Sir you are an inspiration. I am 53 and had a sedentary life style in a drawing office. After seeing your videos i finally bought a second had old bike and started riding a little four days ago. I know most viewers will laugh at my pathetic 2 mile a day rides and i confess i am abserlutly done after this distence at about 6 mph speed. However it is a start and the biggest change to my life already is moral and wow it is so much fun. Thank you again for your great inspiring videos. They got me over feeling embarrassed as an old guy wobbling along on my bike.
Doesn't a bike practically roll along by itself at 6 mph? Having said that into a wind it can be quite exhausting. I've had days where it was a struggle to do 7 mph due to so much wind.
Cycling is a brotherhood. No one should have anything negative to say to you. Instead you should run into much support out there. Hang in there and get better day by day
I am reading this comment 2 years after u put it out. So what has happened in these years? What's the update on your cycling journey? I too started a month ago.
I`m 78 years old, and in 2019 I did over 10,000 KM. Needless to say it took me a long time to get to that level. My advice is to do what you are capable of doing without taking chances. Be in control. I monitor my heart rate at all times, so that I know my limit.
@@clifgidlund On a normal day, after cycling for 2 hours, my heart rate is in the low 90`s. There is one steep/slow hill I climb, and I`m usually at 115 BPM. However, some days I`m in the 120`s. Rather than being a hero, I walk the rest of the way. I don`t have to prove anything to no one, so I set my pace to my capabilities. Again, don`t do more than you can safely handle.
Encouraging words. I am 68 and just getting back into serious biking. I find I can't train they way I did in my college days. Then I would push until it hurt. Now I want to enjoy myself, so I just keep moving albeit sometimes on the hills I'm barely moving, but I'm confident that improvement will surely come, but I'm not hell bent on going faster and further....just on going and enjoying.
clifgidlund, the generally accepted maximum heart rate for someone who is generally fit and well, without any underlying conditions is 220 minus your age. I’m 62, have always done some form of physical activity throughout my life and limit my max heart rate to 160-65 bpm. If you’re unsure always best to get a check up with your GP and accept their advice. Hope this helps 👍
Leonard, once again you've produced a very helpful film but I'm even more impressed by the very supportive comments of your viewers. You have somehow attracted a community of fellow cyclists from around the world that add huge value to your channel. It's a real pleasure to see their engagement and constructive comments. Kudos all round.
Friend, if you want to get fit, start lifting, then ride your bike 30-60 minute every day, 5-6 days a week. Lost 15 kilos doing this. Also I eat healthy and fast morning, when I lift.
once again a great video. I am a retired doctor on Cape Cod and started cycling again about 3 years ago and got into recumbent cycling and also into using a trike( which I use for 2/3 of my rides). I started slowly not knowing what results to expect . I combined my cycling with a total diet reconfiguration and cycle virtually every day as I have time and an abundance of wonderful , dedicated , totally safe trails to ride here in New England. I no longer ride in traffic unless absolutely forced to when a trail can be broken up with some local roads.Everybody is distracted and on phones while driving and I don’t want to become a statistic. The end result.... I do a minimum of 150 miles per week...4-5 days of aggressive 12-20 mile runs( just an hour or so) and 2 longer runs 40-50 miles plus or minus at a steady rate. It took me two years to get to this level...and I NEVER could do this without riding in a recumbent bike or trike. My neck, shoulders, wrists , crotch could never take the trauma on a conventional bike. Btw....I am 67 years old and now weigh what I weighed when graduated college( I never got heavy...but I am down 20+ pounds)....my bp is 116/76 and resting pulse in low 50’s. I have bought numerous riding kits( on Amazon at super prices) and can dress appropriately for any temperature. I am fortunate enough to go to Florida for my winters so I ride continuously all year...but I ride right through mid December here( damn cold) but a fleece line suit and proper gloves do the trick....but I must admit...the wind can be a real tough factor to contend with...You are spot on on all points Leonard....listen to your body...develop a routine and build up to what you can handle....... and always leave “ enough in the tank” to get home! Keep riding and posting.....your international buddies love it. Come visit Cape Cod ( in the summer/fall). best wishes. Mark
After around 8 weeks off the bike, this is the perfect video to put my thinking about building up my fitness in the right place. Thanks for the advice!
I have used a bike to get to work all my life, when I have lived less than 30 km from work. My resting heart rate is 44. I am 53, and quite tall. I will attempt a first longer ride next Sunday, a marathon, and back home.
Another great short film, just what I needed. Autumn imposes recovery time, wind (over 15mph) and rain puts me off. Give me a 4 hour window on a calm sunny day and I’m out.
I have over trained in the past and it hurt; I got sick and felt really run down. This year I thought I was ahead of the curve and developing well right up until I crashed. Post crash I couldn't ride at nearly the same intensity but I noticed incredible gains in leg strength and muscle growth! I was over training without knowing it! It really isn't easy to know when you're doing it wrong and it is all very individual. Great topic and well executed; I can't believe anyone gave it a dislike. Cheers!
I started cycling at the age of 50 after being diagnosed with GAD (Generalsized anxiety disorder) when I started I could manage litterly 1 or 2 miles 4yrs later I cycle 20miles a day 4 to 5 times a week and on good days do a 50miler in summer to say cycling has saved my life is an understatement start slow and build up your distance 👍great vid by the way
I try to ride three times a week with a longer ride over the weekends giving myself a days recovery for each ride. Normally after a ride, my legs will ache and I'll feel tired, but sometimes, if I'm feeling OK I'll forget the day off and do another ride, but only if I feel OK... Works for me, but as others have said, listen to your body.
Being retired i have the time to cycle three to four time a week around a very nice 65 mile route , which takes me about 3 1/2 hours to 4 hours depending on the weather,head wind etc, but this last two weeks, i,ve not been out at all due to the very wet weather, which all though is a little annoying ,it,s nice to have a rest and know the dry days will return.ps enjoy your films
Very sound advice. The last part about if you force yourself to get out on the bike you'll grow to resent it may be why I transitioned from a road bike to a mountain bike. I knew I had a very time constrained window in which to get ready for the local bike run each August and tended to put every mile in I could. After "Retiring " from that I turned my back on cycling for a few years. Then I found some fun and relaxing spots to ride on a mix of gravel and pavement and am happily in the saddle again. Great video!
I've been back on the bike (since teenage years) for about 5 years. I started with a short, 6 mile loop, about once or twice a week and have gradually increased my shortest ride to 15 miles and most other rides to 40+ miles and often 50+. I never look at heart rate as I think you can, as you say "at our level", just be guided by how you feel. I now cycle over 100 miles a week and in good weather, will not often miss a day. I think the main thing to remember is that it takes time to build up, so don't expect dramatic results in a couple of weeks!
Very false. Often times that "feeling" that you think is a good pace is often the worst pace. The dead zone. Where you are neither recovering, base building, or increasing top end fitness. Training in heart zones is especially important as you get older. Managing performance and recovery. If you want the details... Brad kerns, Mark sisson, "primal endurance".
@@gadsden472 Totally depends why you cycle. None of those things interest me in any way. All I know is I do something I enjoy and am definitely fitter and lighter than if I didn't do it. Not everyone is trying to be an athlete.
Your free to think as you wish. Recreational rider/runner/swimmer etc... Vs pro. Makes no difference. The dead zone is the dead zone and training in it is not good for health, longevity, nor performance. The references are given, the evidence and science is there. Btw/background... I am an athlete. I am in my mid 40s. I look 30. I am in the top 1% of sprinters in my area (Colorado springs), top 10% of almost any other type of rider, top 50% climbing. I've only been riding 4 years... 2 seriously. On top of all that. I can still do the splits, bench 250lbs and deadlift 400 in the spring (ride in the summer/lift in the winter). My advice and comment isn't/wasn't necessarily directed at you specifically. It's really for the person who reads your post/or exchange that had little to no background. This is to let them know... Heart rate training is extremely important for health and longevity more so as you get older and that training by "feel" is almost always wrong. I won't even get into diet... For the athlete or average Joe. Good luck to you sir. Edit... I'll agree a bit in the why you cycle. If you commute or do weekend rides where you never break a sweat and your heart rate never hours above 120 you are fine to keep doing as you do. Day in and day out.
Ride as much as you can, but you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone to progress. If you seriously want to go out and progress and you’re going out once every two weeks, you might as well sit on your ass. Go out twice a week (or once, if you have to) and push a bit more than you feel comfortable with each time. Those goals will not only help your fitness but they’ll also help your self esteem as the bridges you’ve crossed will be another positive page in your book. After a few months (or more) the physical and mental benefits will be amazing.
Easy...10miles/30min./day. Good God, forget all that "training" stuff.:-) Life is short...at my 69. Better to smile at all while flashing by at speed. And hope they'll someday ride along, too! Beautiful sunny day here in SW FL, USA. Rides seem Best, when they end at sunset, yes? Then, there, I thank God for blessing this old Italiano another day :-)
Just bicycled 6 kms and I am tired- now deciding on goingout again... after seeing your videos. Just love the idea of sitting on a nicely tuned bicycle and moving on my own power.
It definitely is a balancing act for me. I’ve learned to just listen to my body. Sometimes I’ll get on the bike after an over training session, and my legs say - ‘no...sorry...it’s just not going to happen today’
Thank you, Leonard, from Argentina. You speak about biking to real people like you and me. Old, tired, without time and a lot of problems, even though we think that there's some magic in riding on a bike.
Personally I do about 35 miles every other day. But where I live heat,wind,humidity can cause dehydration and make some rides harder than others. Anyway, provide time to fully recover between rides and fitness level will go.up and you will eventually get stronger. Include some climbing too. Consistent non-overtaxing rides will provide excellent performance increases.
Another great video. I can really only ride every other day. I just don't have the time not inclination. I've found that really long rides are not my thing. I find it rather boring so we usually do 1 longer ride (2 hours) during the weekend and then as few 45-75 minutes during the week. I have a "flat" route and a "hill" route so I try to alternate. Sometime I push on these routes, sometimes I just ride my bike, be happy and look at the flowers. You are so right about not forcing yourself. I've learnt from bitter experience that I'm simply not someone that wants to work out every day. Every time I've tried, I lost interest, motivation and wore myself out. Keep pedaling!!
When I was a very beginner rider, my goal when riding with a group of average guys was not to be the last one to finish. That didn't happen for more than a year. But I started out with a goal of every day trying to ride as far as I could without hurting really bad. That distance was about 150 feet or little less than 50 meters. Now doing that distance only taking a minute or two, I was able to do that every day but it was still painful. It would cycle from legs hurting to lungs hurting. But keeping with it, that 150 feet seemed to become too easy after a few months, yes months. So when I was ready, I extended again to when I was hurting, either legs or lungs and settled on that distance. When that became easy after several months, I extended it once more. My goal also shifted from instead of being last in a group to start losing real weight. Once the mile and some became easy, it took more than a year, I decided I would start getting serious about being a bicyclist, and started riding to work. Now extending the distance 5 times what I was used to, really didn't allow me to do it every day as I was becoming so worn out by the end of the week, it was difficult to walk. But I did notice that when riding in a group, I was finishing in the middle of the pack. I joined a national challenge that was from May to the end of September. The first year I noticed that there was only about 10 people that rode it every day. The next year I made a commitment to ride all 153 days. Well, that didn't work out. But the next year I think 2016 it did. But stopped riding October 8th. The following year 2017 I rode continuously till November 20th. In 2018 I thought to myself why not just ride for the fun of it and find a way to ride every day and not quit. So I did. I've been riding every day now since April 24, 2018. It has been a long hard struggle to get to this point. But now I don't want to quit riding for fear that I will loose what I have achieved. My point being is that there has to be some type of goal that you set for yourself for this to really work. AND that goal has to be SUPER simple that you can complete it every time. Over time, depending on the person, that goal will become easy, it could be a week of doing it every other day, or could be a year of doing it twice a week. But once you start setting goals and are completing them, you will catch the fever of ever wanting to increase that goal. And then you will end up like me, 30 miles a day EVERY day, and can't quit no mater how much you want to. But I will admit that the hardest part of riding is sitting in that saddle. Once you get there, the ride is much easier. And remember start really slow with something that is for your level of fitness, achievable. By the way, Great video Leonard!
I took quite a long time to get my fitness up to my current level. I had an operation and was not allowed on the bike for 8 weeks and was afraid that I would lose what had taken me so long to achieve. The legs lost some fitness. But the aerobics did not alter significantly. It only took a week or so to get the legs back. Like you I have been doing a minimum of 50 km every day ( almost ) for 12 years. Which comes out to a LONG way.
Another video gives me confidence that whilst it might be an uphill battle, it's not insurmountable! Thanks! Having been cycling, not seriously but for fun and fitness for over 25 years, finally, I decided to buy a helmet. The roads round here just aren't the same any more :\ there's a few gravel tracks around where there are no cars that you just go slow and spot deers and birds and things upon which I'd probably forgo the helmet but yeah, in town especially I feel like it's important now. The bike shop is in the middle of town. Stuffing it in the back of Fiat 500 is getting old!
@@k-mac5511 yah! I haven't investigated the options there. I foresee issues with the fact its got the soft top, so the rear window and roof is all canvas and plastic/glass., I'm not sure what mounting points remain! I see they're available for the standard ones though. Will look.. for sure it's a squeeze getting bike, tent, tools, food etc etc in for weekend away! Hah.
If the weather is pleasant.!..I too fall into that trap of I'll go out and ride 30-40 miles..again..and then realise when I return that i shouldn't of done that I'm knackered🤣🤣..great video..very helpful 🚴🏽Cheers Leonard
Best cycling channel on TH-cam IMO. Great information about building stamina. So you're probably thinking why am I not a patreon? Because I'm retired on a fixed income and my wife controls every penny I spend. Where I failed was not establishing a secret account years ago for my play money. So my advice is to not let that happen to you.
Great video! I just purchased a Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8, 2 weeks ago and haven't rode 1 inch on it yet because 2 days after receiving it I went Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a vacation. The whole time I was there just dreaming of that 1st ride! Well this Saturday, me and the Canyon will get acquainted! Keep up the good work and ride on.
I (70 years) have been riding my racing bike for many years. Until three years ago, always from spring to autumn. Every year at the beginning of the year I had to fight a long time to get back in shape. I have had a smart trainer for three years and I can train at home all winter. Despite my age, I was able to improve again by about 20%. Now I have a VO2MAX of 60 and an FTP value of 290 watts. That is acceptable for my age. I can recommend everyone who wants to improve to train with a smart trainer during the winter. If you have a lot of time and money, of course, you can train the winter in southern regions instead.
Good stuff. I did an hour on the stationary-life cycle bike yesterday and it wore me out. But I do need to realize that I need to increase my intensity and duration . Thanks !
Your videos have really helped me get back on the saddle, so thanks leonard!👍 Started to do two rides out of seven days whatever the weather. IF I can keep it up and increase next year when the fitness is back, will treat myself to another bicycle, but something a little racier than my current tourer or MTB!👍🚴
That last comment you made....forcing yourself on tour bike will only make you resent it.... is golden, however personally there is a fine line between forcing myself because I don't want to or forcing myself because my legs are still FUBAR from the previous heavy ride. This morning I forced myself to go out in the rain and was rewarded with lanes to myself, also cleaned my bike a bit too! Great videos, thank you for your efforts!
Good video, great info. I did my first ride on a really heavy bike. It was my first ride in about 16 years. I only went 6.4 miles. But during the ride my water ran out and as the day moved along it was 99° degrees. It shortly became a horrible chore to get home. I think we should all set realistic small goals. Thanks for the great videos, I just found your channel and I look forward to more from you. Take care.
I started up within the last couple years after a 20 year break, and the best advice I got early was "be consistent". You don't have to ride far or hard, but if you just keep at it, a few days a week for a month or two, you will definitely make gains. And cycling gets more fun the fitter you get, so it has a built in motivation :)
The cool thing about cycling is you can actually work through the training zones and even do two-a-day rides and still recover and do 7 day a week training, using active recovery. No other sport can you do that. You don't need more than 45 min a day to get optimum results. Do a hard day (VO2max) once every two weeks. For two-a-days, do two 30 min rides. I went from slogging a very slow 2 miles/day to 18.3mph average speed over 10 miles in about 4 years this way.
The physical fitness is important but it also helps with my mental fitness. I want to ride three or four easy rides and one or two longer rides a week. Fortunately, I also have the luxury of riding my road, gravel or mountain bike.
Quality vs quantity, cumulative zone training if ride time is limited, balancing workload effort between cardio and neuromuscular. Prioritising long easy rides doesn't do anything except prepare your body for a long easy ride, first sign of a hill and the slow-twitch muscle struggle ensues.
Thanks you for doing these videos. I'm a bigger cyclist and suffer with fibromyaiga these video have really helped me over the past week since I found them.
Thank you for your comments; they make me feel less guilty for not taking full advantage of my riding opportunities. I've been recovering from a broken humerus (which is no laughing matter) after a nasty fall, and of course I put on some extra kilos which have been very difficult to get rid of. I live in Santiago, Chile. We have some quite nice hilly terrain in and around town so I ride a mountain bike, though mostly up and down sloped roads nowadays. Between me and you and these four walls, my main issue with riding is how sore my rear end gets after a while on the saddle, even though I wear padded shorts and got a softer saddle. Any suggestions there? (I'm 62, by the way. Not that I pay any heed.)
Nice video. One adjustment I would make is that beginning riders shouldn’t necessarily wait until the legs are fully recovered. Spinning helps clear the muscles better than sitting. One or two days of rest should be enough. That said, if you push yourself, taking one week off (or easy) every month helps recovery. Check out Dylan Johnson’s TH-cam channel for science-based fitness advice.
Very sound advice, I cross train to have a broader all round fitness, to be able to garden DIY and play with the youngster, usually 3 days of lunchtime gym sessions a couple of 10-15 mile rides 10,000 steps every day the mixture keeps my energy levels stable. as you say listen to our body, after all no one knows you better than you.
For a period of around 8 months I went out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT without fail but then dropped to an average of more than 5 nights a week but less than 6... When I first started cycling it took me 34 minutes to ride 2 miles. Now, around 20 months on I ride at least 16 miles when I do go out (including a cat 4 climb on the hill at Bolsover) and the loss of some 13 stones in weight since the summer of 2018. All of this said, because of the weather I have had SIX consecutive nights off. I fill fat and frumpy - I want to go out but I don't want a broken collar bone or worse!... The summer is coming, the summer's coming !!!
@@jollygoodvelo See this short video here (FROM JANUARY 2019) www.dropbox.com/s/fwe65z9wpvu2kjz/VIDEO0021.mp4?dl=0 and then a still photograph here www.dropbox.com/s/6lpli7nikuoxv4e/IMAG2517.jpg?dl=0 of my best (lightest) weight (on the same scales). NB I started cycling in July of 2018 The sill picture is from January 2020. I need to lost about another 2 stone from there
I commute 30 miles round trip, 15 miles each way. It difficult to ride everyday due to the fact that I live 2 miles up on the hill. When I ride home from work, I already logged in 13 miles on my ride back and it’s tiring to climb the last 2 miles up hill. Therefore, I only ride twice a week and mountain biking on the weekends. Anyways, I purchased an ebike to commute in the days I don’t commute with my regular commute bike. I ride because I enjoy the sports and getting to work and home on my bike is faster than driving here in Silicon Valley.
It is dependent on what you are doing, and if you seek some type of accomplishment. In the 1970's, I was a racer. When I was racing for UCI races, I rode every day. I did specific training in the morning, and training races in the late afternoon. You have to train harder than racing, when you are training. You have to be able to perform well on race day. In preparation for certain races, I trained by motor pacing. It helps pick up your top speed. I specialized in field sprints. Those are a real adrenalin rush!
As a 63 yr old recreational cyclist (non competing) I have a Cannondale X7 cyclo cross bike. My normal ride is a 40 mile round trip on a flat surface. My extended ride is 63 miles. The goal is to keep up a steady 15 mph ..I have a cadence counter (Garmin 800) and feel comfortable at 90 - 100 rpm. I am now back in the USA after 16 years in Europe (Italy) , cycling here (USA) is all about how fast and how light you can get your bike...and how much you paid for it... I miss the European cycling holidays I used to do every year...the states is way behind Europe in this regard. I like your channel...lots of good common sense advice for new cyclists (or as the yanks say bicyclists). I have 3 bikes, the X-7 cyclo cross, a Cannondale trail bike and a European Pegasus Solero E8 electric bike...Looking at riding the Katy Trail in Missouri next year, 240 miles over a week with a mix of camping / hotels...
Long, easy rides are what my weekends are all about! :) My post-workday rides are the higher-intensity efforts, almost TT-esque, designed to boost my fitness level.
I ride everyday. Not because I’m trying to get in shape but, because I’ve recently found a passion for cycling. I put all of my hours on a Jamis Renegade Exile. It’s a gravel bike but, hoping to get an actual road bike one day. Cycling is amazing! Btw happy Easter! Praise Jesus!
I have a rough schedule for my week. Monday rest day(very easy or no riding at all) Tuesday is my hardest ride of the week, Wednesday I back it off moderate and flexible depending on how I feel. Thursday another hard day. Friday, moderate and flexible, Then Saturday and Sunday I do longer rides, and I am ready for my rest day again on Monday :) I change this at any time depending on how I feel. If I start to feel generally run down, or if I just prepared for and completed a tough event or Fondo, I will take a whole week where I ride easier.
Suffering a pain in my back due to manipulating with heavy pieces (read stems of trees) too long after each other, using the wrong technique, my last ride was exactly two weeks ago. This year wasn't very good for bicycling for me. In fact I cycled only 4 months, my shortest ride was 10 km and my longest rides were 32 km (3 or 4 times). May next year be better. I hope to be back on my bike again this year. But during the winter half year I'll cut down the frequency to max 2 or 3 times per week and a max of 20 km per ride. As long as there's no snow or ice on the roads. Then I'll go to does some cross country skiing again.
Hi Leonard ... To record my bike trips I used the fitness tracker TomTom Spark with GPS and an IGPSport IGS50E computer on the handlebars .... the TomTom records everything and afterwards in the app the heart rate is divided into the different zones .... both computers measure distance and speed more or less the same, +/- 100m and +/- 0.2 Kmh over a complete trip ... whats a 100m after doing 50 Km :-)
Here is one of my rules of thumb. If I am training to ride in an organized ride for a certain amount of miles, I try to get 12.5 miles on the bike for every mile I will be riding in the event. So for a century ride, I try to have 1,250 miles on the bike prior to the event.
I’ve always heard that you should find a way to turn your passion into a way to get paid. If only I could find someone to pay me to ride my bike all day everyday, I would and could. I ride in all weather and hate putting my bike away for the day. It is nice to have friends along but not required.
Connie Back it’s called getting a pro contract from training your ass off for years . You might not get money now but in 5-10 years you’ll be on the tarmac with a free bike and kit
I am 50ish and cycle eight to ten hours only on weekends and I do it all winter long . There is too much ice and snow in dec , jan , feb where I live . I try and cycle three days per week in the warmer months so I get about eleven hours per week . I get five weeks vacation and cycle five hours every vacation day . I also cycle for fourteen days during christmas holiday and a week during easter five hours each day . I also cycle every day of my three or four statutory holiday five hours each day . Cycling is the most fun you can have with your clothes on !
Leonard, as always, very informative...but I still have questions. I plan to compete in a 10 K time trial in September, and between now and then I want to try and figure out how much I can push myself in training. Would you suggest a treadmill stress test? Will this tell me how much I can push myself? I am 75, good weight for my age, no physical issues that I know of. Right now I ride about 16KM every other day. Overall, I have been riding since 1980s, on and off. The last two years, I have been very consistent with riding. Any suggestions are appreciated.
My advice is to do your best at your first time trial and then try and beat it on your second and so on. Time trialing is something you will only know how good you are when you do it.
as a 330 pound guy yes over weight i do about 10kn-11km a day i'm hoping will build up to much more each day bike ridding been helping with my mh strong :)
Which one you personally like cannondale synape or Trek-? Domané. Or any other? I am confused between Giant TCR Edmonda/Domané, wilier triestina or bianchi any type. Can you advise?
I agree with the immunity comment. I cycled 70 miles from Criccieth area to Aber falls. The Following day on my adrenalin rush I walked 10 miles along the coast, and then did another shorter ride on the same day as walk. I continued to do this for a few days and I really pushed myself without recovery . I got a bit ill with a cold and bad fatigue. It Would Probably be classed as covid now! I pushed myself to keep my average calories count in deficit. I'm only 43, 13 stone and I'm really trying to get to 11st. My opinion was if I have a rest day it would be pointless as the rest day will just make the average calories burnt the same even with a hard day. I.e The hard day should be in addition to my regular riding. Like overtime in work say. If you cycle/walk on your 'rest' day the average calories burnt goes up for the week as you've not 'lost' a day's workout resting. Of course its all well on paper or map my ride but I'm not a machine and no use being dead through over fitness. Best mode of recovery is a bottle of beer and bath. Doing 30 miles tommorow from Criccieth area to clynog fawr. (South llyn peninsula shore to North Shore) Extremely hilly.
Hi Leonard, I am in the market to buy my first road bike, current bike is a 26 year old Trek8000 MTB owned from new, looking at a ribble r872 disc with shimano 105 or a giant tcr advantage 2. Any opinion on which I should get? the Ribble seems better value and has disc brakes but the Giant has a life long warranty. Or can you throw any other contenders into the ring top price £1600.
I also think that the most important thing to add here is that it needs to be enjoyable, certainly to begin with. People tend to prefer to participate in activities that are fun and specially when you have people of different ability. If I tried to "persuade" my wife to cycle with me (she's very much NOT a cyclist but would like to have a go), it needs to not be a depressing experience of being left behind, taken up stupid soul crushing hills, in miserable weather. Just a shame that all my early morning rides (5am to 7am) this summer were alone and the two that my wife joined me for were pissing down with rain, leaving a negative experience ingrained yet again. Thus for the "pro" cyclists or those to whom these things are just part of the experience, that's great but if you're starting out or trying to get someone into cycling, the answer as to how often and how hard is probably more like "when the weather is kinder, as often as you can and cease the moment they're feeling the've met their limit." I ride to my wife's much lower limit but then I can go off again myself if I want to. Often and shorter is always going to beat a single Saturday afternoon gruelling ride that only repeats a week or two later.
This is why e-bikes are gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds. It allows the weaker partner to maintain a nice pace with decreased effort, and the stronger partner does not have to feel guilty for pushing the pace, or feeling bored or unchallenged on the ride.
I go on the bike just enough to keep myself healthy, three or four times a week for 1 or 1.5 hour rides, I would like to know your opinion if that is ok. Please.
There are no right or wrong answers, Jorge, but it sounds to me like you are doing a nice amount of cycling. Hopefully you are also enjoying your rides.
Christmas around the corner, looking forward to a bicycle computer bundle set and a power meter. Is it overkill? maybe, but its a heck of a way to track progress
Hi DCM SR. I have a Garmin Edge 820 and 4iiii power meter built into the left crank. Cost in the UK for this set up was £640. I use Strava for data analysis. If you are a competitive person and keen to improve your performance then this set up will deliver results over time and maintain your motivation. However, every so often go for a ride with it switched off, look around and enjoy the scenery !
Excellent presentation. And not from one of those anorexic Brits riding $15,000 bicycles from the procycling channels! Great advice from somebody who reminds me of me.
I can't help but go out and hammer it as hard as I can, I don't know what it is but I can't help myself. I feel as if I'm letting myself down for some reason. I do understand recovery time and I'll have a day or two off, but I'm on it again until I'm knackered..
I've bought a bike this last week and am building up 5km, 12km and yesterday 20km. The rides of 12-20km have ended up in me feeling dizzy and my BP drops dramatically eg 130/85 before and 95/64 after. I also experience pain in the neck after an hour and find it sore to keep looking up to see oncoming obstacles/people. I'm also only doing on average 14km/hr at what I think is comfortable without pushing hard. Are these things normal for a new cyclist? Do you normally ride 20-50km without a stop? My target is to build up to 50km but not until neck pain goes.
George Cumming Well done for starting. Yes, finding it hard is pretty common for new cyclists. It should get easier the more you ride. Everyone finds it difficult in their own way but you might benefit from a bike fit.
I enjoy these videos, even the dull, rather dead pan voice they are delivered with. Regular cycling is by its nature a very self indulgent and time consuming activity. The same can be said of any ardently followed fitness regime and it often clashes with our family and other social/domestic obligations. Then there is the sheer vagary of our performance. We all recognise the days where you feel "Fat" and definately not up for it but half way around, something clicks and you feel fine. Then conversely, you are prepared and honed and ready to do battle, but a few miles down the road you feel like an old horse!! As you get older, injury and illness takes longer to recover from and if like me, you suffer a silly fall resulting in soft tissue damage , you are out of the saddle for weeks if not months.LOL! I'm beggining to wonder if it's not some cruel illusion that drives us on.
I just noticed your bib-shorts.. I like the length of them (just above the knee). What brand/model is it (or do you have very short femurs as opposed to me?)
For me, riding has become a war against myself on Strava. Beat yesterday, beat last week, beat last year. It can become a viscous cycle (no pun intended). It’s early October. I just passed 2018. Overtrain is often the limiting factor. It also gets expensive. But that’s a different issue.
have to say I do like my strava but once a month or so I just go out without any strava/garmin etc and just ride for the hell of it, the doing it without a record actually ads to the ride oddly
@@nickw6175 It is certainly true that Strava will change the way you ride; and not always for the better. If you are focused simply on hitting a target -- distance, time, speed, etc. -- you may miss some of the fun. But once you start logging metrics, it's tough to stop. One morning I was riding on the last day of the month simply to hit a mileage goal. It was 19F out. I realized that riding that morning was simply silly.
Sir you are an inspiration. I am 53 and had a sedentary life style in a drawing office. After seeing your videos i finally bought a second had old bike and started riding a little four days ago. I know most viewers will laugh at my pathetic 2 mile a day rides and i confess i am abserlutly done after this distence at about 6 mph speed. However it is a start and the biggest change to my life already is moral and wow it is so much fun. Thank you again for your great inspiring videos. They got me over feeling embarrassed as an old guy wobbling along on my bike.
You are doing brilliantly. Pedal on.
Doesn't a bike practically roll along by itself at 6 mph? Having said that into a wind it can be quite exhausting. I've had days where it was a struggle to do 7 mph due to so much wind.
Cycling is a brotherhood. No one should have anything negative to say to you. Instead you should run into much support out there. Hang in there and get better day by day
Keep at it ,, it will only get better
I am reading this comment 2 years after u put it out. So what has happened in these years? What's the update on your cycling journey? I too started a month ago.
I`m 78 years old, and in 2019 I did over 10,000 KM. Needless to say it took me a long time to get to that level. My advice is to do what you are capable of doing without taking chances. Be in control. I monitor my heart rate at all times, so that I know my limit.
akathardos thanks for your comment. I’m 72, and currently doing 3 days a week on an indoor trainer. I’m wondering what you limit your heart rate to?
@@clifgidlund On a normal day, after cycling for 2 hours, my heart rate is in the low 90`s. There is one steep/slow hill I climb, and I`m usually at 115 BPM. However, some days I`m in the 120`s. Rather than being a hero, I walk the rest of the way. I don`t have to prove anything to no one, so I set my pace to my capabilities. Again, don`t do more than you can safely handle.
Encouraging words. I am 68 and just getting back into serious biking. I find I can't train they way I did in my college days. Then I would push until it hurt. Now I want to enjoy myself, so I just keep moving albeit sometimes on the hills I'm barely moving, but I'm confident that improvement will surely come, but I'm not hell bent on going faster and further....just on going and enjoying.
clifgidlund, the generally accepted maximum heart rate for someone who is generally fit and well, without any underlying conditions is 220 minus your age. I’m 62, have always done some form of physical activity throughout my life and limit my max heart rate to 160-65 bpm. If you’re unsure always best to get a check up with your GP and accept their advice. Hope this helps 👍
Me, confused as to how a bunch of fossils actually know how to message on social media.
Leonard, once again you've produced a very helpful film but I'm even more impressed by the very supportive comments of your viewers. You have somehow attracted a community of fellow cyclists from around the world that add huge value to your channel. It's a real pleasure to see their engagement and constructive comments. Kudos all round.
Friend, if you want to get fit, start lifting, then ride your bike 30-60 minute every day, 5-6 days a week. Lost 15 kilos doing this. Also I eat healthy and fast morning, when I lift.
You shouldn’t fast..just eat . Check out Greg Doucette ‘s channel. He explains why and he is really good
@@n.f.m-noobfilmmaker-4512 iF is good for you
once again a great video. I am a retired doctor on Cape Cod and started cycling again about 3 years ago and got into recumbent cycling and also into using a trike( which I use for 2/3 of my rides). I started slowly not knowing what results to expect . I combined my cycling with a total diet reconfiguration and cycle virtually every day as I have time and an abundance of wonderful , dedicated , totally safe trails to ride here in New England. I no longer ride in traffic unless absolutely forced to when a trail can be broken up with some local roads.Everybody is distracted and on phones while driving and I don’t want to become a statistic. The end result.... I do a minimum of 150 miles per week...4-5 days of aggressive 12-20 mile runs( just an hour or so) and 2 longer runs 40-50 miles plus or minus at a steady rate. It took me two years to get to this level...and I NEVER could do this without riding in a recumbent bike or trike. My neck, shoulders, wrists , crotch could never take the trauma on a conventional bike. Btw....I am 67 years old and now weigh what I weighed when graduated college( I never got heavy...but I am down 20+ pounds)....my bp is 116/76 and resting pulse in low 50’s. I have bought numerous riding kits( on Amazon at super prices) and can dress appropriately for any temperature. I am fortunate enough to go to Florida for my winters so I ride continuously all year...but I ride right through mid December here( damn cold) but a fleece line suit and proper gloves do the trick....but I must admit...the wind can be a real tough factor to contend with...You are spot on on all points Leonard....listen to your body...develop a routine and build up to what you can handle....... and always leave “ enough in the tank” to get home! Keep riding and posting.....your international buddies love it. Come visit Cape Cod ( in the summer/fall). best wishes. Mark
I'm a delivery cyclist. Like I wish I had recovery time!!!
Whoa Quicksilver!!!
After around 8 weeks off the bike, this is the perfect video to put my thinking about building up my fitness in the right place. Thanks for the advice!
Good luck.
I have used a bike to get to work all my life, when I have lived less than 30 km from work. My resting heart rate is 44. I am 53, and quite tall. I will attempt a first longer ride next Sunday, a marathon, and back home.
Another great short film, just what I needed. Autumn imposes recovery time, wind (over 15mph) and rain puts me off. Give me a 4 hour window on a calm sunny day and I’m out.
Me too!!
I have over trained in the past and it hurt; I got sick and felt really run down. This year I thought I was ahead of the curve and developing well right up until I crashed. Post crash I couldn't ride at nearly the same intensity but I noticed incredible gains in leg strength and muscle growth! I was over training without knowing it! It really isn't easy to know when you're doing it wrong and it is all very individual. Great topic and well executed; I can't believe anyone gave it a dislike. Cheers!
I started cycling at the age of 50 after being diagnosed with GAD (Generalsized anxiety disorder) when I started I could manage litterly 1 or 2 miles 4yrs later I cycle 20miles a day 4 to 5 times a week and on good days do a 50miler in summer to say cycling has saved my life is an understatement start slow and build up your distance 👍great vid by the way
Cycling sure is good for the mind !
Wow. Inspiring story. Good work!
I try to ride three times a week with a longer ride over the weekends giving myself a days recovery for each ride. Normally after a ride, my legs will ache and I'll feel tired, but sometimes, if I'm feeling OK I'll forget the day off and do another ride, but only if I feel OK... Works for me, but as others have said, listen to your body.
Being retired i have the time to cycle three to four time a week around a very nice 65 mile route , which takes me about 3 1/2 hours to 4 hours depending on the weather,head wind etc, but this last two weeks, i,ve not been out at all due to the very wet weather, which all though is a little annoying ,it,s nice to have a rest and know the dry days will return.ps enjoy your films
Very sound advice. The last part about if you force yourself to get out on the bike you'll grow to resent it may be why I transitioned from a road bike to a mountain bike. I knew I had a very time constrained window in which to get ready for the local bike run each August and tended to put every mile in I could. After "Retiring " from that I turned my back on cycling for a few years. Then I found some fun and relaxing spots to ride on a mix of gravel and pavement and am happily in the saddle again. Great video!
I've been back on the bike (since teenage years) for about 5 years. I started with a short, 6 mile loop, about once or twice a week and have gradually increased my shortest ride to 15 miles and most other rides to 40+ miles and often 50+. I never look at heart rate as I think you can, as you say "at our level", just be guided by how you feel. I now cycle over 100 miles a week and in good weather, will not often miss a day.
I think the main thing to remember is that it takes time to build up, so don't expect dramatic results in a couple of weeks!
Very false.
Often times that "feeling" that you think is a good pace is often the worst pace. The dead zone. Where you are neither recovering, base building, or increasing top end fitness.
Training in heart zones is especially important as you get older. Managing performance and recovery.
If you want the details... Brad kerns, Mark sisson, "primal endurance".
@@gadsden472 Totally depends why you cycle. None of those things interest me in any way. All I know is I do something I enjoy and am definitely fitter and lighter than if I didn't do it. Not everyone is trying to be an athlete.
Your free to think as you wish.
Recreational rider/runner/swimmer etc... Vs pro. Makes no difference. The dead zone is the dead zone and training in it is not good for health, longevity, nor performance.
The references are given, the evidence and science is there.
Btw/background...
I am an athlete. I am in my mid 40s. I look 30. I am in the top 1% of sprinters in my area (Colorado springs), top 10% of almost any other type of rider, top 50% climbing. I've only been riding 4 years... 2 seriously.
On top of all that. I can still do the splits, bench 250lbs and deadlift 400 in the spring (ride in the summer/lift in the winter).
My advice and comment isn't/wasn't necessarily directed at you specifically. It's really for the person who reads your post/or exchange that had little to no background. This is to let them know... Heart rate training is extremely important for health and longevity more so as you get older and that training by "feel" is almost always wrong.
I won't even get into diet... For the athlete or average Joe.
Good luck to you sir.
Edit... I'll agree a bit in the why you cycle. If you commute or do weekend rides where you never break a sweat and your heart rate never hours above 120 you are fine to keep doing as you do. Day in and day out.
@@gadsden472 yes, I'm not "training", I'm having fun and I'd be very surprised if it were doing me any harm compared to sitting on the sofa.
@@adriansmith38 Always better than sitting on sofa.
Ride as much as you can, but you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone to progress. If you seriously want to go out and progress and you’re going out once every two weeks, you might as well sit on your ass. Go out twice a week (or once, if you have to) and push a bit more than you feel comfortable with each time. Those goals will not only help your fitness but they’ll also help your self esteem as the bridges you’ve crossed will be another positive page in your book. After a few months (or more) the physical and mental benefits will be amazing.
Easy...10miles/30min./day. Good God, forget all that "training" stuff.:-) Life is short...at my 69. Better to smile at all while flashing by at speed. And hope they'll someday ride along, too!
Beautiful sunny day here in SW FL, USA. Rides seem Best, when they end at sunset, yes? Then, there, I thank God for blessing this old Italiano another day :-)
Just bicycled 6 kms and I am tired- now deciding on goingout again... after seeing your videos. Just love the idea of sitting on a nicely tuned bicycle and moving on my own power.
It definitely is a balancing act for me. I’ve learned to just listen to my body. Sometimes I’ll get on the bike after an over training session, and my legs say - ‘no...sorry...it’s just not going to happen today’
Thank you, Leonard, from Argentina. You speak about biking to real people like you and me. Old, tired, without time and a lot of problems, even though we think that there's some magic in riding on a bike.
Personally I do about 35 miles every other day. But where I live heat,wind,humidity can cause dehydration and make some rides harder than others. Anyway, provide time to fully recover between rides and fitness level will go.up and you will eventually get stronger. Include some climbing too. Consistent non-overtaxing rides will provide excellent performance increases.
just came across this channel. Great to have a more enthusiasts point of view as opposed to the ex pro.
Another great video. I can really only ride every other day. I just don't have the time not inclination. I've found that really long rides are not my thing. I find it rather boring so we usually do 1 longer ride (2 hours) during the weekend and then as few 45-75 minutes during the week. I have a "flat" route and a "hill" route so I try to alternate. Sometime I push on these routes, sometimes I just ride my bike, be happy and look at the flowers.
You are so right about not forcing yourself. I've learnt from bitter experience that I'm simply not someone that wants to work out every day. Every time I've tried, I lost interest, motivation and wore myself out.
Keep pedaling!!
When I was a very beginner rider, my goal when riding with a group of average guys was not to be the last one to finish. That didn't happen for more than a year. But I started out with a goal of every day trying to ride as far as I could without hurting really bad. That distance was about 150 feet or little less than 50 meters. Now doing that distance only taking a minute or two, I was able to do that every day but it was still painful. It would cycle from legs hurting to lungs hurting. But keeping with it, that 150 feet seemed to become too easy after a few months, yes months. So when I was ready, I extended again to when I was hurting, either legs or lungs and settled on that distance.
When that became easy after several months, I extended it once more. My goal also shifted from instead of being last in a group to start losing real weight. Once the mile and some became easy, it took more than a year, I decided I would start getting serious about being a bicyclist, and started riding to work. Now extending the distance 5 times what I was used to, really didn't allow me to do it every day as I was becoming so worn out by the end of the week, it was difficult to walk.
But I did notice that when riding in a group, I was finishing in the middle of the pack. I joined a national challenge that was from May to the end of September. The first year I noticed that there was only about 10 people that rode it every day. The next year I made a commitment to ride all 153 days. Well, that didn't work out. But the next year I think 2016 it did. But stopped riding October 8th. The following year 2017 I rode continuously till November 20th.
In 2018 I thought to myself why not just ride for the fun of it and find a way to ride every day and not quit. So I did. I've been riding every day now since April 24, 2018. It has been a long hard struggle to get to this point. But now I don't want to quit riding for fear that I will loose what I have achieved.
My point being is that there has to be some type of goal that you set for yourself for this to really work. AND that goal has to be SUPER simple that you can complete it every time. Over time, depending on the person, that goal will become easy, it could be a week of doing it every other day, or could be a year of doing it twice a week. But once you start setting goals and are completing them, you will catch the fever of ever wanting to increase that goal. And then you will end up like me, 30 miles a day EVERY day, and can't quit no mater how much you want to.
But I will admit that the hardest part of riding is sitting in that saddle. Once you get there, the ride is much easier. And remember start really slow with something that is for your level of fitness, achievable.
By the way, Great video Leonard!
I took quite a long time to get my fitness up to my current level. I had an operation and was not allowed on the bike for 8 weeks and was afraid that I would lose what had taken me so long to achieve. The legs lost some fitness. But the aerobics did not alter significantly. It only took a week or so to get the legs back. Like you I have been doing a minimum of 50 km every day ( almost ) for 12 years. Which comes out to a LONG way.
Spot on. Invaluable advice. I feel like everything else exercise related, you have to simply force it or else mind and body is full of excuses.
Another video gives me confidence that whilst it might be an uphill battle, it's not insurmountable! Thanks! Having been cycling, not seriously but for fun and fitness for over 25 years, finally, I decided to buy a helmet. The roads round here just aren't the same any more :\ there's a few gravel tracks around where there are no cars that you just go slow and spot deers and birds and things upon which I'd probably forgo the helmet but yeah, in town especially I feel like it's important now. The bike shop is in the middle of town. Stuffing it in the back of Fiat 500 is getting old!
Have fun!
Ollie B get a 1up bike rack. Easy-peasy to loan and unload your bike.
@@k-mac5511 yah! I haven't investigated the options there. I foresee issues with the fact its got the soft top, so the rear window and roof is all canvas and plastic/glass., I'm not sure what mounting points remain! I see they're available for the standard ones though. Will look.. for sure it's a squeeze getting bike, tent, tools, food etc etc in for weekend away! Hah.
If the weather is pleasant.!..I too fall into that trap of I'll go out and ride 30-40 miles..again..and then realise when I return that i shouldn't of done that I'm knackered🤣🤣..great video..very helpful 🚴🏽Cheers Leonard
Best cycling channel on TH-cam IMO. Great information about building stamina. So you're probably thinking why am I not a patreon? Because I'm retired on a fixed income and my wife controls every penny I spend. Where I failed was not establishing a secret account years ago for my play money. So my advice is to not let that happen to you.
JDP you did the right thing, there should be secrets or secret accounts in a marriage.
Great video! I just purchased a Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8, 2 weeks ago and haven't rode 1 inch on it yet because 2 days after receiving it I went Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a vacation. The whole time I was there just dreaming of that 1st ride! Well this Saturday, me and the Canyon will get acquainted! Keep up the good work and ride on.
Elmer Richardson have an ultimate. Great do it all bike.
I (70 years) have been riding my racing bike for many years. Until three years ago, always from spring to autumn. Every year at the beginning of the year I had to fight a long time to get back in shape. I have had a smart trainer for three years and I can train at home all winter. Despite my age, I was able to improve again by about 20%. Now I have a VO2MAX of 60 and an FTP value of 290 watts. That is acceptable for my age. I can recommend everyone who wants to improve to train with a smart trainer during the winter. If you have a lot of time and money, of course, you can train the winter in southern regions instead.
Thanks for the video i'm 13 years old and my longest ride is 100 km, i'm currently training for a 200 km in december thanks for the tips!
Good luck!
Good stuff. I did an hour on the stationary-life cycle bike yesterday and it wore me out. But I do need to realize that I need to increase my intensity and duration . Thanks !
I was in Portsmouth back in '83. Beautiful area !
Your videos are always inspirational! Always excellent!
Thank you very much!
Your videos have really helped me get back on the saddle, so thanks leonard!👍 Started to do two rides out of seven days whatever the weather. IF I can keep it up and increase next year when the fitness is back, will treat myself to another bicycle, but something a little racier than my current tourer or MTB!👍🚴
Amen!
That last comment you made....forcing yourself on tour bike will only make you resent it.... is golden, however personally there is a fine line between forcing myself because I don't want to or forcing myself because my legs are still FUBAR from the previous heavy ride.
This morning I forced myself to go out in the rain and was rewarded with lanes to myself, also cleaned my bike a bit too!
Great videos, thank you for your efforts!
Heavy legs is always a sign of not being completely recovered. We don’t use FUBAR nearly as much as I would like.
Good video, great info. I did my first ride on a really heavy bike. It was my first ride in about 16 years. I only went 6.4 miles. But during the ride my water ran out and as the day moved along it was 99° degrees. It shortly became a horrible chore to get home. I think we should all set realistic small goals. Thanks for the great videos, I just found your channel and I look forward to more from you. Take care.
I started up within the last couple years after a 20 year break, and the best advice I got early was "be consistent". You don't have to ride far or hard, but if you just keep at it, a few days a week for a month or two, you will definitely make gains. And cycling gets more fun the fitter you get, so it has a built in motivation :)
@@lkb3rd absolutely, I already started feeling the benefits of riding. Thanks again.
The cool thing about cycling is you can actually work through the training zones and even do two-a-day rides and still recover and do 7 day a week training, using active recovery. No other sport can you do that. You don't need more than 45 min a day to get optimum results. Do a hard day (VO2max) once every two weeks. For two-a-days, do two 30 min rides. I went from slogging a very slow 2 miles/day to 18.3mph average speed over 10 miles in about 4 years this way.
I think it’s important to build some rest in there as well.
The physical fitness is important but it also helps with my mental fitness. I want to ride three or four easy rides and one or two longer rides a week. Fortunately, I also have the luxury of riding my road, gravel or mountain bike.
Quality vs quantity, cumulative zone training if ride time is limited, balancing workload effort between cardio and neuromuscular. Prioritising long easy rides doesn't do anything except prepare your body for a long easy ride, first sign of a hill and the slow-twitch muscle struggle ensues.
What gorgeous roads!
10/10 vids, keep it up!
Thanks you for doing these videos. I'm a bigger cyclist and suffer with fibromyaiga these video have really helped me over the past week since I found them.
Glad to help, Russell.
Thank you for your comments; they make me feel less guilty for not taking full advantage of my riding opportunities. I've been recovering from a broken humerus (which is no laughing matter) after a nasty fall, and of course I put on some extra kilos which have been very difficult to get rid of. I live in Santiago, Chile. We have some quite nice hilly terrain in and around town so I ride a mountain bike, though mostly up and down sloped roads nowadays. Between me and you and these four walls, my main issue with riding is how sore my rear end gets after a while on the saddle, even though I wear padded shorts and got a softer saddle. Any suggestions there? (I'm 62, by the way. Not that I pay any heed.)
Excellent video and advice, thanks for inspiring me and for sharing this video.
Nice video.
One adjustment I would make is that beginning riders shouldn’t necessarily wait until the legs are fully recovered. Spinning helps clear the muscles better than sitting. One or two days of rest should be enough. That said, if you push yourself, taking one week off (or easy) every month helps recovery.
Check out Dylan Johnson’s TH-cam channel for science-based fitness advice.
Very sound advice, I cross train to have a broader all round fitness, to be able to garden DIY and play with the youngster, usually 3 days of lunchtime gym sessions a couple of 10-15 mile rides 10,000 steps every day the mixture keeps my energy levels stable. as you say listen to our body, after all no one knows you better than you.
10000 steps a day will certainly get you fit.
Great advice on being aware of how you feel as a guide to training.
For a period of around 8 months I went out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT without fail but then dropped to an average of more than 5 nights a week but less than 6... When I first started cycling it took me 34 minutes to ride 2 miles. Now, around 20 months on I ride at least 16 miles when I do go out (including a cat 4 climb on the hill at Bolsover) and the loss of some 13 stones in weight since the summer of 2018. All of this said, because of the weather I have had SIX consecutive nights off. I fill fat and frumpy - I want to go out but I don't want a broken collar bone or worse!... The summer is coming, the summer's coming !!!
Wow, 13 stones?? You have my respect. That must have been bloody tough.
@@jollygoodvelo See this short video here (FROM JANUARY 2019) www.dropbox.com/s/fwe65z9wpvu2kjz/VIDEO0021.mp4?dl=0 and then a still photograph here www.dropbox.com/s/6lpli7nikuoxv4e/IMAG2517.jpg?dl=0 of my best (lightest) weight (on the same scales). NB I started cycling in July of 2018 The sill picture is from January 2020. I need to lost about another 2 stone from there
I commute 30 miles round trip, 15 miles each way. It difficult to ride everyday due to the fact that I live 2 miles up on the hill. When I ride home from work, I already logged in 13 miles on my ride back and it’s tiring to climb the last 2 miles up hill. Therefore, I only ride twice a week and mountain biking on the weekends. Anyways, I purchased an ebike to commute in the days I don’t commute with my regular commute bike. I ride because I enjoy the sports and getting to work and home on my bike is faster than driving here in Silicon Valley.
It is dependent on what you are doing, and if you seek some type of accomplishment.
In the 1970's, I was a racer. When I was racing for UCI races, I rode every day. I did specific training in the morning, and training races in the late afternoon. You have to train harder than racing, when you are training. You have to be able to perform well on race day. In preparation for certain races, I trained by motor pacing. It helps pick up your top speed. I specialized in field sprints. Those are a real adrenalin rush!
Good topic ... very nice video ... long time follower ... Boston, MA Mike.
Thanks Mike. Love Boston- I spent a couple of months working there in 2013. Even managed to ride out to places like Salem, Framingham and Winchester.
As a 63 yr old recreational cyclist (non competing) I have a Cannondale X7 cyclo cross bike. My normal ride is a 40 mile round trip on a flat surface. My extended ride is 63 miles. The goal is to keep up a steady 15 mph ..I have a cadence counter (Garmin 800) and feel comfortable at 90 - 100 rpm. I am now back in the USA after 16 years in Europe (Italy) , cycling here (USA) is all about how fast and how light you can get your bike...and how much you paid for it... I miss the European cycling holidays I used to do every year...the states is way behind Europe in this regard. I like your channel...lots of good common sense advice for new cyclists (or as the yanks say bicyclists). I have 3 bikes, the X-7 cyclo cross, a Cannondale trail bike and a European Pegasus Solero E8 electric bike...Looking at riding the Katy Trail in Missouri next year, 240 miles over a week with a mix of camping / hotels...
Good luck with the Katy Trail. I've heard a few people talk about it and it sounds like quite a challenge.
Another top vid from Leonard.
Thanks Roger.
Very true about the immune system getting run down after doing quite a few hundred k rides got quite ill for a couple of weeks
Long easy rides, and from what I was told, we don't do it enough.
Long, easy rides are what my weekends are all about! :) My post-workday rides are the higher-intensity efforts, almost TT-esque, designed to boost my fitness level.
Thank you again for keeping these videos informative and simple. I also enjoy that you are sincere.
Thanks for watching.
I ride everyday. Not because I’m trying to get in shape but, because I’ve recently found a passion for cycling. I put all of my hours on a Jamis Renegade Exile. It’s a gravel bike but, hoping to get an actual road bike one day. Cycling is amazing! Btw happy Easter! Praise Jesus!
@6:25 by that 40+ kilometres, do you mean that distance in one shot or have a short stop/rest along the way???
In one go but if you fancy a short stop, why not?
I have a rough schedule for my week. Monday rest day(very easy or no riding at all) Tuesday is my hardest ride of the week, Wednesday I back it off moderate and flexible depending on how I feel. Thursday another hard day. Friday, moderate and flexible, Then Saturday and Sunday I do longer rides, and I am ready for my rest day again on Monday :)
I change this at any time depending on how I feel. If I start to feel generally run down, or if I just prepared for and completed a tough event or Fondo, I will take a whole week where I ride easier.
Suffering a pain in my back due to manipulating with heavy pieces (read stems of trees) too long after each other, using the wrong technique, my last ride was exactly two weeks ago.
This year wasn't very good for bicycling for me. In fact I cycled only 4 months, my shortest ride was 10 km and my longest rides were 32 km (3 or 4 times).
May next year be better. I hope to be back on my bike again this year. But during the winter half year I'll cut down the frequency to max 2 or 3 times per week and a max of
20 km per ride. As long as there's no snow or ice on the roads. Then I'll go to does some cross country skiing again.
Sorry to hear that Hans. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Looking good. Love the video 😍.
I ride to the pub and back every single day.
I expect the ride back is slight more wobbly.
Pint of lager and packet of crisps please
But you’re not at the moment are you?
Excellent!
Hi Leonard ... To record my bike trips I used the fitness tracker TomTom Spark with GPS and an IGPSport IGS50E computer on the handlebars .... the TomTom records everything and afterwards in the app the heart rate is divided into the different zones .... both computers measure distance and speed more or less the same, +/- 100m and +/- 0.2 Kmh over a complete trip ... whats a 100m after doing 50 Km :-)
Good information mate thanks a lot.
I just ride until one day I pass out on my bed in the middle of the day before I ride . Or I let every Monday a rest day
Good advice Leonard. I also like your Steinhart watch 😁
Hope you find it helpful.
Thanks. Excellent video.
Very thoughtful insights. Thanks for that!
Wise words, i was once told you never get fitter just faster. Good vid.
Here is one of my rules of thumb. If I am training to ride in an organized ride for a certain amount of miles, I try to get 12.5 miles on the bike for every mile I will be riding in the event. So for a century ride, I try to have 1,250 miles on the bike prior to the event.
I like that idea. Thanks for sharing.
That is a very good rule of thumb. I think I might use that one myself. Thank you.
I’ve always heard that you should find a way to turn your passion into a way to get paid. If only I could find someone to pay me to ride my bike all day everyday, I would and could. I ride in all weather and hate putting my bike away for the day. It is nice to have friends along but not required.
Connie Back it’s called getting a pro contract from training your ass off for years . You might not get money now but in 5-10 years you’ll be on the tarmac with a free bike and kit
Connie Back you could become a delivery cyclist and make your dream come true a whole lot quicker.
Just found your channel, very nice man, keep up the good work, u tell it like it is!😄
I am 50ish and cycle eight to ten hours only on weekends and I do it all winter long . There is too much ice and snow in dec , jan , feb where I live . I try and cycle three days per week in the warmer months so I get about eleven hours per week . I get five weeks vacation and cycle five hours every vacation day . I also cycle for fourteen days during christmas holiday and a week during easter five hours each day . I also cycle every day of my three or four statutory holiday five hours each day . Cycling is the most fun you can have with your clothes on !
Thank you 😊
Leonard, as always, very informative...but I still have questions. I plan to compete in a 10 K time trial in September, and between now and then I want to try and figure out how much I can push myself in training. Would you suggest a treadmill stress test? Will this tell me how much I can push myself? I am 75, good weight for my age, no physical issues that I know of. Right now I ride about 16KM every other day. Overall, I have been riding since 1980s, on and off. The last two years, I have been very consistent with riding. Any suggestions are appreciated.
My advice is to do your best at your first time trial and then try and beat it on your second and so on. Time trialing is something you will only know how good you are when you do it.
Nice video sir!!! I ride twice a week about 100plus kilometers in total and mostly ride in mountains than flat roads. Have a safe ride always
Thats quite a distance to ride.
Great video m8 I taken some time off been trying to do a decent ride too many excuses atm lol
John Rodriguez me too!
as a 330 pound guy yes over weight i do about 10kn-11km a day i'm hoping will build up to much more each day bike ridding been helping with my mh strong :)
Good luck.
Which one you personally like cannondale synape or Trek-? Domané.
Or any other?
I am confused between Giant TCR Edmonda/Domané, wilier triestina or bianchi any type.
Can you advise?
It’s not easy to advise without knowing anything about your cycling needs but they are all great bikes.
Great channel dude... Subscribed 🚴✌️🥦
Great video, good content. Keep it up!
Thanks .
I agree with the immunity comment. I cycled 70 miles from Criccieth area to Aber falls. The Following day on my adrenalin rush I walked 10 miles along the coast, and then did another shorter ride on the same day as walk. I continued to do this for a few days and I really pushed myself without recovery . I got a bit ill with a cold and bad fatigue. It Would Probably be classed as covid now! I pushed myself to keep my average calories count in deficit. I'm only 43, 13 stone and I'm really trying to get to 11st.
My opinion was if I have a rest day it would be pointless as the rest day will just make the average calories burnt the same even with a hard day. I.e The hard day should be in addition to my regular riding. Like overtime in work say.
If you cycle/walk on your 'rest' day the average calories burnt goes up for the week as you've not 'lost' a day's workout resting. Of course its all well on paper or map my ride but I'm not a machine and no use being dead through over fitness. Best mode of recovery is a bottle of beer and bath.
Doing 30 miles tommorow from Criccieth area to clynog fawr. (South llyn peninsula shore to North Shore) Extremely hilly.
Hi Leonard, I am in the market to buy my first road bike, current bike is a 26 year old Trek8000 MTB owned from new, looking at a ribble r872 disc with shimano 105 or a giant tcr advantage 2. Any opinion on which I should get? the Ribble seems better value and has disc brakes but the Giant has a life long warranty. Or can you throw any other contenders into the ring top price £1600.
great video, thanks!!
I also think that the most important thing to add here is that it needs to be enjoyable, certainly to begin with. People tend to prefer to participate in activities that are fun and specially when you have people of different ability. If I tried to "persuade" my wife to cycle with me (she's very much NOT a cyclist but would like to have a go), it needs to not be a depressing experience of being left behind, taken up stupid soul crushing hills, in miserable weather. Just a shame that all my early morning rides (5am to 7am) this summer were alone and the two that my wife joined me for were pissing down with rain, leaving a negative experience ingrained yet again.
Thus for the "pro" cyclists or those to whom these things are just part of the experience, that's great but if you're starting out or trying to get someone into cycling, the answer as to how often and how hard is probably more like "when the weather is kinder, as often as you can and cease the moment they're feeling the've met their limit." I ride to my wife's much lower limit but then I can go off again myself if I want to. Often and shorter is always going to beat a single Saturday afternoon gruelling ride that only repeats a week or two later.
This is why e-bikes are gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds. It allows the weaker partner to maintain a nice pace with decreased effort, and the stronger partner does not have to feel guilty for pushing the pace, or feeling bored or unchallenged on the ride.
I go on the bike just enough to keep myself healthy, three or four times a week for 1 or 1.5 hour rides, I would like to know your opinion if that is ok. Please.
There are no right or wrong answers, Jorge, but it sounds to me like you are doing a nice amount of cycling. Hopefully you are also enjoying your rides.
Christmas around the corner, looking forward to a bicycle computer bundle set and a power meter. Is it overkill? maybe, but its a heck of a way to track progress
I think power meter might be but, hey we all love our gadgets.
Hi DCM SR. I have a Garmin Edge 820 and 4iiii power meter built into the left crank. Cost in the UK for this set up was £640. I use Strava for data analysis. If you are a competitive person and keen to improve your performance then this set up will deliver results over time and maintain your motivation. However, every so often go for a ride with it switched off, look around and enjoy the scenery !
Some of my most enjoyable rides have been when I didn't fancy it... Thanks for another interesting video 👍
Mine too.
Enjoyed your presentation 🚲👍
Recovery rides betweenness higher effort rides. No more than 60% ftp and no higher than 65% of heart rate. Eat and rehydrate immediately after.
Excellent presentation. And not from one of those anorexic Brits riding $15,000 bicycles from the procycling channels! Great advice from somebody who reminds me of me.
I can't help but go out and hammer it as hard as I can, I don't know what it is but I can't help myself. I feel as if I'm letting myself down for some reason. I do understand recovery time and I'll have a day or two off, but I'm on it again until I'm knackered..
No shame in easing up now and again.
I've bought a bike this last week and am building up 5km, 12km and yesterday 20km. The rides of 12-20km have ended up in me feeling dizzy and my BP drops dramatically eg 130/85 before and 95/64 after. I also experience pain in the neck after an hour and find it sore to keep looking up to see oncoming obstacles/people. I'm also only doing on average 14km/hr at what I think is comfortable without pushing hard. Are these things normal for a new cyclist? Do you normally ride 20-50km without a stop? My target is to build up to 50km but not until neck pain goes.
George Cumming Well done for starting. Yes, finding it hard is pretty common for new cyclists. It should get easier the more you ride. Everyone finds it difficult in their own way but you might benefit from a bike fit.
steinhart....nice....i was looking at a christopher ward...similar quality
I enjoy these videos, even the dull, rather dead pan voice they are delivered with. Regular cycling is by its nature a very self indulgent and time consuming activity. The same can be said of any ardently followed fitness regime and it often clashes with our family and other social/domestic obligations. Then there is the sheer vagary of our performance.
We all recognise the days where you feel "Fat" and definately not up for it but half way around, something clicks and you feel fine. Then conversely, you are prepared and honed and ready to do battle, but a few miles down the road you feel like an old horse!! As you get older, injury and illness takes longer to recover from and if like me, you suffer a silly fall resulting in soft tissue damage , you are out of the saddle for weeks if not months.LOL!
I'm beggining to wonder if it's not some cruel illusion that drives us on.
I just noticed your bib-shorts.. I like the length of them (just above the knee). What brand/model is it (or do you have very short femurs as opposed to me?)
I got them from a company on Amazon called Prezwalski.
For me, riding has become a war against myself on Strava. Beat yesterday, beat last week, beat last year. It can become a viscous cycle (no pun intended). It’s early October. I just passed 2018. Overtrain is often the limiting factor.
It also gets expensive. But that’s a different issue.
I think we all want to beat our previous best. I’m certainly guilty of that.
have to say I do like my strava but once a month or so I just go out without any strava/garmin etc and just ride for the hell of it, the doing it without a record actually ads to the ride oddly
@@nickw6175 It is certainly true that Strava will change the way you ride; and not always for the better. If you are focused simply on hitting a target -- distance, time, speed, etc. -- you may miss some of the fun. But once you start logging metrics, it's tough to stop.
One morning I was riding on the last day of the month simply to hit a mileage goal. It was 19F out. I realized that riding that morning was simply silly.