New Cyclers Chat...

  • I'm getting into biking, bought a used Trek and am looking for ideas. I noticed another thread called June bikers so I thought I'd start a new one. It's hot here, in the 90s and up to 100 so it's going to have to be mornings and evenings for me during the summer months. How long do you girls bike and how many times a week? I also just got a new indoor cycle that I love, it's small and fits in the back of my living room. I've been riding it 1/2 hour to an hour a day. So I'm wanting to mix the two up.

  • I ride occasionally on my road bike. A lot of hills around here, most of the roads have wide shoulders or bike lanes, and drivers are super-friendly to bikers. It's fun and a great workout, but for some reason it seems harder for me to get an hour's ride into my work day than an hour at the gym.

    Anyone need a free helmet? I have a spare one that I'm not using and that I don't want to move with me in two weeks (yikes!). It's a standard modern bike helmet (Bell Giro, I believe), white, and has never been in a wreck. I have an average-size head, so I believe it's a medium; it might need a couple of strips of foam glued or velcro-ed into it to make it fit your head shape. PM me...

    Kim
  • I mainly use my bike for commuting to work - twice a week, about half an hour each way (shorter on the way there, longer on the way back because I live higher than work and it's downhill there and uphill back). Sometimes I do longer rides, but not very often so far. I've been cycling for nearly two months, so I haven't been doing it that long, but I find it far more enjoyable than getting the bus.
  • Has anyone used one of those "tagalong" bikes with one wheel that attach to an adult bike for a child to ride behind? My boy is three but loves his bike and I'm thinking we could do this together in the evenings. He gets tired on his little bike so I can't really bike with him very far. They also make just bars of some sort that would attach to his own bike raising his top wheel - then he'd be peddling on either. We just moved and there's local bike trails so we won't be on the roads. I'm also thinking maybe I could bike to and from a health club or my horse at the stables.

    Helen, you are 5'9 like me, congrats on your weight loss! I was aiming at 155 or so, then today I set a new goal at fitday because I already lost 11 lbs in two months - I'm thinking I too want to get down to about 150 or 145. does it feel good to be thin again? I'm pushing this month and next!
  • Kaw, you are 5'9 or so too, and you are going for 135 lbs? Wow. That would be model thin, I was 130 or so in my early 20s and in college.
  • I'm 5'9 too I can't imagine only weighing 135 though. I'd probably look like a stick. My favorite weight is between 140-145; it's very maintainable for me and with the weight training, I look pretty good.

    I've just started getting into cycling recently. I bought a crappy old mountain bike at a yard sale and I've been going on longish rides (15-20 miles) once a week or so. I live in a rural area with a very active biking community and there are some beautiful places to ride with gentle hills. I wear my HRM so I can count the rides as exercise I find it *much* easier to burn 500-800 calories on my bike on a 90 minute ride than I do to burn 300 running on the treadmill. It takes a lot longer, but it's lower intensity. (I am somehow unable to get my heart rate up to 80% on the bike, unless I'm hauling *** up a hill. Running I can always settle at 80%).

    Anyway, I'm loving it but I need to get a road bike. The mountain bike isn't great for these long rides. Trouble is that road bikes are soooooo spendy. I'm in the research phase at the moment
  • Horsey - I like this weight. I seemed to settle at 154 for a while, then dropped down and now hover between 148 and 150 most of the time. As long as I'm active I seem to be able to maintain it without worrying too much what I eat which is nice (mind you, marathon training does help burn it off!)

    I'm riding a hybrid at the moment and trying not to get too jealous of all the people on road bikes who speed past me!
  • I bought a hybrid too. Yes I think about 145-150 or so is good for 5'9, even when I was down to about 150 I started getting too thin as I wasn't weight training, my clothes were starting to hang on me. This time I'm lifting weights and biking seems to help tone my skinny legs too. I think I need a heart rate monitor or a way of tracking how far I'm going, etc. on bike rides. It seems to be working to be obessive about calories and what I'm doing.
  • I love my bike and I bike every day weather permitting... When it's hot I bike in the morning... This morning I was out for 1.5 hours along a scenic highway with no wind it was gorgeous the time just flew by ... I got myself this aero bar where I can lean down and relax when I'm on a long stretch and I just love it I could bike for a very long time in the right conditions...
  • I ordered a tag along bike for my boy yesterday, it hooks with a bar to my bike, he'll have two wheels and pedals and I think the two of us are going to have great fun riding together. He's 3-1/2, not old enough to ride far but he loves his little Specialized bike that I got him. We have a nearby bike trail. And I just found new drop in daycare in the afternoons, rode my horse yesterday again - and I'm thinking of biking to the stables and back - let's face it riding a horse isn't enough exercise really... I can't wait for long rides out at the reservoir and around here.