2nd ride beginner question

doobrie wrote:

fitted my cateye astrale computer and got out for my 2nd ride tonight -
didnt use the cadence at all but had the mph and trip distance as my
main displays ... i guess once im upto reasonable steady milage the
cadence comes into play

I'd agree with that.

managed 8.4 miles (compared to 5 on my 1st ride) at a whopping 11 point
something average mph ... got to start somewhere, eh ...

Indeed.

the darn chain went over too far out on the back cogs (what should i
call that area?)

Anything but the dark side, which is already well used around here.

at one point and locked onto nothing so my gears are in
need of tweaking although it only happened once and was fairly easy to
put right

mmm...

i still have the 1 free service from halfords where i got the bike on an
impulse buy a couple months ago so i should get it back there for the
tweaking and tightening up after its first few rides i guess

Yes, get it back there ASAP. You will risk break something if you carry
on with it like that. Also, your first free service is normally expected
in the first couple of months to make sure that just this sort of
thing doesn't cause bigger problems.

whats the minimum amount of rides per week i should do to gain the
benefit from each ride and help increase distance or overall effort a
little each time?

You've made it sound like so far you've only got as far as monthly
rides. To make sense as a general fitness thing, rides of the duration
you have already achieved will get you fitter, and building up to about
three a week would be very good. Just making them longer rather than
more frequent may only put you off through discomfort. Once you've got
there, it may be time to start paying more attention to average speed
and cadence (especially up hills), and maybe increasing distance if you
really get the bug. By this time, you will have probably got the comfort
thing sorted, so longer rides don't hurt. If they do, ask here and
you'll get lots of ideas to try to sort it out - maybe even one which
works. The next thing that usually happens is you step on a scales and
find it a pleasant experience. Then maybe see how far you can get in
your normal duration of ride. This is all just rule of thumb stuff,
though, so do what feels good until you fancy a bit more of a challenge.

--
Jim Price

http://www.jimprice.dsl.pipex.com

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.

Aye!.

doobrie wrote:

: whats the minimum amount of rides per week i should do to gain the
: benefit from each ride and help increase distance or overall effort a
: little each time?

The usual advice is that you have to exercise three times a week to
get decent benift. Though you could probably make one of those a
long walk/swim/whatever if you wanted.

Arthur

"doobrie" wrote in message
. ..
You've made it sound like so far you've only got as far as monthly
rides. To make sense as a general fitness thing, rides of the duration
you have already achieved will get you fitter, and building up to about
three a week would be very good.

no, i went out for a tootle around when i first bought the bike a couple
months ago and realised after a block or two that i was well out of
shape (it wasnt a surprise!!) so since then ive been swimming and
walking and a bit of gym to get my general fitness up a bit and now that
ive done that i'll be including the bike rides, i went out last week and
done 5 mile, bought the cycle computer, fitted it over weekend and went
out last night for the 8.4 miles

longer term i want to do the ride to work thing 2/3 times a week which
is a 30 mile round trip and a longer ride on weekend

From a fitness viewpoint I think it is much better to do shorter rides more
regulalry, 5 - 10 miles is probably just about right for you. But try and do
it every day, which = about 4 times a week ;o)

If you make your rides too onerous you'll end up doing none.