I hate geography

I'm not sure if it is geography or geology I hate, but whichever one
it is that involves putting hills in my way, that's the bad guy.

From home to work is I think about 20km as the bicycle rides, but
there seems to be rather a lot of those hilly type objects for this
horribly unfit little black duck.

I have been scouting about, trying to work out the best route to take
from Campsie to NOrth Sydney. At first I thought I could take the
train most of the way in the beginning, slowly doing more cycling as I
got fitter but as that means changing trains in the middle of the
stampede that is any of Redfern/Central/Town Hall/Wynyard at any time
between 7:30am and 9:30am maybe not.

I tried Campsie to Burwood, which I thought was all uphill. Then the
idea was to train to Waverton which would be less stampede-equipped
than North Sydney *and* has elevators, and thence to my place of
employment at the top end of Miller St.

I thought Campsie to Burwood was all uphill. Maybe it is, but
Waverton to North Sydney is all UPHILL! Any steeper and I think I'd
need banisters....

I had to stop twice going up from Waverton because I couldn't make my
legs turn the granny gear anymore. Not to mention I couldn't breathe
any harder.

I suspect I'm still not fit enough to do the whole trip on the bike,
especially as most of the hard work is at the end with the long slog
up from the Bridge to the top of Miller St.

So I need more work. I just don't know how much or what kind.

Are there any net.based resources suitable to take me from "couch
potato" to "averagely fit cyclist"? It's easy to say "ride more" but
I can ride lots and not work. But too much seriously hard work is too
much hard work and not that motivating.

Being me, I need some kind of roadmap, a program to work to. Most
I've seen are for racers, not for terrified commuters

Short of hiring a lot of bulldozers I'm going to have to handle these
bloody hills at the end of a long ride, so how can I plan my attack?

I'd like to do the whole thing by bike, but I'm not confident I can.

Zebee

Zebee asks -

So I need more work. I just don't know how much or what kind.

I think we have all been there when trying to move up a level of fitness or
endurance. The hill from the Bridge to the top of Crowie was my nemeses. You
never lose your nemeses it just moves around. Some suggestions -

Start to ride regularly with a mate or a sociable bunch - doesn't matter if
they are a bit stronger so long as they wait up every so often - you will
quickly adopt the pace of the bunch.
I think of all the things you can do riding often is much more important
than the effort or duration you achieve in any one session - cycling muscles
develop over time, and 5 x 40min rides in a week is much better for what you
want than one 3 hour per week.
Learn to stretch - all we mostly do all day is sit down and your time on a
bike (any kind) extends that time so suggest you learn the dozen or so
stretches that will correct the postural problems we will mostly tend to
develop because we are not using the hardware as our maker intended - and as
you start to do more on the bike your quads glutes hammies and itb's
especially will get undesirably tight, Learning to stretch your spine will
make a huge amount of difference to your flexibility and hence enjoyment of
life both now and as you age. Don't care if its yoga pilates or gym but the
stretches need to be cycling specific. Watch how much better you sleep if
you learn to stretch - very little in life will relax tension as much.
Start working to a program - for a program find or become a coach. The NSW
cycling federation puts on level 1 coaching sessions regularly and I think
keeps a register of coaches - as soon as you start working to a program you
will see improvement almost immediately. Without some science and logic in
training you are trying do-it-yourself brain surgery, which is usually messy
and often unsuccessful. - and coaching continues to improve - when I was a
distance runner at school they used to insist on no drinking on long runs -
"it give you stiches" - I have some experience with de-hydration!! The
stuff that they do at the AIS eventually filters down to hubbard grade.
If you have a program, then and only then can you think about a wind trainer
or ergo (stationary bike) - boring as batsiht but under intelligent
supervision it will get you stronger quickly. Without a program you will
just get bored - remember organ transplants and cycling programs are best
left to someone who knows what they are doing.
Never ever forget its meant to be fun - if anything is hurting (other than
temporary levels of exertion) get that attended to soonest - one of the
great virtues of cycling is that on a well fitted bike the activity by
itself should never injure you.

As to route, would taking a combination of the off road paths initially be
an easier way than on road (you have a hard route there) - maybe have a look
at the RTA suggested routes at -

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/usingroads...cyclemaps.html


Hope some of this helps - best, Andrew

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 26 Mar 2006 06:26:12 GMT
Andrew Price wrote:
I think of all the things you can do riding often is much more important
than the effort or duration you achieve in any one session - cycling muscles
develop over time, and 5 x 40min rides in a week is much better for what you
want than one 3 hour per week.

Major hassle with that is it has to be outside working hours. All the
rides I've seen have either been in working hours, or finish at a time
that means I can't get to work.

As to route, would taking a combination of the off road paths initially be
an easier way than on road (you have a hard route there) - maybe have a look
at the RTA suggested routes at -

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/usingroads...cyclemaps.html


The route I took is more or less in their list - there is no good
route in North Sydney!

I have decided bugger it... I will give myself 2-2.5 hours to do the
full ride tomorrow. I can train home I don't have to be at work
till 10am so I will leave at 7:30am, if I am in town after 9am then I
can cheat and take the train to North Sydney as the stampede will have
lessened. Still have to haul the damn thing up the stairs, you'd
think a major station like North Sydney would have accessible
platforms wouldn't you! I'm damn glad I'm not on crutches, let alone
in a wheelchair.

Given my situation, I think the ride to work is the only riding I'm
going to get.


Zebee

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:41:49 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

I tried Campsie to Burwood, which I thought was all uphill. Then the idea
was to train to Waverton which would be less stampede-equipped than North
Sydney *and* has elevators, and thence to my place of employment at the
top end of Miller St.

If you go through to St Leonards you should be able to come back to the
top of Miller St without too much trouble. There's a hill from the station
up to Crows Nest that should be doable on back streets through Crows Nest
proper, then it should be a piece of ****. St Leonards has lifts so
getting the toy up to the platform won't be a PITA. Train to town, then
coming home with the bike might also be a good option.

So I need more work. I just don't know how much or what kind.

Aren't you right next to Bay to Bay cycleway? Yeah it's a bit sucky, but
a weekend spin out to Homebush, possibly coupled with a spin through
Olympic park could do you good.

I'm assuming you don't have an HRM (if you do, have a look at some of
Bleve's stuff), so ride a pace where you can comfortably sing a song - I
find that's around the 70% HR mark. I have no qualifications coaching
wise, but I suspect that a 40-60 minute ride at that kind of pace two or
three times a week would get your base fitness up pretty quickly.

--
Dave Hughes |
Like most computer techie people, I'll happily spend 6 hours trying to
figure out how to do a 3 hour job in 10 minutes. --Rev. James Cort

Zebee wrote

snip, snip ...

I suspect I'm still not fit enough to do the whole trip on the bike,
especially as most of the hard work is at the end with the long slog
up from the Bridge to the top of Miller St.

So I need more work. I just don't know how much or what kind.

What about mixing it up a bit? From Campsie you could get quite
a long flat ride by following the Cooks River path either west to
Strathfield station or east to Tempe. You could take one of those
options some days, and push yourself just as hard as you liked (or not).

The St Leonards suggestion is a good one too. Is the recumbent
your vehicle for the commute? I'm curious as to how unwieldy it
is getting in and out of railway carriages, up stairs, etc.

--
beerwolf (remove amphibian to reply by email)

Random Data wrote:

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 04:41:49 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

I tried Campsie to Burwood, which I thought was all uphill. Then the
idea was to train to Waverton which would be less stampede-equipped than
North Sydney *and* has elevators, and thence to my place of employment at
the top end of Miller St.

If you go through to St Leonards you should be able to come back to the
top of Miller St without too much trouble. There's a hill from the station
up to Crows Nest that should be doable on back streets through Crows Nest
proper, then it should be a piece of ****. St Leonards has lifts so
getting the toy up to the platform won't be a PITA. Train to town, then
coming home with the bike might also be a good option.

So I need more work. I just don't know how much or what kind.

Aren't you right next to Bay to Bay cycleway? Yeah it's a bit sucky, but
a weekend spin out to Homebush, possibly coupled with a spin through
Olympic park could do you good.

I'm assuming you don't have an HRM (if you do, have a look at some of
Bleve's stuff), so ride a pace where you can comfortably sing a song - I
find that's around the 70% HR mark. I have no qualifications coaching
wise, but I suspect that a 40-60 minute ride at that kind of pace two or
three times a week would get your base fitness up pretty quickly.


Zebee, my experience also fits with RD's comments. Unless there is
something special to prepare for, it is good for us non-athletes to be
patient with our bodies and our progress. I find it really helps to be
philosophical and enjoy the ride, rather than be in a rush to get to work.

I made the jump and bought a bike 12 months ago after 15 years of
non-riding, and have been improving in tiny steps since. It might be
optimistic, but I expect to keep improving as long as I ride to work
several times a week. After about 2 months I found the hills either got
easier to ride up, or else shorter (riding faster). The bottom gear of my
bike was not low enough at first, but it seems to have gained a few extra
teeth since.

To give you an idea, the 14 km to work took me 50 minutes on my first ride
in last year. Most times I take are now less than 35 minutes, and my best
commuting time this summer was 28 minutes.

Be prepared for the seasonal breaks, too. I rode far less for some months
during last winter and found there is a downside to having a layoff - it
took me several weeks to get back to the fitness level I had before. Not a
great surprise in hindsight, but a bit annoying.

Hmmm... With winter coming up, it would be interesting to hear if anyone
has suggestions on how best to deal with it, in a bicycle sense.

Cheers,

Vince

Vincent Patrick wrote:

Be prepared for the seasonal breaks, too. I rode far less for some months
during last winter and found there is a downside to having a layoff - it
took me several weeks to get back to the fitness level I had before. Not
a
great surprise in hindsight, but a bit annoying.

Hmmm... With winter coming up, it would be interesting to hear if anyone
has suggestions on how best to deal with it, in a bicycle sense.

I used to pike if it was raining/likely to rain, but have made the
commitment
to commute through all weathers now. I have ridden deliberately through
a couple of our real Sydney deluges. This is what works for me:

1. Acknowledge that it isn't going to be pleasant, and prepare yourself
mentally.
2. Ride a bike that you don't care about. It will get covered in road grime
(and
so will you).
3. Take extra care with the traffic. Allow more space in front of you, your
brakes may not work as well. Realise that you are less visible to drivers.
4. Waterproof clothing may be ok if the rain and wind are cold (you're
in Perth aren't you?). In Sydney I have tried waterproofs, and it gets
wetter
inside from sweat than outside from rain. I just don't think it gets cold
enough
here to warrant waterproofs for riding. I wear good quality wicking thermals
that keep the water away from my skin, and I haven't felt cold yet (my
opinion
might change after I go through next winter).
5. My worst issue with heavy rain is my eyes - rain gets in and makes them
sting. I have to wear spectacles, so don't think I can wear goggles (if
anyone
has any suggestions about this, I'd like to know too). Currently I get by
with
squinting and riding slow.
6. Availability of a hot shower at both ends helps (don't think I could
stomach
it otherwise).

HTH

--
beerwolf (remove amphibian to reply by email)

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 26 Mar 2006 13:24:29 GMT
beerwolf wrote:
5. My worst issue with heavy rain is my eyes - rain gets in and makes them
sting. I have to wear spectacles, so don't think I can wear goggles (if
anyone
has any suggestions about this, I'd like to know too). Currently I get by

You could try over-glasses. The Cancer Council has sunglasses
designed to be worn over prescription glasses. Some of the larger
one-piece safety glasses might work too.

Zebee

"Zebee Johnstone" wrote in message
.. .
I'm not sure if it is geography or geology I hate, but whichever one
it is that involves putting hills in my way, that's the bad guy.

snip

What you're doing already is about what you need to be doing, from the sound
of things. When I started riding to uni about 2 years ago, the 8km ride half
killed me. Now I commute nearly 20km each way and was happy doing so this
time last year. You'll find that you acclimatise surprisingly quickly. Come
and hunt me out at Rowany festival if you're going to be there this year and
I'd be more than happy to chat about bikes (and other stuff). I'll be with
Abbotsford household just out the back of the market area.

"Zebee Johnstone" wrote:

I'm not sure if it is geography or geology I hate, but whichever one
it is that involves putting hills in my way, that's the bad guy.

From home to work is I think about 20km as the bicycle rides, but
there seems to be rather a lot of those hilly type objects for this
horribly unfit little black duck.

You have been given some excellent advice about fitness and increasing your
ability to ride.

My experience as a recreational rider: I live in Ashfield and for years
would head out to Homebush Bay or Botany Bay along the Cooks River bike
track. It certainly is an excellent way to get fit and a bloody great bike
path. Like you, I didn't like hills. It is only recently that I started to
look for hills and change my exercise routine from relatively flat roads to
including some big hills in my rides. This has really increased my ability
to ride those hills.

My suggestion for riding into town: head up through Ashfield/Ashbury/Summer
Hill from Campsie to join up with the cycleway that heads into town along
Lilyfield Road and Anzac Bridge.

Enjoy your commute!


Cheers,
Nicholas