SiN

Hi there

wondering if anyone has any suggestions/advise for me.

I've taken up bike riding as my main exersize, and i'd like to get the most out of it, as far as burning calories/fat.

(obviously, simply doing it more will help, but i also want to do it best as i can)

Here's the current situation -

I've got an 18-speed mtn bike (just purchased it used, nothing fancy...have to make do with what i have atm)..

I always bike in the highest gear i can handle, which currently is in 16th i think..downshift one or 2 uphill...and i always keep pedaling as much as possible, avoiding coasting.

I think my seat might be a bit too low, but i'm not sure about that.
it seems harder on my legs atm, they're not getting stretched out...i'm not sure if i should leave it because it's making my legs seemingly work harder, or if i could bike more/better/faster if i moved it up as far as i can whilst still having enough of my feet on the pedal...

and in general i kind of wonder, what burns more calories - going faster on a flat surface or working harder going uphill?

hm, i think that's it for now, altho i might come up with more Q's as i think about it...

any other tips/suggestions will be much appreciated too.

thx for any help

__________________

nowthen

Hi Sin,

First things first, it is very important to get your saddle height right. Ideally, when you are seated on the saddle and one of the pedals is in the lowest position with your foot flat on it, your knee should have a slight bend, only a few degrees. Unfortunately only way to do this is by trial and error - move the saddle up a little at a time, and then sit on the bike either leaninig against fence/wall, or get a friend to hold the bike up, and check that your leg is comfortably extended. When you feel it is about right, go for a short ride and test it out.

Figure 3 in this article : http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/...mar/kronpa.htm
shows what I am talking about.

With regards to pedalling, the aim should be to turn smooth circles with your legs, in a fairly easy gear to begin with. This is why you have the gears, as it becomes harder to pedal, for example up a hill, you should change gears in order to keep "spinning" smooth circles. Contrary to how this may "feel", spinning in relatively easy gears is FANTASTIC conditioning and will burn off a lot of calories. What you want to avoid, particularly to start with, is pushing the pedals forward with your legs on each stroke as this places a lot of stress on the knees. You can do this for short periods once you have built up the muscles in your legs, but like any sport, it is best to ease in to it so your body can adjust and strengthen itself to the excercise involved.

I am sure I will think of more things... any questions just let me know!

__________________

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."

George Bernard Shaw

nowthen

Oh yes, and drink! Keep drinking water, or even better something like gatorade, regularly. If you havent got one, get a bottle and holder thats fits on to your bike. Once you get dehydrated your body goes on shut down, meaning a lot less time to excercise!

__________________

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them."

George Bernard Shaw

gibber71

Also try and pace yourself. This will include changing gears frequently due to hills,wind, traffic,..etc, depending on where you are. I always give about 70% in one direction,then 95% on the way back. I like to finish strong rather than burning out. And as above have plenty of water.

icy_ca

Nowthen has an excellent point, adjust the seat height correctly. Also maintain your tire pressure and clean/lube your chain.
Your tires should have a psi rating on the side walls just like car tires. As a rule of thumb 30-35psi should be okay for road riding and 20-30 for trails.
Any bike shop will have good and inexpensive lube and cleaner ask the tech there for they're advise for what is best in your area.
Have fun with this it's one of the best forms of excersize I could ever recommend. Talk to other cyclists, join a riding group for the support and structure.
On the web check out www.bicycling.com and www.rivendellbicycles.com for anything you ever wanted to know about bikes.

P.s. Try to use the smaller gears and spin a bit more, that gets your heart beating and stresses your knees and back.

__________________
After all is said and done,
more is said than done.

azoun

I have been racing mountian bikes for about 5 years now, and I have a few pointers that helped me out alot.

1. Find a good bike shop. If you go to a place like k-mart to get parts for your bike, they will just sell you whatever they have in the store at the time. A good local shop will make sure you get exactly what you need.

2. Find a friend interested in joining you. Biking is 10x as fun with a friend. You will find yourself pushing harder (friendly compitition between friends is great) and having a lot more fun than going it alone.

3. Try some off-road stuff. When I first started, I just rode around town with a friend. We started going off road, and found it to be far far more fun. A few years after that, I started entering local races. You will find out you push alot harder knowing you have an upcomming race.

4. Make sure you have a good all around corse, and time yourself on it. I have 3 or 4 routes I take around my house, and know how long it should take me (I have a book, but its not really needed). That way you can push yourself more and more.

5. Most importantly, have fun. Any kind of sport is going to suck unless you have fun doing it. Try and meet people at your local shop and see if they have weekend or weeknight rides you can join in on. You will get lots of tips on your bike and riding style. Plus you might meet some new friends while your at it =)

txd

Try to use the gears more, if you stick to too high a gear it is a sure fire way of messing up your knees.

I wont go into saddle height as nowthen has covered it

monkeydriven

Never stop pedaling....coasting down hills or on straight aways makes it tougher to get going again once you need to hit it to climb a hill....

Also when climbing a hill, do not change gears until you have stood in the saddle and mashed the gears to the point where you are losing cadence, only then should you switch gears....."spinning" up a hill or anywhere does you no good and will sap your stamina...

__________________
you think i got my eyes closed but i've been lookin' at you the whole f&ckin' time...
------------------------------------------------
Posting from the home of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox

kingal

the best pace, for burning calories and cardio fitness is between 90 and 100 rpm. What does that mean?

It means you're working and your legs are moving fluidly and quickly for the full rotation, not just pushing down. Find a shop you like and go for a ride with some of the guys there -or- ask one of them to ride with you and give a few pointers.

Mashing gears uphill just make riding tough and make you breathe harder. Thats about all.

Jay Francis

Thanks.

Scott

As Nowthen mention, keep drinking water. It helps keep your metabolism up allowing you to burn more calories like you are striving to do. Although, it was also suggested to drink gatorade... I would say that is a bad idea if your looking to burn off calories. I am not sure of the nutritional facts of gatorade, but in powerade there's 50 calories per 8 ounces - usually 20 ounces in a bottle of powerade. 250 calories from the drink, and you'll find yourself drinking a lot of it bicycling or running. In conclusion, I suggest to stick with water and LOTS of it.

Scott

Scipio

On cadence, I've heard it's better to keep pedaling relatively quickly. Like 80-100 strokes per minute. Is this right?

__________________
"Erections lasting more than 4 hours, though rare, require immediate medical attention."

SiN

Thx for the excellent advise and replies

good thread, i've been keeping an eye on it, just havent had a chance to post a decent reply yet.

couple things -

1. water vs. gatorade/etc. i def. choose water. if i were biking all day i may consider a bottle of gatorade or something, but at this point, is just useless calories imo. my rides are 1-2 hours.

2. uphill - i see a couple differing opinions on this one...so, which is the correct answer? at this point, i just downshift 1-2 gears so i can pedal whilst still sitting on the seat. barely sometimes, but doeable.

2a. relatedly - standing-up biking versus sitting down...is there any advantage to standing up for any reason? i've always tended to avoid it because it feels 'easier' but maybe it's just redistributing the energy i'm using?

3. biking with other people etc...
good idea in general, but in practise at this point i'm mostly solo-biker. why? because 1. i'm just kinda more introverted anyways, and biking is kinda my 'me-time' where i do a combination of thought processing and just giving my mind a rest, almost meditative. 2. language barrier. i'm an American living in Germany, and my command of the German language is still lacking (working on that tho).

4. currently, my goal is minimum of 6 hours a week, with a min of an hour a time. (i also use bike for transportation to school/store/etc, but that doesn't count). does it make a difference in calories burned how i distribute that time? like, for example, last week, it was split up over 4 days. wound up like 6.5 hours and approx 100+ km over those 4 days. (i've got a bike computer, so i can keep track of my stats). my avg speed is about 20 km/h.

k, that's all i can think of atm.

thx again for all your good replies, and i hope this thread is helping others too.

__________________

blanks

great information. from what i've heard, the saddle height is very important for posture and full extension of your legs. My advice is to downshift if you begin feeling anything in your knees over time. It will prevent injury.

Bla99

I'm planning on doing some biking =p

Ease into it and go further and further each day.. or however much I can etc.. take it slow.

Now my main reason for posting is...

Is biking a good way to lose weight?

and how much biking would you have to do to have noticable effects on your weight, also, can you bike every day? or is it one of those day on day off kind of exercises. =p

Any info would be much appreciated =)

Ar just saw other thread, my bad, soz =(

SiN

heh. that's why there's a 'search' feature

and regarding frequency - yeah you can do it every day, but you may want to allow a day off every 3rd day or so. you don't need to, and even on that day off a bit of biking is good.

for example - this last week or so, i went thurs thru sun, then monday off, then tues-thurs, fri off, and i'll be going today and tomoro. (off meaning just errands/transportation. under 10 km daily total on those days)

you kinda need to figure out for yourself when/how to push yourself. for me, i am definitely notising my strength increasing, so a few days inna row is no big deal. and, even if your legs may be a bit sore at the start of a ride, ive notised it usually goes away after about 15 mins or so, after the muscles warm up/loosen up, and perhaps just the endorphins making them happy

good luck, and check my thread for other good advise

__________________

123dsa

I've just started biking. My goal is to ride farther than I drive everyday. So far so good. I ope it is a good way to lose weight. I weigh about 225 now and would like to be 205. I'll keep you posted.

123dsa

I have been biking for a bit now. I have some problems staying hydrated.(I have two 1 litre bottles on my road bike). I have heard that if you drink a ton of water before starting you don't get as thirsty.... Any thoughts? I don't really like the idea of a camel pack... Do any of you use them?

asdf4321

I drink water all the time... Unfortunetly I don't know much about hydration while biking (besides stopping at various locations and looting precious water..) and I suppose I have more questions than answers.

1) What would be the best method for biking in a relatively flat area? Houston is pretty much a giant parking lot and doesn't lend itself to much change in altitude. I'm guessing that I should just continue the cycle with my legs which I haven't started due to bad seat position?

2) I am moving to California soon and as such will be purchasing a new bike due to the facts that a) bikes won't fit in the overhead baggage compartment, b) my current bike is a cheap Huffy, conveniently painted purple and pink, though it is designed for males, features bubble-wrap for it's left handle and automatic derailing of the bike chain whenever gears are switched. Basically, I'll be arriving on campus and will probably be looking to buy something used.. What should I look for? Any suggestions, especially for someone who wishes to bike... a lot? Thanks in advance. And this thread will definitely help my workout.

__________________
Rar-poop! Combination dinosaur noise and the sound of.. well, you know.

jlickx

Good thread, I ride Mt bike and Road 4-6 hrs a week,
my thoughts are:

Hydration is important, especially in SOCAL (where I ride) try a Camelback makes it very easy to take small sips often.

Spin faster rather than pushing hard all the time.

One rule of thumb for position is to sit on bike w/ pedals at 3:00 & 6:00 and have a friend hang a weight on a string from the bump just under your kneecap of front foot. The weight should be in the center of the pedal, adjust seat to for allow this.

Finding others into this makes it even more fun and they act as support group; technical, emotional & competitive.

Once you feel like you are getting in very good shape and want more, start heart rate montioring. you can be tested to detirmine your max heart rate or use less accurate calculators on web.http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heart.asp
The basic idea is that your fitness level will increase faster when you spend allot of time training at 60% to 80 % of max heart rate.
This did wonders for me. Mountain biking can be more about stamina and pushing limits which is fine but building a solid base will help overall enjoyment (you know FUN) and fittness.

Also try http:/thecyclotherapist.com/links.html for allot of places to go for ideas help etc...

This sport is a blast, don't get hung up on equipment, buy what you can afford and enjoy the heck out of it.

Bicycling magizine is a good all around mag, lots of self help stuff.

ciao

cheerios

I've never done mt. biking, i've only done road, but i can second hte importance of saddle height, and WATER!!! I "boinked" once 'cuz I was used to soccer, and not drinking a lot till you were done, 'cuz you'd get cramps, and i didn't drink enough. in 100 degreee weather, in the summer, in the sun. BAD idea. drink little bits continally. hydration GOOD. also may consider stashing a granola or power bar in a pocket to snack on... we used to ride in the morning, and i"m not a breakfast person, so getting that power bar, even if it was melted and hot, was heavenly. reward for mking it 1/2way! some guys we used to ride with would ride over the altamont from Tracy to Livermore, and go to the Starbucks as a reward before turning around home.

the previous poster said "don't get hung up on equiptiment" and i'll second that, but mention a few things that I consider "more important" than others:
* a good pair of gloves -- these make riding SO much nicer, especially on longer rides, and especially if you don't have too many places on your handlebars to put your hands.
* a pair of shades -- 1 word: bugs. keep em out your eyes, keeps the sun out of em, makes it easier to see, and ify ou're worried about it, makes you that little bit more aerodynamic.
* A HELMET -- yes, you'll feel like a geek, and yes you'll look silly. but the first time a 4x4 takes you out at a stop sign, or your wheel catches in the train tracks and the worst thing you have out of it all is a bit of road rash, you'll be thankful you wore the damn thing.
* at LEAST one water bottle -- i was carrying 2 when I went riding... do what you will, but stay wet, guys!!
* comfy tennies or clippy shoes -- if you have clip petals, you should have shoes that lock into them... for us normal people, wear comfy shoes and socks. it can make all the difference!

optional stuff:
* a pair of biking shorts -- yes, they look goofy, but not having a seam in your crotch makes riding SOOO much more comfortable!
* a jersey -- t-shirts do well for this, but jerseys are cut for the leaned over posture that riding puts you in, and have those handy pockets in the back for snackies
* speedometer/tackometer -- keeper of fun stats on how far, how fast, how long you've been riding. kinda a bitch to set up, though.

last thought: check in your area, there may be a riding group already you can join up with!

suviko

Uphill will get you more muscle and good thing about it is that also the bum, arm, back & stomach muscles get workout when you are going on a hard uphill. Don't worry, you can't get really bulky by cycling, but you will get lean good looking muscle. Only the swimming & rollerblades give you better buttocks.

If you want ideas for cycling training, attend a spinning class a few times. It's a lot harder than actual biking, but I have gotten into idea of doing interval training when biking and also altering pedalling standing up as fast as I can just to get heartrate up when there's not enough hills.

Mill

All great advise.

After the heartrate monitor, try split training. Once a week for about a 20-30 minutes try to keep your heartrate to your max (calculate with age, weight, ect).

I noticed the best and fastest results this way. You should have a rest day after and listen to your body for pain. I found doing this increased my metabolisim even more.

123dsa

How hard is it to set up a speedometer on a bike?

cheerios

123: basically what it involves is setting a magnet up on teh forks of the front wheel, and another on one of the spokes on hte bike. a wire runs from the forks upto the mount for the computer, usually on the handlebars. the comp is programmed, by rolling it 10 yrds or somesuch, and then it can keep speed and milage pretty good. prices vary, on speedos... i'd check performance bikes for some prices.

edit: I looked here: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...ID=4110&Sort=1
prices ran from 9 bucks to over 600. eek!

SiN

the comp i have, i just had to enter the wheelsize into it is all, it calculates from that.

and it cost 20 euro, which is approx 20 bucks.
it does just basic stuf, it keeps a total distance, but otherwise, is mostly used for speedometer, and trip stats.

__________________

cheerios

took care of it, man. good luck w/ the biking!

Doh

Camelbak is key. I am a firm believer in the camelbak. (I own 4 different ones) There is no better way to stay hydrated. I think it is one of the best accessories you can buy for a bike. I race mtb's and for long races, love that camelbak. (plus it provides a little back protection if you endo)
And find a local bike shop (LBS). Try to find one with a welcome vibe. Talk to the people that work there, the good ones employ bikers! If something doesn't feel right, they will be able to look at you on your bike and help you fix it.
If an LBS is unavailable, bicycling.com is a great site with really good info.
Most of all, just enjoy riding. When training and racing, I often start feeling burnt out with riding and don't want to get on my bike. When this starts happening, I just go out for a ride at one of my favorite trails, forget about the comp or stopwatch, and just remember the reason I started: I love being on the bike.
Good luck for those getting out on the bike, stick too it, and just enjoy being out there!

Scrub0

I go mountain biking at least 4 times a week for 3-4 hours at a time, with some road biking thrown in there as well (gotta get to the good trails somehow).

- Go to a good bike specialty shop, ask them to recommend something for about $500, and buy it. May seem like a lot of cash, but having a good bike makes a huge difference. While you're at it replace the tires with some good ones, because they make a huge, huge difference in handling and power. Grippy, wide tires are kind of noisy on the road, and produce a bit of vibration, but it's not a problem.

- Get a good pair of gloves. They're essential For long rides. They absorb vibration and sweat and prevent your hands from slipping around on the handlebars and getting blisters.

- Ride with a friend. Having someone to talk to and shit relieves boredom and makes for a much more enjoyable experience.

- Find some good trails that take a bit of skill to get through. They're very fun and provide a better workout.

- Get a pair of spandex bike shorts, because that way there's nothing to get stuck on your bike parts or your surroundings. Plus women look fucking sexy in those. At the very least find some old clothes and use them only for biking or other physical activity.

- Take breaks whenever you get tired. Drink some water and sit down for 10 minutes. Also, try to avoid doing something like riding up a huge, long hill that's going to sap all of your energy and leave you feeling like shit and not wanting to ride anymore.

- Wear a helmet.

cliche

Haven't seen much mention of heart rate monitoring - I'd definitely recommend in terms of finding out how hard you're working (eg SiN asking what burns more calories). Polar (www.polar.fi) make some of the best, even ones which will record your workout for you so you have a ready-made training diary. So I'd certainly suggest using an HRM if you're serious about exercise...

... my 2p anyway!

__________________
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. -- John Cage (1912 - 1992)