handlebars, so I've been holding off on more advanced tech for now.

I've been using "Ride With GPS" since February in preference to Strava, MapMyRide, etc. I like it for the basic tracking/sharing functions, and without all the KOM stuff. If you're not familiar with it, there's a mobile phone GPS tracker app with a website ecosystem behind it. Pretty simple actually. But with Father's Day and a mid-summer birthday coming up, I'm also hinting around about other fitness trackers, Garmin, etc.

We sail, and are predisposed to Garmin products in general. As my biking range gradually increases, there will be a point where my mobile phone battery life will become a concern and I might need an alternative/supplement to "Ride With GPS."

Oh, I did use, for a little while, something called "Bike Computer" (for Android, on play.google.com). It had an interesting feature for this returning-to-cycling older guy - an auto SMS feature for a detected bike accident to a designated emergency contact. It synced to Strava also.