Heading up to Killin this weekend and I have convinced the girlfriend to come cycling with me on Saturday. I’ve planned a simple route on the cycle network route 7 over to Lochearnhead and back.

Thing is she’s not been on a bike for years, will this kill her and put her off cycling forever?
We’re gonna hire her a bike from the outdoor place in Killin as I want it to fit her well.

Advice? Tips?

take it easy & buy her a cushion for Sunday. 😀

As said, make her wear good padded shorts and a comfy saddle if its offroad, maybe even a gel cover? I tried to get my other half into cycling without any of the above and she suffered for days after and hasn’t got back on a bike since

Look carefully at your route, there may be hills which you would not even notice, but which will ruin her ride. Be prepared to go unreasonably slowly and stop often for rests, hot chocolate etc. And make sure everything being carried is on your bike.
Last time i was out with the mrs I got her to choose the route. If I had chosen it we would have fallen out, but because she had picked it herself she had no-one to get the hump with and harmony reigned.

What sort of distance are you covering?

I’ve been helping my niece improve her cycling and ramp up her distance as she wants to do 100k in the Summer. The first time we did a 20km ride left her pretty much shattered and walking funny for about 3 days. if it wasn’t for the fact that she is very highly motivated to prove a few people wrong I doubt she’d have come back out. If you’re not used to cycling even a short distance can seem torturous.

[edit]
sweepy’s advice is all good.

Its quite a climb out of killin. However there is usually a van selling coffee and cake at the top – and the sustrans down glen ogle is really really nice.

IIRC there is a pub just as yo go into lochearnhead as well

It’s about a 16 mile round trip with a climb out of Killin and on the way back from Lochearnhead again.

I think she’ll find the climb out of Killin a bit tough, but she is super stubborn and pretty fit so hopefully she’ll manage. The van at the top does do some brilliant burgers and a mean cuppa!

All she’ll have to carry is water and waterproofs, I’ll take everything else with me. I’ll pick her up some padding too.

16 mile offroad for someone that’s not ridden much or for a long time is quite an undertaking. If it were me I’d be looking to half the distance for somebodies first off road ride especially if you want them to talk to you afterwards.

Can you plan a route that allows for shortening if necessary? That way you can gauge how she’s doing and take whichever route you think best on the day.

Its only “sort of” offroad – the main part is a recently gravel surfaced old railway.

We’ll cycle up from Killin to the wee van and have a burger at the Lochan and I’ll see how she feels if she’s still talking to me. Then we can head back or keep going if she’s up for it. I really don’t mind going terribly slow for her, I’ll just have to remember not to speed away on the downs as well as the ups.

It’s not off road at all as far as I can remember, when I done it last year I think it was tarmac all the way Or gravel as TJ says^

You could always leave her in the pub in lochearnhed while you go back for the car.

It’s not off road at all as far as I can remember, when I done it last year I think it was tarmac all the way.

Sounds like it might be just about OK then. I am always massively cautious with anyone not used to riding taking the approach that if the ride is short and they are left wanting more then they’ll want to go again if they’re left shattered then maybe not.

In terms of speed my rides with my newbie niece were averaging around 14kph (almost 9mph) for the first couple of weeks. This was over fairly flat mixed surfaces. Bit of road, bit of mud, bit or gravel.

Remember to wait for her at the wee gates/grids on the Glen Ogle section. You’ll just sail through them but I bet she wants to walk/wobble through 🙂

The climb out of Lochearnhead on the way back is very steep at the zig-zags. After that you should be just fine.

The climb out of Killin was a lot less steep than it looked on the map.

Stop frequently to admire the view and go really slowly. Apart from a sore bum she won’t even notice the ride.

I am fairly sure you can hire a tandem in callender 🙂

It’s all about your attitude to the climbs and how you feel about walking. It’s so easy to make choosing to walk feel like failure. There is also nothing worse than watching someone else’s bum easily spinning away 100m up the track and not being able to do anything about closing the gap; apart from someone stopping so you can catch up and having a breather then setting off again just as you get there with your lungs hanging out so you never get to stop; or being constantly half wheeled. Let her half wheel you and set the pace and don’t offer too much patronising encouragement!

On the way back, if she’s doing well there’s a nice little change to route on the way back to Killin where you turn off right just after the coffee stop and road crossing; traverse along half a mile or so (you’ll have to check the map for details, doing this from memory) then descend on a slightly more off road track with a nice little bit of singletrack right at the end before you meet the southern Killin to Kenmore road and pootle back to town. Just enough distance and just technical enough to give her an insight into “proper” mountain biking.

I really don’t mind going as slow as needs be, I want her to enjoy it as much as possible so if it means walking, then walk I shall! I’m there to spend the weekend with her after all, cycling is just something we’re gonna do to kill time, introduce her to my hobby and work up an appetite!

TJ – We will save the tandem experience for another time I think, rather not come home single!

convert – I’ll keep an eye open for the turn off on the way back…See if she fancies getting a wee bit Rad.

Have fun.

Taking a pic nic and saying it’s a pic nic were just cycling to get there worked for me. I got my girlfriend to join me down the canal path, I used there is a lovely view round the corner to stop her wanting to go home after 5 minutes. 18 months later she has an MTB and joins me occasionally on trails.

Well we made it back in 1 piece. It was blowing a gale and snowing most of the journey. Fingers and toes were freezing, but she made it, cycled all the way and didn’t even moan once!

She had a ball, and is looking forward to going out again minus the snow of course.

Good stuff.