I need some expert advice! I just got discharged from physical therapy today for a knee injury. And now I am cleared to bike and run!! But the running I have to take a little slow still. Anyway, my major question is what should I do to start training on the bike? Should I start out in a flat area? And how long should I ride for at one time? Any specific areas around town that is best for a beginner? I have never done much road biking so any advice would be great!
Thanks!
Well I'm not expert in terms of the riding distance or time you should go out. But i've ridden enough to know a few flat areas around here.
I would suggest the river path (head north on highland from campus and you'll hit the river path that way) and broadway. River path is on a nice path with no cars obviously, just a few other riders and pedestrians...but very easy. Broadway is nice and flat but with many stop lights. You may also want to consider riding around speedway and craycroft, pretty flat around there. Lastly, you might try riding west on st. mary's and then south, i believe, on grande for a while. There will be plenty of us around during the summer doing steady, easy rides. Many of us are newbs (I am!) so no need to feel intimidated.
The River Path is a great place to start. Other than that, if you go north or west from UA you get hills, so south and east are good.
Start out easy, 2 times a week, for just a short ride. Take 2 days off between rides. Do this for 3 weeks. Then try for 3 times a week for 3 weeks. After that, as long as things are feeling good, you can progress.
Start out short and add about 10-20% per ride for the three week blocks. Don't jump into a 4-hour ride. I don't know your history, fitness or how long you've been out, so dit's hard to say where to start, but ~40 minutes should be easy on your joints and muscles. After 3 weeks you should be up to about 60 minutes.
Hope this helps. The key is to go slowly; more conservatively than you think. Take it conservatively now to avoid a relapse later.
Coach
Thanks for the recommendations! Today I went to the river path and it was awesome. I especially like the fact that there are no cars. There was a rattlesnake on the path and that sort of freaked me out but besides that it was so much fun!
Thanks again!
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