![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
green posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
exercise_every_dayI am exercising again! Very little to start, but today I did 11 minutes of power yoga! Up from the 8 minutes I was doing a week ago. Go me.
It's hard to get back into exercising when you've been away from it for awhile. Even if you were fairly regular with an exercise program, picking it up again is just as hard as starting from scratch.
I'm seriously considering buying a bicycle. I found a 'road bike' for $89 from Wal-mart which is about all I can afford. I want to ride it to school when it starts, which will be five miles there and five miles back. Does anyone cycle? Can you tell me how long it will take me to get into shape enough to do five miles at a time on a bike?
It's hard to get back into exercising when you've been away from it for awhile. Even if you were fairly regular with an exercise program, picking it up again is just as hard as starting from scratch.
I'm seriously considering buying a bicycle. I found a 'road bike' for $89 from Wal-mart which is about all I can afford. I want to ride it to school when it starts, which will be five miles there and five miles back. Does anyone cycle? Can you tell me how long it will take me to get into shape enough to do five miles at a time on a bike?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 07:00 pm (UTC)My current ride is a $100 Wal-Mart Schwinn and it's lasted me about five years so far.
It took me a couple of years to get up to a five-mile trip. HOWEVER: it wasn't the lack of endurance that kept me from going that far (and back then I was not in anything even approaching good shape) but the simple fear of riding that far/getting lost/OMG WHAT IF I'M TOO TIRED TO GET BACK/etc. Then things like Google Maps happened, and then some construction happened that opened up easy routes to places and expanded my travel radius from about three miles each way to about ten miles each way. As for the OMG WAT IF TOO TIRED thing, that turned out to not be a problem.
The great thing about a bike is that when you get tired you can coast and recharge a bit, and you don't have to pedal hard and fast. Just go at a comfortable pace, coast when you need to, make pit stops if and when you need toand (especially in the warmer months) bring water.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 08:21 pm (UTC)Pretty much everywhere around town. It's a small place, no distance above 6 miles.
Can you tell me how long it will take me to get into shape enough to do five miles at a time on a bike?
If you have been able to ride a bicycle in the past, have no disabilites relevant to bicycling, and have enough endurance for a, say, one hour walk at a leisurely pace -- you can probably bicycle five miles right now. It might take a while and your butt will be hurting afterwards, but you can do it.
After three months you'll probably be able to ride comfortably and at some speed. Still depends on tht terrain, of course. Gravel roads in hilly terrain and busy city streets, it will never be very fast or comforable, but after three months you should have the basics well down, the rest is very slow gain in strength/endurance, and familiarity/skill.
If you live in a hot or damp climate, consider carrying at least a spare T-Shirt.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 08:25 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for your advice!
no subject
Date: 2011-06-18 05:38 am (UTC)2) back when I lived in cycling distance, I used to bring a change of clothes to school/work as well as a damp wash cloth in a ziploc baggie.
Happy pedaling.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-18 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-18 10:47 pm (UTC)I spent several years of my life wet, because I forgot to even carry a towel when bicycling to school or to town, and I lived in a very rainy climate... *g*