"On yer Bike" ! Mate

[CharlieH]

I was not an "enthusiast" when it comes to cycling and although I have ridden bikes at different times of my life I never got into the technical aspect of it. You just got on and started peddaling, end of story or so I thought.

 

Well, I started cycling again for fitness and to lose some weight. I started off going to the local park and I hired a Mountain style bike for 30bht and off I went. Terrible, it just felt all wrong. So I went through saddle height etc figured out the gears and got around the 5km park after quite awhile and I was out of breath etc. It just felt all wrong somehow.

 

Anyway, I decided I would get my own  bike not rent one, I was going to commit to this and do it. Off I went, did a bit of reading on the net and watched some youtube vids etc. I did have a bike at home that I hadnt used in years. I dug it out cleaned it up and took it to the park. It was ok, but again it just felt all wrong and very uncomfortable during and afterward. I did some more checking and researching and long story short this bike was much too small and was never going to feel right for what I was doing or trying to do.

 

I decided to buy a new one, browsed a few stores and after watching a youtube video learned about getting measured properly and why it was important in obtaining the right size bike. Next came the style of bike. I didnt want the drop handle bars and really thin wheels of a racer/road bike. I opted for the more upright position of a Mountain bike. I didnt intend to spend a lot on this bike as it was for just for going around the park. I bought one, and off I went around the 5km circuit of the park.

This time it was different felt more comfortable, fitted me correctly and I was learning as I went all about gear changing again and when and where to do it and generally having fun learning to ride a bike again.

I went round in about half an hour that day. I wasnt exhausted but felt I had exercised, something I hadnt done in awhile. I rested the next two days then went again. Better, a little faster and more confident. Thats how it went for the following few weeks exercise one day, two days off.

As I felt I was getting stronger and quicker I changed to every other day and then two laps 10km. Now going further and faster. A few months later and I am up to 15km each ride and 4 times a week and loving it. I am hooked ! Never thought it would be so enjoyable.

 

Next came that feeling that I wasnt going fast enough, I could somehow do better. I started looking and checking again about how I could improve. I then discovered that the set up of the bike could make a difference. I learned to lock out the front suspension and change the tyres. I had nobbly all terrain tyres from the standard mountain bike set up and it was recommended to change them for more slick tyres. I never imagined that this would or could make such a difference. It did and what a difference, it was like chalk and cheese. The increase in power and speed was amazing by around 20%. The power wasnt being absorbed by the front suspension and the traction not being slowed by the nobbly tires. This was really noticeable riding uphill.The whole circuit ride was now totally different and I was going faster and further. My fitness level now greatly increased and my weight reduced.The cardio aspect of this exercising has also greatly improved.

 

I never imagined there was so much involvec in riding a bicycle properly and I now have a new hobby, lost weight, and a new found respect for those that enjoy cycling 

 

I would highly recommend to anyone to give it a go. Its really good fun and good for your health. There is more to it than getting on and pedalliing as I found out but its a great journey and a learning curve but well worth the effort. Try it ! ..."On yer bike" mate !

 

 

 

[RichardColeman]

Wish you well, but sounds like Russian roulette on Thai roads

[473geo]

Must be some 20 years now since I replaced driving with cycling

During furlough I became much fitter being out everyday, since return to 'working from home the drop to only an hour has seen a negative impact

I buy most of my bikes second hand cheap and keep them running myself, an art learnt in childhood days,

The bike I currently ride is an old Giant custom, cost 170 gbp second hand, fits me well, high sit up ride not hunched over. about 150k a week round trip to work had it about 5 years so probably done in excess of 30,000k

Wheels, pedals, chain etc are no longer originals as you can imagine, has probably cost me 300 gbp in tyres and replacement parts over the time I use it. Now about to be scrapped just worn out. Still turning out 10k a day for now.

 

Back up is a 6yo second hand Whyte 901 bought from a mate 250 gbp  but it is too small really, and, as with your first ride Charlie not as enjoyable as my old comfortable Giant, I can use it, lighter, gearing very slick, have increased the drive cog size to enable faster travel when on the gravel or roads it handles well and has been a good second bike, I do not cover long distances on it if possible. I have found I look for a good enjoyable riding position more than speed these days.

Edited January 30, 2021 by 473geo

[Fat is a type of crazy]

One thing you can do is get those apps on your phone that take satellite readings of your bike rides and then you can easily compete against your own times and others who are using the same app. Though just the pleasure of riding yourself, with the results it is having, might be sufficient.

At my gym they had stationary bikes that had been connected to the internet and you could go in competitions with yourself or people all around the world in road races and games even though you are looking at a cartoon like picture on the screen as you ride. I got really hooked too. Whether your were trying to get in the top 500 or top 10 in the world or just beat the people at the gym it was a fun incentive to go that bit harder. 

They went out of fashion and the bikes weren't maintained and the gym turned off the subscription so I don't ride much now. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Fat is a type of crazy

[ChristianBlessing]

Cycling is about the most liberating form of exercise there is. Mountain, road, recumbent, electric; they're all good. Keep enjoying!

[Lacessit]

Very good exercise; however, somewhat risky on Thai roads. My exercise consists of 25 minutes of cardio every day, golf three times a week, and swimming when it is not too cold. Never thought I'd be saying that in Thailand.

I'm just disappointed sex does not burn enough calories to be useful as exercise.

[HighPriority]

As (motorised) vehicle drivers you become very detached from reality, when your legs are your motor, that slight rise on the road ahead become a challenge to work up instead of just opening up the throttle a bit wider...

When that truck or car gives you a close pass it reminds you of how fragile we are, and makes me more aware of my responsibility’s when behind the wheel.

When whizzing around your local park at increasing speed Charlie, just bear in mind that you are to the pedestrian what the car is to you... bigger, heavier and faster.

Riding is great ????????

[StreetCowboy]

There might be someone out there who has not heard this story before...

 

Back in the day, I was staring down the barrel of a five-day weekend for Hari Raya, and I did not fancy spending the whole time in the pub... so I walked down to my local bike shop.  I'd had a bike in Taiwan that I had paid NT$3000 - a steel mountain bike that by the end of two years sitting in the car port had rusted beyond being worth transporting (I'd walked down to the local bike shop - "Bicycle.  Cheap"  Which was about the limit of my Chinese.  "3,000;"  "Good!" and I cycled home, having exhausted my vocabulary if not my wallet. 

 

So I reckoned I'd be spending double that, maybe more.  I walked into the bike shop; I'm used to a bike shop looking like Ali Baba's cave with odd bits of stuff hanging from everywhere, but this was more like Aladdin's Cave, or a fine art museum that had been forced by straitened circumstances to move into a council flat.  The shop was quite busy, so I browsed.  "I'm sorry sir, we're quite busy, I'll be with you in a minute".  So I browsed, looking at the bikes and the price tags, and sucking my teeth and wincing.  They all looked pretty much the same, except some had more or less zeros, and they all had more zeros than I had been planning.

 

"Can I help you, sir?"

"No, I seem to have come to the wrong shop," and I walked out.  I knew there was another bike shop nearby, but I could not remember where.  I wandered round the block, stopped for a coffee...it was a five-day weekend, and a long walk home...

 

So I went back in.  "Do you have anything like that, but much cheaper?" I said, waving generally at all the bikes laid out.  I explained that I wanted flat handlebars but I would be riding on road.  So they sold me an aluminium mountain bike for about ten times the price of my last bike.  They put road tyres on it, which I subsequently replaced with narrower, smoother 35 mm rain slicks.  Riding home was a revelation - the road that I had thought was flat was in fact flat (ha - the ignorance of youth; now that I know the gears better, I know that to be a tedious uphill gradient, but on a mountain bike, its flat, but in a lower gear...) and then a long downhill.  With hydraulic disc brakes, I could lock up the back or put myself over the handlebars any time I wanted, and the trigger shifters were absolutely magic.  This was technology beyond my dreams.

 

I'd been planning about 20 km a week, but at that price, I needed to get more use out of it.  I steadily raised the seat post - the frame was too small for me, but I never noticed, except that the seat post limit mark was an inch or more exposed.       

 

That bike saw me round the first and second Tour de Sid's,  and my buddy, who joined us on the first ride as his first outing on a bike in 20 years, and I were going out up to 100 km almost every Sunday, and after a couple of years I cross-graded to a road bike for about the same price.  

 

SC 

[CharlieH]

12 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Wish you well, but sounds like Russian roulette on Thai roads

Perhaps you missed the details that said "around the park" there is no traffic allowed its a purpose built exarcise circuit.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Some nice routes to explore here:

 

https://bicyclethailand.com/category/ride-maps/

[HighPriority]

2 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Some nice routes to explore here:

 

https://bicyclethailand.com/category/ride-maps/

They seem reasonably priced EOW, have you used them ?

If so how practical/user friendly and useful are they ?

[WaveHunter]

On 1/31/2021 at 12:24 AM, RichardColeman said:

Wish you well, but sounds like Russian roulette on Thai roads

Thai roads are fine to ride on; it just takes some experience and common sense.  Contrary to what many people will say, my personal experience is that Thai drivers of cars and motorbikes are respectful and courteous towards bicyclist.  Of course there can be exceptions but in the several years of being here in Thailand, I've had very few issues to speak of, and I ride daily under all sorts of traffic conditions.  Fact is, I feel more threatened as a pedestrian trying to cross complicated intersections than when I am on a bike.

Edited February 4, 2021 by WaveHunter

[WaveHunter]

On 1/30/2021 at 11:50 PM, CharlieH said:

...I never imagined there was so much involvec in riding a bicycle properly and I now have a new hobby, lost weight, and a new found respect for those that enjoy cycling 

 

I would highly recommend to anyone to give it a go. Its really good fun and good for your health. There is more to it than getting on and pedalliing as I found out but its a great journey and a learning curve but well worth the effort. Try it ! ..."On yer bike" mate !...

Welcome to the club ????  Most "advanced" cyclist I know started out the same way.  Cycling is highly addictive!  You may start out just wanting a good way to exercise and thinking any bike will do, but it doesn't take long before the addiction sets in and you start challenging yourself to go a little further or a little faster, or a little bit higher up a hill.

 

It doesn't take long before you start noticing the inadequacies of your present bike, and wanting something better.  What may have seemed outrageous prices of more advanced bikes starts to sound not so bad afterall, and the next thing you know, you're the proud owner of a very expensive bike...and feel like it was money well spent.

 

Far worse things to be addicted to IMHO ????

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by WaveHunter