Back to biking

I plan to bike again next month so this June would be my prep time. It’s been more than a year since I rode a great distance (my longest was around 100 km in one day). Youbikes don’t count haha. I used to ride along the Taipei riverside bikepaths every other night, a quick night-time workout for me was about 6-10km, for about 2-3 hours with quick breaks in between.

When I used to bike regularly, I did so without warm-ups. Just some joint stretching but nothing too major. But I remember before when I was biking regularly, I jogged/ran for 30 mins every other morning. Only problem was it didn’t do much for my upper body so I eventually dropped the habit.

So, given these, what suggestions can you share to help me prepare myself before riding out? Or any pacing I need to do if I can just get back to it without any other workouts?

Hello.

As a guy who’s also getting back in riding after about a year off, I’m approaching it the same as the previous time I had an injury that put me off the bike by simply maximising my time on bike.

For the first few weeks speed/cadence/power and all that stuff isn’t that important as spending as much time as possible on the saddle just peddling. Afterwards, you can gauge your fitness and see what needs to be worked on.

I don’t think you need to specifically prepare a lot prior to jumping on a bike though, especially as you won’t be going flat out crazy for a while. I usually don’t stretch either but may take the first few kms a bit easier. I definitely always stretch after a big ride though, I personally believe it helps with my recovery.

If you do wish to do some exercises prior to riding, anything aerobic seem pretty good to me. The hardest thing for me even after a few weeks off due to holidays and whatnot is the reduction in aerobic fitness. Get your heart to a steady zone 3 with bits of zone 2 depending on how you feel.

Happy to meet up for night time river rides if you’re not too far :).

First, make sure your gear is ok. Take that carbon/titanium/aluminum/steel/plastic/paper steed to the shop and make sure that it’s ok and can still be ridden. A full year without use can randomly cause issues you’ve never heard of.

Ok, dont’ take this the wrong way, I’m just trying to get more information to make a proper suggestion because some things don’t add up.

You did and was able to hit 100km in one day, but your weekly workouts were no more than 10km over a 2-3 hour time span, with breaks in between. This means you were riding no faster than 10kmh?

I understand you don’t have to be a speed demon or have very high intensity during exercise, but 10kmh is like…rolling speed after two pedal strokes.

If you dont’ feel like sharing anymore info, no worries, I won’t dig.

As @Liuboy said above, just do a good warm up to get the blood flowing. High cadence with sustainable heart rate. You can do some stretches aftewards, but if you got a good warm up in, it’s not necessary. Personally, I had a knee injury not too long ago due to not warming up properly, so I always get a bit of stretching in after my 20min warm up.

Like I said in another thread, just keep adding mileage. If you do x kms on day one, do x+1 the next day and keep on adding. You’ll be back in shape in no time!

Hope that was helpful!

Thanks guys! Oh just to clarify, the 100km is a one-time thing. I biked from Dadaocheng to Taoyuan just for kicks. Had plenty of breaks in between so it lasted me 8 hours but I never got to do it again. My usual night time rides are only limited to a max cap of 6 or 10 km because I usually bike from Zhongshan (near MOS burger) to Dajia wharf then would turn left and ride all the way to Dadaocheng. If my memory serves me right, that should be about 10 km or less. As a habit, I cap myself at 3 hours per nighttime ride since that’s the max I can strain myself after a long day at work. Some days it stretches out to 4 or 5 due to prolonged breaks.

By the way, I no longer have a bike. Sold it because I thought I’d be leaving Taiwan, but then here I am! Any foldie you can suggest? I’m leaning towards this now instead of the usual road bike as its more portable and easier to ship if in case I leave Taiwan for good.

Sure, I live in Taipei so we can probably do this. Will let you know once I get a bike again.

@ranlee, maybe organize cycling up a mountain for beginners? There are two people I want to take cycling up a mountain (they normally just do flats). Maybe Feng Gui Cui (風櫃嘴) starting at Miramar (is that where it was?) would be a good central location for everybody. I should be free most Saturdays for a while if I’m given enough notice.

Maybe you can make it two mountains and us less experienced folks can just call it quits after the first one.

Ah, ok ok. Makes sense now since your ride is almost half city riding.

For a bike, a full sized bike whether it’s a road bike, mtn bike or touring compared to a foladable, will have to be boxed if you move. Just that the foldable box will be a bit smaller.

Honestly, buy whatever makes you happy. Anything from any of those shops down the road near Da Dao Cheng Wharf water gate are good places to start. I do NOT suggest you walk into that Giant shop at the corner though, they’re not nice people.

For getting back into shape, since you’re total mileage is low and you’re going at slow speeds, you don’t need to worry too much about warming up. However, make sure you keep the gearing low so when you do start off you’re not pedaling in a heavy gear, this can lead to injury.

If you feel the need to spin and do a quick stretch, I can suggest you ride north on Zhong Shan and when you hit the Yuan Shan area, get a quick stretch in and then continue on your route.

@marasan , your wish is my command

The hill leading up to Feng Gui Zui, Zhi Shan Road, is a great beginner hill if they’ve never climbed before. FGZ will be the real test.

Are your friends coming from New Taipei and Taoyuan? I remember you said you had a good tri friend in Taoyuan that drives to meet ups.

I’ll aim for next Saturday, but not sure how weather will be. We have that north coast race on Sunday, so nobody will want to do anything too difficult the day before. I’ll tag you when I post on the cycling club thread.

Great! Just sent you a pm.

@Liuboy and @theyouhan, maybe you guys can go too!

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Thanks! Haha, will note that Giant shop tip. Oh btw, I’ve gotten my last bike at the MetrOasis shop along Zhongshan N. Rd., and they’ve got really nice folks over there. Also gave me a discount card. Just sharing.

Will let you guys know once I’ve gotten a new bike haha. Thanks for the invite! Hope to bike with you soon!

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I don’t trust places that do not specialize in bikes…with a bike. Last thing you want them to do is fix something only to make it worse. Getting goosebumps just thinking about it haha!

Most stores here, aside from the big chain stores, will give you a discount card or membership if you make a big purchase from them.

I hear very good things about the Buffalo store near the wharf entrance:

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