ive had it for months now an ridden it once down a hill and on the flat for about 2 miles i find it really boring and hard and now my mountainbike is down the bog i wont be riding offroad for a while so im stuck with the roadbike has anyone got any advice or tips on motivating me to get out and ride it?
cheers Tom
You'll get fatter and slower if you don't 😀
im 18stone already any more and ill have to take up virtual cycling 😉
If your finding it hard after 2 miles I'd say slow down to a speed thats comfortable, do 10 miles one day, 11 the next etc, but keep the speed to a comfortable level.
I dont use my road bike very often and Im always saying im gonna sell it, then every time I do go out for a blast I love it, I went out on new years morning for a twenty mile run and it was great with hardly any cars on the road,I tend to hit the back/country roads when I can, its ideal when the trails are covered in snow and ice and makes a nice change, also keeps the legs spinning, I tend just to keep a nice easy pace 😀
Enter a local road event - a Sportive or something - taking place in 3 or 4 months time, preferably one that's been run in the past. Tell everyone on here that you are doing it. Cycle round the route and then compare your time to the times it was last run. Aim to complete it in the top half.
Find someone to ride with if you can. A group would be best. Blasting along working with a group will give you something to think about. It is hard at first but your legs will get stronger and your mountain biking will benefit when you get back on the MTB. What gears do you have on it? If you don't have a compact chainset (50 tooth big ring 34 tooth small ring) it might be worth fitting one especially if you live somewhere hilly.
its a 16spd double up front 8 on the back
i think riding with someone would help a lot but all my mates either don't have roadbikes and are not interested or there getting a roadbike supposedly in the near future (last January)
Keep them short at first, find some local quiet roads and a riding buddies to drag you out will really help.
I'll bet the gears are harder than your Mtb too. I do the ten min rule to get me out if I dint fancy ie ie get out for ten min if I don't like it I can go home so far never turned around! Can you ride into work that's a good hour each way for me taking it easy hrm > 140 so that help you'll be a lot fitter when you get back on the Mtb,. Saying that I know nothing! But it works for me 😆
i could commute bit it would be about 1 1/2 hours there on the quiet roads and finishing at 5pm would mean riding back in the dark all the way uphill
1.5 hour uphill? I didn't know we had any in the uk!
Seriously good advice above, set yourself an achievable goal.
mtfu.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&expIds=17259,27494,27586&xhr=t&q=bd22+9ss&cp=7&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Keighley+BD22+9SS&gl=uk&ei=MtAgTf3QNtCwhAfXroW5Dg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA its up and down hill all the way it takes me 40mins on a motorbike and even that struggles on some of the hills
Taka, you're not far from me I noticed in your profile. I'm just at the other side of Widdop. If you want someone to ride the road bike with I'll go with you. I'm fat and slow and not in a good state of fitness right now but I hope to make amends (see my recent posts). I did get going quite well on road bike, back in 2009 I did the 75 mile Roses Round event and finished around middle table. Anywhere near that distance would cripple me right now 😳
Email in profile if you fancy.
Can anyone come and get you if it goes pear shaped?
Get bike ready to go the day before.
Have clothing ready to put on.
Fully charge your mobile, put in back pocket.
Have one tube and pump or Co2 plus levers, stick in pocket.
Have drink ready to go.
Don't over dress.
Choose a clover leaf route so you have plenty of bail outs. Get up when your ready, have brekky and go.
I assume it's the Fort,and it looks like it runs a standard chainset so keep it in 39t.
Getting a crosser will probably make things harder for you as I noticed your after a swap. Slower on the road and hard work off.
Where are you?
Ah Northernshire.
im in oxenhope/hebden bridge ive got backup where ever i am im thinking of going out tomorrow and see where i can get to i guess one of the problems with riding close to home is there's always that urge to give up and go home
Rule 10
[i]Training[/i] is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired
join a club - go on sunday rides
Get rid of the mountain bike 😉
APF
Get a gps or mileometer.
Set yourself targets.
Climbing on a road bike, once you've attained a reasonable level of fitness, is an amazing buzz.
Im in Myth and sometimes commute over to Wycoller,you can do a nice circular past Pondon res, Trawden, then Thursden Valley past Widdop Res and into Hebden. Its a bout 30 miles ish.
Claire Balding did it on the telly recently
Plenty of food stops on the way
What djflexure said.
Have you spoken to your LBS? I did that with mine and found they run social rides of varying levels. For example, on Saturday they do a 20 mile introduction ride which is a very easy pace. Sunday's are harder longer rides.
Since I joined I haven't looked back. Prefer road riding to mountain biking now. Love the social aspect too.
I really enjoy road riding, perhaps because my road bike is simple and "just works" - however after riding with a mate on his geared bike I don't enjoy it so much as I realise how much faster I could be going if I had gears 😆
Don't enjoy it in towns though, just country lanes round here - it helps that we have no good off road so I have to get on with the road riding!
Find a wee short loop of a couple of miles and go give it hell see how you can improve your time.
find a long quiet bike path loop or dead country roads, put some demented tunes on your mp3 player and GO GO GO!
I think it just depends how you're wired. Different people have different triggers. I find it harder not to ride than to ride, to be honest, but you may be different. Some people get off on suffering, some people like the challenge of setting PBs over loops. For me it's just being on the bike and the escapism and the freedom and being in the moment and trying to appreciate what's around me.
You're really lucky living where you do, the road riding there's just stunning, well, if you like climbing it is and the Dales are easily within striking distance. I don't know what makes you tick, it sounds a bit like you expect road bikes to be 'easy' to ride, which they're not, or rather they're different to mountain bikes, you don't get to rest much and you can get giddy with the sheer speed of them.
But really, you need to give it a chance - two miles is nothing. Go and ride it properly and with an open mind. If you still hate it, ask yourself honestly, why that is. I never much liked my road bike, then someone told me it was a 'monstrosity' and I realised that she was, in a sense, quite right. It was the only bike I didn't like riding. It was harsh and fitted me badly and had no soul, no 'thing'. I ended up buying a much nicer road bike and it completely changed the way I saw road riding.
Blah...
Christ, 12 comments until some, "think he's funny adolescent p rick" said something "funny" (thomthumb)
great advice above, i find using mapmyrun.com to log rides really good especially as it's visible to people. Keeps me very motivated.
I am in the same position, starting a new job soon 13 miles away and plan to ride in every day and log it all. Have you got an HRM?
Matt
Road biking will certainly make you fitter for when you get your mountain bike back - and at this time of year when many of the trails are gloopy mud, are also significantly easier to clean. Perhaps set yourself a reward if you go out and have a decent ride e.g. go to the pub if you have done a 2 hour ride. If you've got loads of hills near where you live you will be able to enjoy the exhilaration of speeding down the descents.
ive got my kit ready for a ride tomorrow around hebden hopefully i might enjoy it abit more with some of these useful tips 😉
I wouldn't bother with computers, GPS HRMs etc just yet especialy if you were serious about previous mileage?
This time of year I leave all my stuff like that behind and go by the clock on the kitchen wall.
i was going to get a cheap trip computer to record my progress with the mileage side of things
Why aren't you out?
Have you considered Audax taka - cheaper than sportives by a long chalk and usually full of interesting characters http://www.aukweb.net/ some terrific rides to aim for!
ive got my kit ready for a ride tomorrow around hebden hopefully i might enjoy it abit more with some of these useful tips
Is he back? Did he go??
try these: have a riding partner, have some SMARTs to motivate you, ride with alternate turns at junctions ie right turn, left turn, right turn, left turn etc see where you end up? (similarly with a partner take it in turns to choose left and right turn offs or straight ons), reverse your ride, treat yourself to some new kit? Enjoy!!
yeh i went out this morning just a 8 mile ride from oxenhope to hebden bridge i was utterly knackered i found riding on the flat and downhill quite enjoyable but on the uphills even in the lowest gear had me out of the saddle i had to stop every few hundred meters to get my legs back
More to the point is he still out?
Nothing wrong with getting out of the saddle.
Seriously the big problem is weight, I'm three stone heavier than my old 'proper' racing weight and as soon as I hit a hill I know it's my weight trying to drag me back down again.
Earlier in the year I lost a stone after my accident, I knew it was a temporary loss, but I could fly uphills for a few weeks until the weight came back.
Not sure how something you find hard you also be boring? Surely if you find it difficult, the challenge is enough to hold some interest, no?
Anyway, never fear, Mr Motivator is here. 8)
Don't know your height but I just did a BMI check using your 18 stone weight and 6 feet in height.
taka - Member
im 18stone already any more and ill have to take up virtual cycling
The results.
- your height is 6 ft 0 ins
- your weight is 18 st 0 lbs
- your Body Mass Index is 34.2
- [b]you are classified as Obese Class I[/b]
- your risk of co-morbidities* is Significantly Increased
* Co-morbidities; for example, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, sleep apnoea.
Get out and ride you f*t tw*t. 😉
If you're really struggling on the hills, you might want to think about lowering the gearing a bit. The standard double set up on road bikes (which is probably what your 2x8 is) can be pretty brutal with a lowest gear of 39 x 21 or 39 x 23. Manufacturers have now twigged that that's a bit keen, and many bikes now come with either a compact double (smaller chainrings) or a triple. Swapping chainsets gets expensive, but just swapping in a mountain bike casette that goes up to 28 or 30 will make a decent difference.
That said you might want to focus on steadily building up the mileage on some flatter routes.
If you're finding it boring, it might just be that road riding's just not for you, but I'd stick with it for a bit as it does get more enjoyable with a bit of practice and a bit of fitness.
I'd try aiming for something like a 100k sportive in a few months time, train for it, do it, and see if the bug bites. If it doesn't, then road cycling probably isn't for you but you'll still be a whole load fitter.
Just walk up the hills
Riding a bike on the road is not, of itself, necessarily an engaging activity, although screaming down a sunken lane in a tuck at 45, taking the apex line on the wrong side of the road across a wash-out of grit and slimey beech leaves it can be. Rolling along, whether alone or in company is essentially a contemplative pursuit. The steady churning of pedals and working of the legs induces calm and allows space for reflection.
Push aside the intruding negative thought that it is shit and dull. Consciously concentrate on your breathing and your cadence. Feel the road thrumming along under the tyres. Feel the small undulations of the land. Feel the wind. Concentrate on your firm grip on the bars and the ripples of the tape under your palms.
Your mind will wander away, freeing you from fretting about how you aren't enjoying yourself. You may wish to invent a random word. If your word is "Battoowoo Greekgreek" you are cheating, think of another one. 🙂
BigD... or feel the burning acid fill your weak quads, push aside the stench of your reappearing breakfast, feel the thrumming of your heart as it tries to escape from your chest, try to invent a new word that doesn't start with effing..
Bloody hell, Black Moor lane, there's no flat bits round there, it's either extreme up or down, I'm not suprised you're struggling, I would be. At this time of year, living up there, I can't blame you for not being enthusiastic about getting on a bike, have you considered a bit of winter running/jogging to try and build some stamina? Problem is, there's not much flat round there to warm up on. You could maybe jog circuits of the moor just above your house.