I can only assume that since I’m a new cyclist I’ll have several parts of these “new cyclist lessons” and feel that it is my duty to let you all know about them in case any of you are newbies or feel that one day you’d like to ride a bike in preparation for a tri or due to dumb running injury.
Yesterday I decided to head up to the paved 7 mile loop that many cyclists train on. There are also a lot of runners and roller-bladers and roller skaters. The roller skates crack me up since they are so old school, but you’d never catch me on those cause I’m basically terrible at anything with wheels.
I headed up to Flatwoods trail with a buddy nice and early since he needed to ride and agreed to give me some much needed pointers. He helped me the first two miles by going over the gears and then he told me to jump behind some speedy (well, speedier than me) dudes and practice drafting. I asked him if he thought they’d mind and he said, “If they do, I’ll jump in front.” They didn’t seem to and I plugged along behind them for about 5 or 6 miles hitting about a 19-20 MPH speed! Then I got tired. The good news is that I finally found the “sweet spot” of gearing. It seems that I’ve been riding in the wrong ones for pretty much all of my time on the bike. Oops!
There’s a lesson! Learn better gearing BEFORE racing. Heh. (I did get some gear training previously, but I think it finally clicked yesterday.)
My little buddy then sped off while I continued on my ride. I was happy to see that I could hold a 17 MPH speed for longer than I ever had in my gears and I continued to try to draft on groups as they went by. They’d usually drop me but it was good practice to try to build up to a group ride.
As I rode along I saw a very large group of walkers. They were pretty spread out across the path and I had to slow way down to go around them. I didn’t want to hit anyone and definitely didn’t want to fall myself. As there were walkers on both sides of the paved trail I got nervous about getting around them. It thinned out a little but then I saw some emergency vehicles blocking the entire path in front of me. There was some room on the right and a cyclist coming back toward said I could get by on my bike, but I decided I’d stop and walk it around them.
I’m glad I did because I doubt I could have maneuvered around them. As I rubber-necked by, I saw an older woman being placed on a gurney. She was crying and had her leg wrapped. I asked a man standing by what happened and he said she was hit by a cyclist. Ouch! Apparently the cyclist suffered a broken collar bone and she broke something in her leg. I have no idea who was at fault or how it happened but I’d guess they were both a bit to blame. As Cay-See once told me, a bit of trepidation can be a good thing in cycling. There’s a lesson!
While we chatted about the accident another female cyclist rode up and was asking if we saw a man with a baby trailer behind his bike. I said I had not seen him and she said she was going to tell him not to ride with that trailer. I wondered why and she went on to explain that it was a very young baby and that you can do damage to a baby, by the shaking, in one of those trailers if they aren’t at least a year old. I guess this baby was lying down and not even six months. Yikes! As we were talking the man she spoke of rode by and off she went to catch him. (I have no idea about any of this stuff since I have no kids, but I could see how putting a baby that young in one of those trailers may not be the best idea…) There’s a lesson!
Needless to say, it was a very eventful day at the trail for me! I got in my 25 miles and managed to stay out of all of the drama. But at least I learned a few things. I’m seeing some progress on the bike and am feeling better because of it.
I did get in my long run this weekend, even though I cut it to 9 miles instead of 10 due to heavy legs and the PC’s (poopy cramps). I also swam a TON on Friday and Sunday. Yay! My ventures into the triathlon continue…
Happy Monday.
This lesson could actually be part 2, since I sort of went over some stuff at my last triathlon. Like, learn how to put your chain back on and try not to fall over due to your saggy shorts. I digress.
Yesterday I decided to head up to the paved 7 mile loop that many cyclists train on. There are also a lot of runners and roller-bladers and roller skaters. The roller skates crack me up since they are so old school, but you’d never catch me on those cause I’m basically terrible at anything with wheels.
I headed up to Flatwoods trail with a buddy nice and early since he needed to ride and agreed to give me some much needed pointers. He helped me the first two miles by going over the gears and then he told me to jump behind some speedy (well, speedier than me) dudes and practice drafting. I asked him if he thought they’d mind and he said, “If they do, I’ll jump in front.” They didn’t seem to and I plugged along behind them for about 5 or 6 miles hitting about a 19-20 MPH speed! Then I got tired. The good news is that I finally found the “sweet spot” of gearing. It seems that I’ve been riding in the wrong ones for pretty much all of my time on the bike. Oops!
There’s a lesson! Learn better gearing BEFORE racing. Heh. (I did get some gear training previously, but I think it finally clicked yesterday.)
My little buddy then sped off while I continued on my ride. I was happy to see that I could hold a 17 MPH speed for longer than I ever had in my gears and I continued to try to draft on groups as they went by. They’d usually drop me but it was good practice to try to build up to a group ride.
As I rode along I saw a very large group of walkers. They were pretty spread out across the path and I had to slow way down to go around them. I didn’t want to hit anyone and definitely didn’t want to fall myself. As there were walkers on both sides of the paved trail I got nervous about getting around them. It thinned out a little but then I saw some emergency vehicles blocking the entire path in front of me. There was some room on the right and a cyclist coming back toward said I could get by on my bike, but I decided I’d stop and walk it around them.
I’m glad I did because I doubt I could have maneuvered around them. As I rubber-necked by, I saw an older woman being placed on a gurney. She was crying and had her leg wrapped. I asked a man standing by what happened and he said she was hit by a cyclist. Ouch! Apparently the cyclist suffered a broken collar bone and she broke something in her leg. I have no idea who was at fault or how it happened but I’d guess they were both a bit to blame. As Cay-See once told me, a bit of trepidation can be a good thing in cycling. There’s a lesson!
While we chatted about the accident another female cyclist rode up and was asking if we saw a man with a baby trailer behind his bike. I said I had not seen him and she said she was going to tell him not to ride with that trailer. I wondered why and she went on to explain that it was a very young baby and that you can do damage to a baby, by the shaking, in one of those trailers if they aren’t at least a year old. I guess this baby was lying down and not even six months. Yikes! As we were talking the man she spoke of rode by and off she went to catch him. (I have no idea about any of this stuff since I have no kids, but I could see how putting a baby that young in one of those trailers may not be the best idea…) There’s a lesson!
Needless to say, it was a very eventful day at the trail for me! I got in my 25 miles and managed to stay out of all of the drama. But at least I learned a few things. I’m seeing some progress on the bike and am feeling better because of it.
I did get in my long run this weekend, even though I cut it to 9 miles instead of 10 due to heavy legs and the PC’s (poopy cramps). I also swam a TON on Friday and Sunday. Yay! My ventures into the triathlon continue…
Happy Monday.
I've just had a DUH moment with my gears and then found out how much faster I can ride!! You're very lucky to have such a great support around you. 🙂
All good lessons – I am still working on the whole gear thing myself. And when people say big chain, little chain what have you, I really have no clue what they are talking about. Is there a school for this???
BoB, the real 2nd lesson here is to avoid multi-use paths (MUP's). There are more dangers navigating pedestrians, pets, skaters, etc. on a path than there is learning safe cycling in the streets. A casual spin on a beach cruiser? OK. Training on your road bike? Ride it on the road!
@Heather: Big or little chain is referring to the chainrings (the gears in front). Big is harder and faster, little is easier and slower (for climbing). More subtle changes are made with the cogs (gears in back) where it's the opposite – little is faster, big is easier. This is because it's the ratio of the number of teeth on the front compared to the number of teeth on the back that determines the gear. This completes today's lesson!
I am still confused by the gears even with the lesson in the post and comments. Hopefully I will have an AHA moment sometime soon because I'm pretty sure I'm doing it all wrong! I'm glad you had a break through and found some new speed! 🙂
so much to learn… 🙂 The gearing thing still gets me. I am dialing it in slowly but surely. The best gear for flat roads is the one that gets me (go figure, you would think that would be the easiest.).
I'm seeing a trend in this post and comments so I'll chime in once more. There seems to be a search for that magical gear you should latch onto …. there's no such thing! The best gear will change frequently in the course of a ride. Simply put for endurance riding, the correct gear will be the one where you can maintain your ideal cadence at your target heartrate. Can't keep the cadence up? Shift to an easier gear to get spinning again! Heartrate dropping below the target zone? Shift to a harder gear and work those legs! Every undulation of the terrain, change in wind, and change in pavement can require a gear change. Shift often!
Thanks for the input! I think that most of us new guys were definitely not shifting enough. And mean to say that we found a better gear for the various terrain.
Woo! You are definitely lucky to be surrounded by so many athletes to support you!
i dont know how you bike… i fall off mine on a regular basis… hence why i just RUN 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I didn't realize there was so much to gears. (I am NOT a cyclist) I figured it was pretty much like a car and once you the engine whining you move to the next one. 🙂
Glad to see you kicking butt on your bike! Soon it will be time for you to push your pace hard and get those legs even stronger!