Any advice for how to get used to bike riding?

Oh, and I had bikes as a kid, but that was a long time ago..

Just keep adding a little bit every day. Is it multi speed? Do you have it stuck on one of the higher speeds?

It will not take you long to get comfortable riding for longer periods. I would recommend riding at least a little every day. I predict that you will soon find that you prefer to take your bike everywhere instead of walking. It’s faster, and so freeing. Do you commute to work by bike?

@Judi – It is a 7 speed and I mostly have been keeping it at 2. I need to figure out more about how they work.

@glacial – I usually take public transportation to work, but maybe I will eventually be able to bike there,

@answerjill I strongly recommend it – depending on your bus route, biking can even be faster. And you will be amazed at how addicting it will be to be on your bike so often. And you’ll save lots of money. ;)

Learn how to use your gears properly – they’re meant to take the most advantage of your muscle power. Use lower gears to go uphill, and then shift up when you’re going downhill, so that smaller movements on your part make you go farther, faster, and with greater control. If you have some small hills in your area, spend some time just experimenting with this.

I think most new riders use higher gears too much – you shouldn’t have to push hard on the pedals.

Low gears pedal easier and faster, for low speeds and uphill.

High gears pedal harder and slower, but at high speed and downhill they will feel right.

I know that when I first started using an elliptical I couldn’t even go 1 minute. There are some muscles in your thighs that just need to get sparked again. Once you get to doing it with some regularity they will kick in.

The first thing is to enjoy it. If you can find a nice route to cycle that will be a great start. Then push yourself a little. Set yourself a journey to accomplish that is stretching yourself a bit. Then the next time try to get a bit further. Practise changing gears to find the most comfortable one at any given time. You will very quickly build strength and stamina.

Prolonged exposure. Practice. Keep doing it. There really is no other way to get used to it.

While @jaytkay is correct that many people seem to be totally unaware of how gearing works, a problem I’ve seen far more often underinflated tires. Soft, squishy, shapeless objects are harder to roll than firm, round ones; keeping those tires soft will greatly increase the effort required to pedal.

As for how gearing works, if you understand fractions (something that most schools teach in the third grade), it’s simple to understand; they’re called gear RATIOS for a reason. You can have either speed or ease of pedalling, but not both. And each gear has it’s use, low gears for hill-climbing and higher gears for high speeds. I take it that you’ve never driven stick before either.

Many people just keep their bike in one gear, often the one it was in when they bought it, and run into all sorts of issues. Maybe they use too low a gear and wind up having to pedal like mad until their heart explodes just to get up to walking speed; these people often ride so slow that their bike won’t stabilize itself and then complain that it’s too hard to keep from falling over. Maybe they use too high a gear and they have a hard time starting off or climbing a hill. Use the gears!

Practice and using your gears.

Make sure it is comfortable ride. Mainly the seat. An achy ass is not fun.

I so hear you on this. We bought bikes about a year ago and I just can’t get used to the gears. I felt like I was freewheeling at some times or it was too hard to pedal at others. It freaked me out a bit. If you’re going through this, I think it might be the stress that’s contributing to your breathlessness too. I hope you have more success than I have but you are inspiring me to get that bike out again and give it another go.

@Bellatrix – We can be bike buddies!

:-) For sure! Virtual bike buddies. I’m sure my neighbours were behind their curtains laughing as I wobbled passed their houses screaming.

@CuriousLoner One way I used to keep my buddies from borrowing my bike was that I had a narrow seat. Being considerably skinnier than them, I found it comfortable, but they likened it to sitting on the edge of an axe.

@Bellatrix A good set of shifters helps considerably. Grip shifters are quick and simple, but even today I tend to twist them the wrong way when I go to shift. I prefer a Shimano Rapidfire™ with the thumb trigger for downshifting and the front trigger for upshifts, but that is personal preference.
Regardless of how you shift, it is important to know when to shift, and how to do so reflexively. If you have to think about it, you’re doing it wrong, and likely freaking yourself out in the process.
That is where Rapidfires and grip-shifters have an advantage; they are right there (unlike the top-mounted levers many cheap bikes have, or the frame-mounted ones of a road bike), ready to shift with a simple twitch, and without taking one hand off of the handlebars.
Proper equipment is a must; a comfortable seat, easy-to-use shifters, good brakes, etcetera.

Grip shifters… I will check that out @jerv because I do indeed freak myself out when me feet are spinning around and the bike’s going nowhere because I’m in the wrong gear. I wanted a gearless bike! I didn’t get one though.

They’re kind of expensive but my hubby and i go bikes like this because you can change gears at a stand still. You don’t need to be moving to change them.

@Judi Wow, that’s pretty, but it would only last about 5 minutes locked up on a city street here. Sometimes it pays to have an inconspicuous beater. :P

@glacial True. In San Diego, I lost 3 bikes (~$600 each) before I gave up.

@Judi They’re kind of expensive but my hubby and i go bikes like this because you can change gears at a stand still.

They aren’t all expensive.

Actually any bike with internal gears (not the cluster of cogs) in back can be shifted without pedaling. That includes every 3-speed you will encounter, and many bikes up to 8 speeds.

The cheapest Electra at your linked site, for example: Link

After reading about gear confusion, I wanted to try a simple explanation.

Use the gears to shift up and down to keep your pedaling speed fairly constant.

You have a comfortable pedaling speed.

You don’t like pedaling too fast, like you’re going to spin your feet off the pedals. And when you’re pedaling too slow, you’re bogged down and wobbling the bike back and forth.

That is where more speeds is better, especially if you live somewhere that isn’t flat. With that many gears, it’s easy to keep a steady cadence whether you’re climbing or descending, and regardless of whether you’re on pavement, gravel, or in ankle-deep mud.

Personally, because of the places I’ve lived, I could never ride a bike with less than 12 speeds, and I hit enough hills that a third chainring (18/21/24-speed) is handy. Those who merely cruise on level pavement can get away with fewer, but I’m not that type of rider; too many hills, not enough pavement.

@jaytkay, that bike doesn’t seem to have the same internal transmission.

@Judi Not the same, it’s 3-speed, the expensive model has 8. There are lots of other differences between the bikes. But the cheap one definitely has internal gears and you can shift without pedaling.

Thanks for all of the advice! I’ve now been riding since I got the bike Friday and things are going much better. I adjusted the seat and that seems to help a great deal and my muscles are getting accustomed to their new job.

Proper range of motion in your legs is important. I often have to replace the crank with one that has longer arms to match my long legs and put the seat really high to get proper range of motion.

Had my first “close call” with the bike today, but I am ok. (I got too close to a parked car on my right when another car was passing me on my left.) I think that I learned something from the experience: where possible, take up the middle of the lane. Bikers, what do you think?

That pisses motorists off unless you can go the speed limit. It may also earn you a citation for obstructing traffic.

Best not to risk a ticket or a hit-and-run.

Riding in traffic is tricky at best, and even though I’ve done it for decades, I prefer to avoid it when possible. Choosing routes with plenty of space (or, better, dedicated bike lanes) is worthwhile.

I think the best thing to do is judge it on a case by case basis. When I’m riding on a very busy city street, I don’t take up the whole lane unless I am with a group of other cyclists doing the same. @jerv is right – this will piss off the drivers, and even though we have a right to be there, they have the power to create a very bad day for us, without any risk to themselves. You don’t want to piss off the wrong driver on the wrong day.

That being said, if the traffic is very light, and you have multiple lanes going in your direction, you’re probably fine to take a lane. Or if you’re the only vehicle in sight… but that’s a no-brainer.

I tend to stay to the right, between the closest car and the parked cars. Usually, there is plenty of room for a bike there, as long as the drivers aren’t being stupid, and no one opens the door of a parked car. Being “doored” is a definite risk, so much of my attention is on whether the parked cars are occupied, and whether a door is likely to open on me. I follow a straight line in traffic (i.e., I don’t weave in and out when there are intersections or a stretch with no parked cars), so I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder. I have to assume that drivers are not going to run into me – otherwise, I would not be on the road at all. So less of my attention is on them between intersections. At intersections, there are no parked cars, so drivers get my full attention.

But this is a city full of cyclists, so drivers are attuned to seeing us there. In other cities, where biking is less “normal”, I have found I needed to be a lot more vigilant of the drivers, and will opt more frequently for a non-road option like a bike path, even if it’s out of my way.

Thanks. I live in a city full of cyclists, just fyi.

Update: 3 weeks later and things are going great with the bike!

@answerjill Good to hear, glad you are enjoying the bike!