The Ghoulie Mentor Group - Full (Page 36)

Don't spend too much time worrying about it.  It happens to us all and it will happen to you.  Just a matter of time, and it isn't restricted to when you're first starting out.  Lots of very good riders occasionally go down.  The good news is that you are typically coming to a stop and going slow.  The only thing that usually hurts is your pride.  My last tumble was at the top of a long hill where I stopped to wait for a friend.  I went down just as the LBS A ride (read: mostly very fit and fast guys all in kit) were cresting the top from the other direction. 

No trainer yet  budget for all toys and races (try to pay with my monthly bonus).  Debating about Mag or fluid.   Mag better for cadence   but fluid is more road realistic   so researching.

I discovered why those bike gloves are so helpful after embedding gravel in the palm of my hands a few times....that and I discovered that baseball diamonds can be handy, too - falling in the dirt isn't as painful as a parking lot. Got great advice on my first road ride, too, about getting in the habit of unclipping well before busy intersections and stop signs (aka, be prepared). That ride was great bc had a local bike shop guy behind me most of the way giving me advice. Even had me practice stopping & starting a bunch of times - I was unclipping both feet at full stops, and so taking forever to get going again.

(might also want to keep a wad of bandaids in your back pocket too!)


good luck!

I've actually gone down more times while riding on my trainer............. lol

I did the research too, but with all the gear acquisitions, went cheap & got the cyclops wind trainer - for what I need it to do, it's been good to me...

Good luck Ann will look for updates on the blog.  Anyone following Iron Man St George (Utah) this weekend?  1st of May weekend starts the weekend madness here in my world.  Want to get 7-9 miles of running on Sat and 30 miles on Bike on Sunday  All depends on Work and Weather.  Have a great weekend everyone!

I discovered why those bike gloves are so helpful after embedding gravel in the palm of my hands a few times....that and I discovered that baseball diamonds can be handy, too - falling in the dirt isn't as painful as a parking lot. Got great advice on my first road ride, too, about getting in the habit of unclipping well before busy intersections and stop signs (aka, be prepared). That ride was great bc had a local bike shop guy behind me most of the way giving me advice. Even had me practice stopping & starting a bunch of times - I was unclipping both feet at full stops, and so taking forever to get going again.

(might also want to keep a wad of bandaids in your back pocket too!)


good luck!

Hey everyone.  Been a busy day or two.  I need to read back through a few posts.

Wes - Unclip both.  If you unclip one then lean to the other side, you are going down.  When you do go down, don't stick your arm out.  Tuck in your hand and elbow and land on your shoulder.  It is much less likely to break than your elbow or wrist.

Ann - Good luck on the 1/2!  I hope you have good weather. 

Edited by ransick 2010-04-30 10:26 PM

I haven't gotten my wet suit wet yet.  Should I just soak it in the tub for an hour or do I need to be in it?  My first OWS is in 2 weeks and it may very well be my first swim in the wetsuit.  I'm not sure if I have the gumption to wear it to the Y to practice before hand.

BTW Marla, when I first tried mine one, I put it on backward :-)

I'm sorry, but I laughed out loud at that one! Actually made me feel better in a twisted sort of way. Won't tell you how many times I've put on my bike shorts backwards....

I hate to admit it, but I didn't even know I had it on backwards until a couple days later when I saw a pic on BT and I was like "hey, how come his zipper is in the back?" duh!

Unclip Both ok.  Mike do you do you own adjustment on your pedals.   Do you prefer easier clip out or harder. I just bought my pedals today and will install tomorrow. Do you have a trainer? If so is it mag or fluid?


Edited by wmcgee62 2010-04-30 9:41 PM

Mike just read your blog and seen you have a cyclops. Thinking is a fluid

Wes, easier clip out, speaking of which, I need to loosen mine some more.  I still use spd (mountain bike pedals) and the adjustment is really easy with an allen wrench.

I did go fluid.  When I researched it, I read they were more quiet and since I wanted to watch tv, I went fluid.  I really like it.  I still have to turn the tv up quite a bit.

If you haven't used a trainer before, put a towel under your bike and put a dish towel on your handle bars.  With no winds to evaporate the sweat, you will sweat alot.  Also, the trainer is harder than biking outside since there are no natural breaks like coasting over a rough patch, slowing down for traffic, etc. 

I live in an apartment so for this reason and all of the others he listed, I went with the Kurt Kinetic one.  It really is great and I've had no complaints from the crazies downstairs yet.

Yes, sweat, sweat and more sweat all around you!

Great lessons, especially the gloves.  I didn't wear mine the first time and I still have pain in my wrist and something imbedded in my palm over 3 weeks later.  Oops! 

Good night Ghoulies and fellow Ghoulie-wannabes.  Have a great weekend!

Edited by Sulcus 2010-04-30 10:21 PM

I wish someone had told me to loosen the float in the pedals! Here is the aftermath of my first spill while learning to use clipless. As you can see, I did manage to roll onto my shoulder, but couldn't get foot free and my knee took the brunt of the fall. Oh, and the Heineken came AFTER the spill...

That hurt

OUCH! I hope someone kissed it and made it better.

Good Morning Robin

Ouch Ann! 

Wes, you will fall at some point.  Don't worry about it.

When I first got clipless pedals I fell in my driveway a couple times.  I also fell on the sidewalk of a busy street when a car turned in front of me while I was traveling full speed.  I looked both tires up on my mountain bike, came to a complete stop, then fell to the right because when you are about to hit a car, clicked out is the last thing on your mind.  Now I'm in the habit of clicking out when I approach every intersection or iffy situation even though most of the time I won;t really have to click out.

I have accepted I will fall. I am too clumsy to think otherwise .  Thanks for the info on the trainer  Do you train according to cadence, heart rate  or what on your trainer

Morning all.

Speaking of trainers, I need to get on mine.

Wes, I don't have a very good HR monitor for any of my training. For the trainier I just use my speedometer and RPM to gauge my work out. There are some very good training programs that you can use on your trainer. I have a couple of DVDs that I use. My favorite is the "Spinnervals" workouts. There are a bunch of them and they are really great.


Edited by ceilidh 2010-05-01 10:41 AM

I train according to time and let my heart rate and cadence be what they will be.  This is my first year of tris so T.I.T.S. (time in the saddle) will yield big benefits by itself.  Next winter I might start doing some training by cadence and get a spinerval dvd or two. 

I started in January on the trainer and did 20 minutes then 25, then 30 etc until I built up to an hour.  My basic philosophy for bike training is pedal hard enough until your legs start aching from lack of oxygen then back it off a notch so you can sustain it.  Back it off two notches if you need to.  I was following a "real" bike rider last week and watched his training technique.  His cadence was way higher than mine, probably 110 vs. 90 and I could have easily passed him but I decided to up my cadence and watch his technique.  He kept the high cadence, ate or drank something about every 5 minutes, and looked like he could ride forever.   followed him for about 5 miles and my legs felt great though my speed was slower.  It did allow me to hammer my last 5 miles.

I don't know your background but if you are just starting, my advice is keep it simple and focus on T.I.T.S. until you have a good base then decide if you want to train by cadence or herat rate or some of both.