New To Road Cycle
this article was written by Mark Lowe in Feb 2009, his thoughts as a new cyclist and new to VCGH.
I picked up my bike just under a year ago and still class myself as a beginner with lots of room for improvement! Here are some thoughts and advice that I found useful when starting up.
1. To start off just get out on and used to riding a road bike, it can feel strange when you are new to it and don’t expect to be able to go long distances. Enjoy it and get your road sense together. Don’t worry about having a complex training plan - that can all come later, just make sure you get out on the bike for a longer ride at the weekend and try and get out after work, weather and work permitting! When you are ready to get into training plans, there are plenty of people in the club that would be more than willing to support you.
2. You might not know the nice roads around here, I certainly didn’t know how to avoid the large main roads. The bike club website has lots of routes that you can use. Pick the shortest / flattest route you can find and then build up from there. You will find little requirement to go on the main roads. It’s a great part of the world with loads of nice quiet country lanes. If you don’t know the roads, a GPS is useful but not expensive (or you can print off the maps!). Garmin do some good kit, Edge 705 is probably the best out there if you have the cash or the 205 you can pick up for under £100. A useful website is http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/?page_id=78 if you want to figure out how to use your new gadget for planning your own routes. A free site to plan your own rides is called bike toaster http://www.biketoaster.com which is very useful.
3. The club has lots of different rides and will definitely have a ride that will suit you. You will be aiming for the casual rides at least initially. Check out the distance and the pace and if in any doubt contact the ride leader to check that you are suited to the ride. There is nothing worse that joining a ride with people that are not in your league, its shattering and frustrating for all involved. If you can, why not join one of the early evening monthly rides in the Summer or a shorter monthly ride?
4. Plan for an event ride to focus the mind for the year. Last year I did this and it makes you ensure that you make the commitment to get out at the weekend and ride. (this year i aiming for the Etape Caledonia).
5. Use the website forum, ask the daft questions and get the collective advice from the club. Most of the kit I ended up buying through the year has been from recommendations from the forum.
Finally, you don’t have to go and do long distances or compete in sportives or anything else, you can just go out and enjoy the ride, the countryside and the company and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
As you can probably tell, I am no expert, but, Ive just completed my first year of casual road cycling and gone up the learning curve that you might still be going up. The club is very welcoming and I can fully recommend getting involved, you will get fit and meet some genuine people. If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to field them or you can post them on the forum. Hope this helps!
Mark Lowe (madrianlowe@aim.com)
New To Road Cycle
this article was written by Mark Lowe in Feb 2009, his thoughts as a new cyclist and new to VCGH.
I picked up my bike just under a year ago and still class myself as a beginner with lots of room for improvement! Here are some thoughts and advice that I found useful when starting up.
1. To start off just get out on and used to riding a road bike, it can feel strange when you are new to it and don’t expect to be able to go long distances. Enjoy it and get your road sense together. Don’t worry about having a complex training plan - that can all come later, just make sure you get out on the bike for a longer ride at the weekend and try and get out after work, weather and work permitting! When you are ready to get into training plans, there are plenty of people in the club that would be more than willing to support you.
2. You might not know the nice roads around here, I certainly didn’t know how to avoid the large main roads. The bike club website has lots of routes that you can use. Pick the shortest / flattest route you can find and then build up from there. You will find little requirement to go on the main roads. It’s a great part of the world with loads of nice quiet country lanes. If you don’t know the roads, a GPS is useful but not expensive (or you can print off the maps!). Garmin do some good kit, Edge 705 is probably the best out there if you have the cash or the 205 you can pick up for under £100. A useful website is http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/?page_id=78 if you want to figure out how to use your new gadget for planning your own routes. A free site to plan your own rides is called bike toaster http://www.biketoaster.com which is very useful.
3. The club has lots of different rides and will definitely have a ride that will suit you. You will be aiming for the casual rides at least initially. Check out the distance and the pace and if in any doubt contact the ride leader to check that you are suited to the ride. There is nothing worse that joining a ride with people that are not in your league, its shattering and frustrating for all involved. If you can, why not join one of the early evening monthly rides in the Summer or a shorter monthly ride?
4. Plan for an event ride to focus the mind for the year. Last year I did this and it makes you ensure that you make the commitment to get out at the weekend and ride. (this year i aiming for the Etape Caledonia).
5. Use the website forum, ask the daft questions and get the collective advice from the club. Most of the kit I ended up buying through the year has been from recommendations from the forum.
Finally, you don’t have to go and do long distances or compete in sportives or anything else, you can just go out and enjoy the ride, the countryside and the company and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
As you can probably tell, I am no expert, but, Ive just completed my first year of casual road cycling and gone up the learning curve that you might still be going up. The club is very welcoming and I can fully recommend getting involved, you will get fit and meet some genuine people. If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to field them or you can post them on the forum. Hope this helps!
Mark Lowe (madrianlowe@aim.com)