Yo /n/.
I got my first bike since I was a kid yesterday. It's nothing fancy, since I'm only planning to use it for commute.
The catch is, I'm unfit. Not to the point of pic related, but still, not great. A couple of days ago, when I first got it, I rode it from my usual bus stop to my house and it cut down my commute time like mad. From a 20 minute walk to a mere 5 minutes.
When I got home, I have no stamina, and my thighs felt like shit, which I expected, muscle pains, but the thing I didn't expect was my calves having no strength which made me fall down and sprain my ankles. Hurt like fuck for 2 days. Which I guess was completely my fault for not pacing myself, especially on a hilly route.
Kinda shitty first experience, but hey, no pain no gain right?. Basically, I'm asking how long
would it take for my muscles to get used to the bike? And was the whole "calves having no strength" thing normal for first timers?
I'm like that in the pic.
It's taken me a few weeks for my legs to not give out on me as soon as I get off the bike and I'm a sweaty, miserable mess five weeks into it every time I get off the bike but I'm down 12 lbs and I'm finding I'm less groggy and can stand for a lot longer without my feet and ankles starting to kill me.
>>904457
two weeks or so. consider using an easier gear and stretching out your calves before riding. you can't just go from an unstretched resting state to mashing hard on your pedals.
Make sure your cadence is up nice and high. Like 80-100 rpm.
Best of luck with it.
>>904457
>my calves having no strength which made me fall down and sprain my ankles
fucking hell m80 you might have medical problems if a five minute ride literally made your legs give way, go to the doctor
>>904457
get an exercise bike and ride at home to build up leg power or I dunno go on a longer but easier ride of a night or weekend to get your body used to riding
It'll be quick. After about a week you'll be sore after riding, and two to three weeks you probably won't notice much of anything.
Granted, I'm a skinny fuck. It might take you a bit longer.
>tfw you'll never be fat again and drop weight like crazy every time you ride
What I did to ease into commuting was practice commutes. Over a two-week vacation, I rode to work and back about ten times, without resting inbetween.
It was pretty grueling, sometimes to the point where I lost the ability to swing my leg over the bike and had to lay it almost flat to extricate myself. But at the end of the second week I was merely tired and sweaty by the end of the double commute.
Having done that, rides to work were pretty simple by comparison, and I was able to come into work from day one without being a sweaty, exhausted mess.
>>904507
How far away is work?
I Don't like turtelts, i like Bikes
I'm a pretty big guy ~220 lbs. I started biking after weightlifting for ~5months (first real exercise of my life) to get some aerobic activity. I went full blast on every ride pretty much and would be fall-over-dying out of breath after 5 or 6 miles. About 3 months into riding regularly I can do a 20mile TT full blast and am consistently getting quicker. To be fair riding slowly is suppose to make you fitter and quicker I just physically cannot resist going balls to the wall every time I ride.
>>904519
It was about 6.5km each way back then. These days it's more like 8.5km due to route modifications.
Not a very long ride, but I wasn't very much in shape and yet I tried very hard to go fast.
>>904526
AW YEAH SON
F U L L G A S
U
L
L
G
A
S
It's going to take however long its going to take, but probably less than a month. When I first started commuting I would have jelly legs like that, as soon as I realized it I got up 10 minutes earlier and sat down to stretch before going into work. I don't know if the stretches actually helped, but acknowledging it was an issue was a good starting point.
Also, don't forget your wet wipes.
>>904492
aww dont say that anon,
you may one day get hit by a car
be confined to a wheelchair
then loose the will to live and feel that emptiness with food
>>904564
One can only hope
![IMG_0433[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/1Qql0JJ.jpg "IMG_0433[1].jpg")
OP here. Thanks for the advice. Guess I'll have to deal with it for now
>>904591
Here you go. The seat's a bit high, even at the lowest configuration, but it's not that much of a problem. At least I don't think it is.
>>904717
get slicker tyres
>>904457
I'm in a similar Situation OP. Not overweight but I've been a Hiki for 2 1/2 years and in the middle of December I get the great idea to get back into cycling to force me to go outside.
Rode 6.3 kilometers today, almost vomited and could barely walk.
>tfw the planned route was 8.1km
I really hope the people here saying it'll just take a few weeks until I don't wanna kill myself after a ride are right.
>>904717
>The seat's a bit high
Are you 5'?
>>904919
Remember two things about having the right seat height. Having the wrong height decreases your efficacy so you work much harder. And a poor fit can hurt your body.
>>904766
If you feel sick from 6.3km then you are seriously UNHEALTHY desu sempai
After a week I am usually used to cycling again after not doing it for 6 months. After the first week it becomes fun and just gets easier and easier.
>>904457
make sure you have fully inflated tires before every ride. with your weigh it makes a huge difference for the rolling resistance
Drink a lot of water, and eat high-energy food. As in, sugar and carbs. Clif bars. Energy gels. That kind of stuff. But especially water, water is the most important. If you do physical activity such as cycling when dehydrated, you will get cramps, sick feeling, etc.
DRINK WATER
DRINK A FUCKLOAD OF WATER
Your body will build up to it quickly, just commit and never stop pushing yourself to get better. Always push yourself to get better. Always.
>>904463
Keep it up bro. Stay strong, never stop pushing yourself to improve.
>>904717
>saddle too high
As long as your legs aren't fully extending to being straight at any point in a pedal revolution (that is, you keep a bit of a bend in your knee even at the furthest stretched point) you're fine. I believe your knee should be bent about 25-30 degrees at the furthest extended part of the rotation (with that crankarm at 6 o'clock), someone correct me if I'm wrong.
>>904937
Not OP, but if I weigh ~75 kg and my tyres say 50-75 psi, should I be riding on max pressure or somewhere in between? Currently on ~60 psi and it's OK. Do I need that extra pressure?
>>904982
>Falling for the liquid Jew
Drink according to thirst.
>>904987
I would go for ~65-70 at least if you ride mostly on asphalt. no downsides. when it's raining you loose some of the grip if you are max inflated but that's about it.
depends on your tyre diameter how often you should inflate them. road bike tires i would advice everybody to inflate before every ride, but if you have wider tires with lower pressure it might not be necessary.
some sort of a guideline
>>904987
honestly most tires will take a good 20-40psi over what is stamped on the side. They will wear much faster though.
>>904492
Isn't it quite easy to gain weight back?
I've heard having been fat is like having had cancer.
>>905866
Former fatfuck here. Yeah, it's easier to gain weight back largely because the number of fat cells you have don't decrease, they just shrink.
>your knee should be bent about 25-30 degrees at the furthest extended part of the rotation (with that crankarm at 6 o'clock), someone correct me if I'm wrong.
bike fitter here. 25-30° guideline is a good starting point, but is not necessarily grounded in strong biomechanical science. factors such as flexibility, range of motion, and pelvic rotation will influence this measurement.
you also need to make sure the feet are positioned correctly over the pedal, the sitbones are supported on the saddle, and the saddle is positioned correctly relative to the crank.
I'm not fat but very unfit. I was cycling an 8 km round trip for uni most days for a while during the semester before a couple of spokes broke and my wheel buckled. Took a while to get the bike back on the road, so haven't done any exercise for a few months now, and did a 19 km round trip to work today with a 75 m ascent on the way back according to google maps, most of it concentrated in one place.
Fucking hard work but feltgoodman.jpg and I know it will get easier as did the 4 km each-way journey when I was doing that a few months back.
pic related.
Give yourself a month of very moderate but improving cycling and you'll be fine. In three months you'll be able to ride for 20km without even noticing it.
>>906168
Three cups of milk a day and one source of protein. Make your own snacks for the bike ride and not some packet thing. Lots and lots of water 3L+ and coffee.
>tfw I'll never have a personal defect that can be easily fixed like obesity
>tfw my problems are all severe personality flaws and I am incapable of loving or being loved
You have no idea how many cute, innocent kittens I would stomp just to be a hamplanet with hamplanet problems
>>906170
That's your problem, you need to eat countless kittens. Stomping on them won't make you any fatter, just make your legs stronger and burn calories.
>>906168
Low intensity, long distance. Like 20km/h rolling along. Best for weight loss is walking.
>>905125
>this advice
>any time BC CE ABY BBY
>>906168
>/fit/ sticky
>>906170
One doesn't preclude the other. Given the fact that you haven't talked to a doctor about reducing negative self-talk or started paying a life coach to make sure you turn your assignments in on time, I have to conclude fat you would be just as fucked-up mentally but also fat.
>>904766
Wow, that's a very short route. Are you severely over or under weight? Were you dehydrated or hadn't eaten anything in two days? If you ate too much beforehand, or dairy products that could make you vomit.
It sounds like you're very out of shape, but keep exercising and it'll work out! I only trained like 3-4 months before I biked Mount Ventoux, and I made it up, not very good timing [about 3 hours], but I made it!
>>904457
Make sure you're tires are pumped properly and also that you're on a road bike, not a mountain bike. Those are newbie things that can fuck you up.
>>904484
this
Your cadence is wrong, you're pushing too high a gear. Lower gear and spin.
>>908426
>using shit memes
Kill yourself
