I didn't get out yesterday or today. Scheduling difficulties got me yesterday, and instead of the lovely little neighborhood ride, I got 20 minutes and 4.4 miles with my bike on the trainer in the living room. Ah well.

This morning I wussed out on my ride because it was just a couple of degrees above freezing when I woke up, with forecast of wind. It warmed up beautifully just after sunrise, to about 50 deg, which is certainly rideable, and no wind to be seen, so I was kicking myself all morning. I did get out for a quick 2 mile run tonight, so I wasn't a total slob, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping either. I may see what I can scare up tomorrow. Maybe a ride home from the pool, which is about 6 miles, but scheduling is making a run more likely.

Anne

Today I got in 11 miles.

It's good but I was hoping for 28! We went to a 14 mile bike path and wanted to do it twice but the wind was horrible! Riding into it was like riding up a hill the entire time. Of course the way back was nice. We're going out again tomorrow for a coastal ride, we'll see how that goes!

Eleven miles like that probably gets extra points for effort!

Okay, I have a newb question that's rather embarrassing...er..when is my butt going to stop hurting? I went to my sister's yesterday, to try out her bikes, and I was so sore, I couldn't tell if her seats were any more comfortable than mine. I guess you just get used to it and it goes away after you ride enough? Is this normal for beginners that are overweight? I did find out that I definitely want a new bike. Hers were so much easier to ride, and the road bike's handlebars were much more comfortable, because I could switch hand positions on the bars, where with my bike there's only one option, which gets uncomfortable quick.

Cheryl

My seat was sore for a couple of weeks when I started riding again. After that, I was fine. (It was really awful in the meantime, though!) I'm pretty sure it's normal for *any* beginner over about age 10.

Your butt will get more "conditioned" as you ride more. Some things that can help:Can you borrow your sister's bike more often? I can't overstate what a difference it was for me to WANT to ride between my old bike and the new one. (I know costs can be an issue. My bike was around $500, with helmet, because I got it on clearance. Not cheap, but definitely more in my price range than say, a Rivendell :drool:)

edit to add: Sheldon Brown has a great page on Comfort and Bike Seats.

One thing that will make a huge difference for most women is to get a women's specific saddle. Men and women have different pelvic bone anatomy (obviously) and men's sit bones are spaced more narrowly than women's. So when I go to a man's saddle, my bones miss the seat entirely, and I end up sitting on some rather delicate parts, rather than the more rugged bones which should be holding me up. I wasn't able to ride more than 5 miles before I made the switch because the pain was just too bad.

Anne

I am still only on the stationary & recumbent right now. In another couple months I'll be able to get outside. Its still too cold, dark and rainy at the only time I can go (5:45 am). I think I will make the migration from recumbent to upright at the gym soon to get my butt in shape...I switched to recumbent post baby when things were still tender

I'm a horrid biker though, I just do it for the X training. Although I will probably do the Seattle to Portland ride again someday.

Seat--I'm not sure if they still have it...Terry Cycling sells women specific saddles and since I am not RACING I got the one called "chubby cheeks" and OMG world of difference. I can actually ride 12 miles without padded bike shorts with hardly any break in period

Another vote here for Terry seats, but the one I have is called gellisima. Soooo much better than the men's seat that came on mine. It also helps if you kind of tuck your pelvis (like when doing abs) then more of your weight is on your sit bones and less on soft parts.

Thanks for the advice on seats, shorts and riding position, ladies. I had no idea there were different seats for women. Good to know it's not JUST being new that is the problem.

I do plan to buy some padded bike shorts, and am not afraid to wear them, though I'll likely go with a longer shirt until I get rid of the scary spare-tire belly, lol.

I'm going to start looking at prices on used road bikes, to see if that's an option for the tax refund this year, which should come in the next few weeks. I was planning to buy a new scooter for running my dogs, but that can wait, and I can put that money into a better bike that is more comfortable and easy to ride. I figure I can always sell it if I decide not to stick with biking for the long term, but I think I may get the triathlon bug later on, or at least want to try it once (after I have some actual swimming lessons and can run more than half a block, lol), so for now it wouldn't hurt to have a better bike to train on. I need some different exercise to do, other than skating, and right now biking seems like the most fun (except for the soreness factor right now, but I can work through that).

I'm back on the bike tomorrow. Skated today, about 4 hours total, including 2 hours of dance practice, so I'm off to put some rubbing alcohol on these sore old legs and then get some sleep! :faint:

Cheryl

You'll definitely fall in love if you buy a road bike! Here's some advice that I learned while searching for my bike:

When you're looking don't feel like you HAVE to get a women's specific design (called WSD) if you can fit comfortably on a men's bike. You'll get a much better bike for the price if you get a men's bike in general.

Before you start looking I would defintely go to your local bike shop and get fitted on a road bike so you know what size to look for. It's a little different riding position than flat bars because you're more bent over. Like for me I had a 51 flat bar bike but a 48 road bike.

And keep in mind that the brand of the bike isn't as a big deal as the type of components (brakes, crankset, etc). You really want to be looking for Shimano components. They have several levels of quality (called 105, ultegra, and dura-ace, i may have missed one...) as well but any one of them would be fine.

Good luck and definitely keep us updated on the search!

Tight schedule today, but got 2 miles in, at least. One more errand to run before I'm done for the day, so I'm gonna go take care of that!

Cheryl

Oh, I can't wait to join you all on my bike. It's waaaaay too cold here for me to be out biking and the 2.5' of snow on the trails is a bit too hard to get through, LOL! I'm like ArtsyGirl and it'll be April before I can hit the roads. :( Hopefully this thread will still be going strong then and I can join in.

My DH and I ride together and usually do a 22 mile round trip daily in the spring/summer/fall. We love to ride and have a trail right out the end of our driveway so no excuses! We are nuts :dizzy: and start out with that 22 miler even though that first ride of the season is a killer. OK the first week is a killer while I'm trying to get my "bike butt" back after taking the winter off. Even though we make that 22 mile ride we are slow in the beginning and work our way up to normal speed over the course of a few weeks. We both have the same inseam measurement (34") but I'm 5'10" and he's 6'2". We can keep the same pace but he's so much stronger than I am that he really kicks my butt at the beginning of the season. Since I've been lifting weights this winter I'm hoping that will give me a bit of an edge. :devil:

Jamsk8r, you'll have a great time and I think you should have no problem working up to 30 miles by June. Just keep plugging along and you'll get there. I'd suggest getting yourself a good Odometer for your bike. This will help you track how far and how fast you are riding. I find mine to be very helpful to keep on pace. The first one I had broke and I found it really difficult to not start slacking off when riding especially when I started getting tired. I replaced it right away.

Also a good thing to know about buying a women's saddle is that almost all shops will let you buy a saddle and try it for a week or so to see how it fits you and let you return it if it doesn't work for you. If the store says they won't do that go to another store. If you have an REI near you check them out. I bought 4 saddles from them before I found one that fit me right. Your butt will be sore when you first start training but your tailbone shouldn't be totally painful. You should be able to walk and sit after a long ride. If you're in a lot of pain (tailbone wise) then the saddle isn't right for your body. My tailbone curves down more than some people so I had a very hard time finding a saddle that didn't have a hard plastic area for the corporate logo that wouldn't hit me when I was riding. I know, TMI! :D Everyone is built differently and you need to find what fits your body best. Also you might find that as you lose weight your body fits your bike differently. I've noticed that as I've lost my seat sits in the wrong position. I'll be interested to see what I have to adjust this spring when I start riding again since I've lost so much weight. I hope I don't have to go through the bike seat search again.

Have fun riding all of you and I'll join you soon!

Beth

Oh I can't wait til it's warm enough and ice-free enough to ride my bike. I spent a lot of last summer without it as it needed parts, but I should be good to go this year. I have a realy hybrid bike - I think over several years I've replaced almost all of the original parts! It started life as a trail bike, but I've changed the tires to more road-like ones, and I've changed out the handlebars and stem. Then last summer the whole gearing box thing. I swear I could have bought a new bike by now! :lol: Oh, and I bought a women's saddle too. Much nicer, though you still have the "break in" period in the spring.

Cinderly, where do you ride? I'm in Palmer, but I love to come in and ride on the Coastal trail, though the roller bladers freak me out! Have you ever ridden at Eklutna Lake? I'd love to do that, though I need to get some mileage under my belt first.

Beth and Waterrat, welcome! Please join in any time, even if you're fighting snow and can't ride outdoors yet. Right now I'm riding rain or shine on my bike days, but I can see where I might want to get a trainer for indoors before next winter, assuming I stick with the sport. Right now, despite the painful seat, it's been a good feeling, just to get out and be doing SOMEthing toward burning this fat off. I'm just so done with all this extra weight!

Wow, 22 miles right off the bat?! :yikes: I feel like a total wimp now, lol!

I do think an odometer would help teach me to ride at a more steady pace. I try to keep it up, but can't tell if I'm keeping steady or not. Plus it would be nice not to have to guess on the mileage when I start changing my route.

Cheryl

Oh, don't feel like a whimp. We've both been riding for twenty plus years. I used to be in a bike club in college and we'd ride 20 miles M-W-F and 40 miles T-TR plus race on the weekends. Very hard core! Yuck, glad I'm over that phase, LOL. No time for a life with that kind of schedule. That and all my classes plus I was in a dance company. Where did I find the time? And how did I get so fat? Oh, yeah, life after college. Now that's a different story, LOL.

It's so sunny out here today I want to go riding soooooooo bad. I think we should look into getting the gear to ride in the winter. Not sure if I can convice DH to do that though. We always shake our heads at the guys out riding in -10 windchill. Hmmmmmmm, I'll have to think about how to approach this :D

Beth