A n00b starts cycling

MiNdGaM3

Hello,

Thought I'd start one of these things as a means of tracking my progress and for the added motivation from having my goals up online.
Anyway, stated running around February this year but got runners knee, so tried to take time off, do some strengthening exercises and go again but the pain just kept returning. So about 5 weeks ago I bought a mountain bike to help gradually build the strength and resistance in my knee until I could start running again, but since getting the bike, I think I may have caught the cycling bug!

So after 4 weeks of gradually building up the distance I've been cycling, and often being passed by cyclists on road bikes whom looked like they were finding it easy, I splashed out and last week invested in a Scott Speedster S55.
Unfortunately, when I got it back from the shop and took it out for it's first try the next day, the gears kept slipping and making general scraping and grinding noises. I tried to sort it out myself, made it worse and took the bike back to the shop. Hopefully I'll have it back later today and in full working order.

My main aim with the cycling now is to improve my fitness, lose a little weight and if things go well, maybe start entering some races next year.
Current stats;
Male
5ft 11"
77kg
23 Years Old
Cork City

I have dropped 10kg since the beginning of April most of which has come since I started cycling.
As far as goals are concerned, I'm doing the Bike n' Hike next Saturday 16th for the Mercy Hospital. It involves and 80km cycles to Killarney followed by climbing Carrauntoohil. Might as well chance my arm and leave a link for my fundraising page here in case anyone feels donating:Dhttp://www.mycharity.ie/event/samsbikenhike/ (Doesn't work on Chrome for some reason)
Other than that, just to complete a >100km cycle in the next 2 weeks and keep building from there.

Last Thursday (7th) was the longest cycle I've done so far at 70km in 3 hours 20 minutes, with a bag weighing about 5kg on my back.
Another route I've done is this
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215167704041602602831.0004a7caada98af9ccd75&msa=0&ll=51.907637,-8.563843&spn=0.128143,0.316887
Which I completed in about 2 hours 45 minutes, without a bag!
Looking forward to seeing how much faster I can manage with the road bike.

Anywho, I'd appreciate some suggestions on where to go from here, what kinda events I might consider working towards and things like such and I'll continue to post up my progress.
Cheers for reading!

seamus

Fair dues to you tbh. Five weeks on the bike and you're already doing 70km at a very respectable speed, especially on a mountain bike.

You will have no difficulty doing 80km on the road bike, but try get yourself out for a few short spins (even if you can only fit in 10k) between now and then on the road bike to get yourself accustomed to the difference in handling, braking, posture, etc.

You appear to have a bit of a history of pushing yourself too hard, and I would say that going for a 100km spin in the next two weeks might be along the same trend, but only you know yourself. If you're absolutely dead after 80km (i.e. can't move the next day), then I would say 100km is too much, too quickly. On the other hand if you do the 80km and feel tired but still have energy afterwards, then you may be well able to do 100km.

The route you've posted is relatively flat. Tbh, if you can do 100km on the flat, then you can do 150 and 200. Once you've done a 100km spin, start looking at ways to get proper hill climbing into your spin. A hilly 40km can be twice as tough as a 100km flat spin.

You're young, you're not overweight and you're putting in decent speeds at the moment on an MTB after just five weeks. So you're probably fairly fit. I would advise putting in time in the saddle for the next couple of months - get out and do a few events like you're doing, and go for higher intensity training rather than longer distance.
As winter approaches, look at joining a club to go out on spins with then on the cold weekends.

At your current level and age, and if you're that way inclined, it might be worth looking at dipping your toe into some racing next year. Joining a club in winter will help with this too as you'll learn group riding discipline and others in the club can coach you and give you tips.

MiNdGaM3

Thanks for that.
I suppose I do tend to push myself a bit much, though I thought I was going slowly enough with the cycling. Better take it easier I suppose! My father had similar problems with his knees when he was younger, so I guess I should be that bit extra careful.

I'm not sure of any particularly hilly routes near Cork city, but will try add in a few where I can after the 100km mark is reached. The route I posted had a fairly steep section going from the N22 towards Coachford on the R619 for about 3km, but I guess I'll need more than that!

Thanks again for the advice

Dr.Millah

I did this a few weekends ago to see what the route was like,
http://maps.google.ie/maps/ms?msid=209275547026478672136.0004a02abf4dd7e2879f8&msa=0&ll=51.713841,-8.576889&spn=0.34588,1.056747

no crazy hills but a few nice climbs for 80km of cycling i didnt stick to the exact route as it started raining when i got near Kinsale so i cut out the head of Kinsale.

I also headed home a different route rather than the kinsale-cork road which is **** IMO. Here is my garmin data from the spin, the route i took out of kinsale was nice and quiet with alot of undulating hills some of which kicked up to 13/14% for a short period.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94728117

insinkerator

Are you going to do the Rebel Tour in September, me and some friends are training for it atm!

Good to see another person from Cork in the training logs. Will be stealing some route ideas from you

Dr.Millah

insinkerator wrote: »

Are you going to do the Rebel Tour in September, me and some friends are training for it atm!

Good to see another person from Cork in the training logs. Will be stealing some route ideas from you

Yea hoping to do the 150km route alright. Never been on the roads from dunmanway back to kinsale in the route which look interesting.

Are you considering the 80 or 150k route?

insinkerator

Definitely the 150k.

A 60k spin that I have done a couple of times now, I can do pretty easily, and when I do it now, I worry more about my speed than whether it will kill me getting through it. Haven't done much longer yet, but I reckon I could manage a 100k spin atm at a reasonable pace.

Once I get my new bike, 150k shouldn't be too tough.

MiNdGaM3

Dr.Millah wrote: »

I did this a few weekends ago to see what the route was like,
http://maps.google.ie/maps/ms?msid=209275547026478672136.0004a02abf4dd7e2879f8&msa=0&ll=51.713841,-8.576889&spn=0.34588,1.056747

no crazy hills but a few nice climbs for 80km of cycling i didnt stick to the exact route as it started raining when i got near Kinsale so i cut out the head of Kinsale.

I also headed home a different route rather than the kinsale-cork road which is **** IMO. Here is my garmin data from the spin, the route i took out of kinsale was nice and quiet with alot of undulating hills some of which kicked up to 13/14% for a short period.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94728117

Apparently I don't have sufficient privileges to view the garmin data?
That route does look quite nice though, will have to give it a try soon.

insinkerator wrote: »

Are you going to do the Rebel Tour in September, me and some friends are training for it atm!

Good to see another person from Cork in the training logs. Will be stealing some route ideas from you

Sounds like something to work towards. Sure I might as well add that to my to-do list now!

MiNdGaM3

Got the bike back yesterday and it appears to be working much better now. Took it out for a short trip today and I'm loving the difference it makes. Everything seems so much easier and faster. Managed a 30.5km route in an hour and 6 minutes which averages out at around 27.7km/h, much higher than any average I'd managed on the mtb.
Here's the route http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/41316252

Having a proper sized bike for the first time puts strain on my legs differently to before. I could feel a little strain on the muscles above and below the back of my knees, which I'd never noticed before.
I'm also down to 76kg, but think I'll start upping my food intake once I reach 73kg.
Looking forward to Saturday now:D

MiNdGaM3

Completed the bike n hike on Saturday. Despite a few problems, I enjoyed it and will most likely give it another go next year.
We left at about 7:50 from outside the Mercy Hospital. I stayed with 2 friends who were on mountain bikes for about the first 15km or so before heading off at my own pace. I waited for around 30 minutes for my friends to turn up at the stop in Macroom before leaving, which seemed to affect my knee a bit. For the rest of the day, my right knee got worse and for the final ~20km of the cycle, I was using my left leg to do most of the work, with my right knee just doing enough to get the pedal around! The second half of the cycling also had the biggest climbs and an ever strengthening headwind, making things a little more difficult.
I got to the Malton hotel in Killarney at around 12:15, and averaged 22.0km/h for the 86km.
There I got my knee wrapped in preparation for the attempt on Carrauntoohil.
For the fist hour or so climbing, I managed ok, but my knee began to hurt quite a bit then, and for the majority of the climb I was near the back of the group, using my left leg to pull me up and down the mountain, doing the best I could not to put any pressure on my right knee. On top of that, my stomach began acting up and I had to dart off a few times on the climb to, well... I think you get it! The conditions were pretty dreadful also, with heavy rain for much of the climb and winds averaging close to 70km/h near the top and gusting over 100km/h (I'm a bit of a weather geek and brought an anemometer with me!)
Managed to finish the whole thing anyway, and other than my sore knee and raw stomach, felt fine once I was showered and in some dry clothes!

Overall, I was happy to have finished it considering what happened. I was disappointed that my runners knee flared up so soon though. I started feeling it after Macroom, which is only little over 40km from Cork, yet I've cycled nearly twice that, with a bag on my back before and felt fine afterwards.
With that cycle now complete, my total so far is up to 543.8km. I think another day or 2 of rest and I'll be back to the cycling again anyway!

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42091098

MiNdGaM3

Between cycling to shops and to the gym, I managed 12km yesterday. Unfortunately my knee still hurt while cycling, so I'll probably be lucky to get a decent trip in before the weekend. Suppose it gives me time to plan a few new routes.
Might cycle back to my parents house in S. Tipp next week and attempt cycling over the Vee through the Knockmealdowns, should be a tough enough climb!

MiNdGaM3

My right knee is still quite bad, so still very little cycling for me, just shops and gym, so only 1-2km at a time for the most part. A 15km trip early in the week is the most I've managed, but I was fairly sore after that.
Really hoping a good rest this weekend will help and may attempt a short trip on Tuesday.

damoz

Just 2 bits of advice...

1. Get fit on the bike properly. Make sure this isnt contributing to some of the knee trouble. Its well worth doing . Im sure the lads on here can recommend someone good in Cork city.

2. Go to a physio. Dont ride through the pain as it can make a small problem into a bigger one. I learned this last year with a hip issue.

MiNdGaM3

damoz wrote: »

Just 2 bits of advice...

1. Get fit on the bike properly. Make sure this isnt contributing to some of the knee trouble. Its well worth doing . Im sure the lads on here can recommend someone good in Cork city.

2. Go to a physio. Dont ride through the pain as it can make a small problem into a bigger one. I learned this last year with a hip issue.

Cheers for the advice, but what exactly do you mean by "get fit on the bike properly"? I got the bike sized properly in store, with the angle at my knee and things like that checked. My knee is sore all the time now, so it's not just a cycling problem!
Gonna head to the doctors next week if I see no improvement as it's even affecting my sleep now as I struggle to feel comfortable with it.

MiNdGaM3

Well. It's been a month of very slow improvement with my knee. During the last week I've started cycling a little again, just to shops and the gym, with my biggest trip being 8km. Knee has felt fine, so I'm going to continue with the short trips for the coming week, and next weekend I'll attempt a 20km cycle.
Hopefully it will be ok, fingers crossed!