Beginner

tbernie07

Hi all, i play hurling but due to a knee injury i cant do any running for a few weeks therefore i am trying to get fit by cycling, i cycled 20k today, 20 k tuesday and 13k tuesday. Its on backroads so its mostly up and down, is this enough to be doing to get fit, i have no idea about cycling. Any help would be appreciated.

funnights74

All exercise is good excercise, but not sure if cycling will help your knee problem though, some cyclists suffer from knee problems, especially in the cold weather.
My brother had a knee problem and swimming, along with physio did the trick.

piston

The important points are to ensure your saddle is at the correct height and spin like crazy in the lower gears rather than mash the big gears.

seamus

As someone with a general knee condition, keeping your knees covered in cold weather is an absolute must. "Cold weather" is subjective, but remember that 12 degrees C can feel like 3 when you're hammering downhill.

New cyclists always tend to push the hardest gear they can, but as piston says, spinning is much more beneficial both from an exercise and joint point of view. The easiest way to describe spinning is to cycle in a gear that feels like you're just about putting in some effort - i.e. if you went up by one gear, you would be putting in no effort, your legs would just be moving.