Cycling Question.

[donnydarkoIRL]

He guys, This question is particularly applicable to Sharla and Scrap really.
I was wondering, would a 12 mile cycle, three times a week be an adequate substitute for three running roadwork sessions?

How long should it take me to cycle this distance, and as I'm not accustomed to this type of workout, how likely am I to cramp?

[Scrap]

Try and see if the Sports Centre do any Spinning sessions, they are terriffic for Cardio without impact.

[AdamGB]

Working in gyms I've hated all of the classes I've seen that most gyms generally offer though... spinning is a good, honest work out.

Will take you through different Aerobic and Anaerobic levels too... Most gyms don't require you to be a member to take part in their classes.

[Sharla]

Yeah Scrap is right spin classes are a better option. Cycling on a road or path it can be difficult to keep your heart rate up because you'll find you need to stop and start a lot for lights and obstacles etc.

If you're busy the time required to upkeep a bicycle in really good order can be annoying too.

The thing with cycling is that 12 miles is not really that far unless you can do it very fast and that depends on traffic etc.

I don't think you are as likely to cramp up cycling as you are running but I would warn against carrying anything on your back and watch your posture. Also You get large quads from cycling which is fine but you'll need to remember your hamstrings in you weights or resistance workouts to make sure you balance them and stretch.

I'm thinking spin classes would be better for you for climate reasons too - cycling in the rain is not the funnest thing in the world!

[iceman]

i doubt it will do much for you in the ring....maybe good for weight/fat loss and some general toning, but as for anaerobic training i'd try the spin classes or sprints on the bike, just don't do it every day or your muscles will tear down and not recover properly

[Douglas]

A little cycling might strengthen your legs a bit, but I don't know if it'd help out in boxing much.

[Sharla]

I forgot to mention that you have a third option.

You can set up a bike you own on one of these trainers and then do your own spin classes in your home whenever you want to.



If you buy them new they are kinda expensive so I'd go for a second hand one especially if you have somewhere sound proof to train in the mornings since the older ones can be quite noisy.

You should be able to design your own sprint routines based on time or distance on your speedo then. I think DVDs are available too if you wanna set it up in front of the TV. You might want to buy a pair of cycling pants if you are going to be doing cycling sprints since they'll be a bit more comfortable / safe.

I guess if you had a set up like this you could easily decide to cycle outside when you wanted an easy workout and the weather was good.

I sometimes run for transport and make it into training by including intervals etc but it's not so easy to do that effectively on a bicycle since you need to abide by the road rules and watch pretty carefully to make sure you don't get hit by cars - especially if drivers in your area are not likely to be used to cyclists. If that was what you were thinking though I understand how tempting it is - time can be so difficult to manage when you're juggling a full training load with other responsibilities! If you can go off road all the way to where you're going without much interruption you might still get something out of it.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Thanks guys, I'm actually thinking of cycling for transport more than anything....
Have to have a bag on my back too.

[Sharla]

At least put a rack on the back of your bike for your bag rather than carry it on your back.

It doesn't have to cost much or be anything elaborate - you can go for a very basic bag rack as long as it holds the weight you need it to carry but don't put anything on your back.

You might want to make sure you wear some pretty bright clothing and have plenty of lights on your bike too. You'll be shocked by how easily motorists can just not see you.

The thing about the rain is that if you're transport cycling you are probably going to have to stop and start a lot. That's when you get cold. It's worse than running which allows you to bounce up and down on the spot or run up and down the street whie you wait for the lights to change.

Don't forget to put a tube repair kit somewhere on your bike - you probably know about that but it's an easy detail to forget so I thought I'd tell you anyway. It's not fun walking your bike home too far or running late because you get a flat.

[Von Milash]

spinning will help your wind, but slightly different muscle groups are getting used.

I have a spinning bike.. fantastic investment if you can afford one.

[donnydarkoIRL]

LoL Ok Ok Ok.....
Thanks for the enthusiasm.

You see I want to cycle to a weight training session in the mornings.

How long would it take to cycle 20 miles lets say?

[Sharla]

If I'm going to be honest I HATE TRANSPORT CYCLING!

It's not so bad in groups in places where cyclists ride often and drivers are used to them or in places like Japan where everyone cycles.

Here though to get from A to B it's risky. I've been hit THREE TIMES. Or technically hit twice and doored once.

Each time the car drivers were really sorry and took full responsibility for it but what bothers me is that these people were nice. If nice people can hit you by accident when you do nothing wrong then assholes or people hitting you when you make a mistake are a LOT worse!

Once I waited for all the traffic to go across a busy one way road and went to cycle across to get to the footpath on the other side. A woman decided she'd missed her turn and went and reversed the wrong way down a one way street and hit me!

Another time i was going straight ahead through some traffic lights. A car turning left into that road didn't see me - she was focused on the car behind me and decided she had time to get in ahead of it and drove straight into the side of my bike. I saw her coming and yelled stop 3 times but she said afterwards she heard something and just didn't wake up to it. I was thrown in front of oncoming traffic in the next lane but luckily they saw it all unfolding and stopped without hitting me.

Another time a taxi driver in a rush to get something while he waited for a client swung his door open at the last second without looking as I was cycling past. I'd left about a metre gap between me and the parked cars be he still caught the front of my bike by about 2 cm. I was flung over the handle bars - again into the next lane. Luckily the oncoming traffic was stopped at some lights up ahead and I was pounced on by 3 nurses that happened to be in the area at the time. Plus he gave me a lift to work with my mangled bike afterwards.

Transport cycling something you do when you're transitioning between other forms of transport but it's not worth it for exercise. 12 miles of transport cycling is not going to make someone as fit as you any fitter. It'll benefit a sedentiary person who just needs to move but not an athlete! Especially as someone with a young family who needs you I don't think it's worth the risk.

At least don't cycle at night or in overcast conditions! PLEASE!

Anyway cyclists might average about 25 to 30 km an hour over a longish distance but a lot depends on the type of bike you have and how much it all weighs. A good cyclist will be cycling at 40 km an hour and faster but that's not easy to obtain on normal roads with traffic lights and especially on a mountain bike as opposed to a road bike.

The best idea if you're fixed on this is to cycle the distance and judge for yourself. Go by your own benchmarks rather than what is acceptable in a cyclists world because so much depends on your equipment and the road it's hard to predict.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I'm just debating in my head whether to do this or not. There's a world class weights gym available to me in the mornings, but there are no buses and bringing a car to town is a liability as parking is so expensive, I'm really undecided, but if it's more than an hours cycle it's not worth it.

[md]

Cleats are a good investment to attach your feet to the pedals if you decide to go for it. Once you get used to them you'd be able to give your hamstrings some work too.

[Sharla]

Long time no see MD! I have been wondering where you went! I have cleats for my road bike but not my mountain bike.

I like them but don't really like having to carry shoes everywhere then.

Can you maybe leave stuff in a locker there if you decide to do this hitmandonny?