VitoVino

Yes, road bikes are much faster with the same amount of energy output. But it's for many reasons, not just they are lighter. The tires are upwards of 90 psi. inflation, whereas mountain bikes may be around 60 psi. So more inflation, less rolling resistance. Also the tires are thinner on a road bike. Again, less contact with pavement, less rolling resistance.

Also with a road bike, your position is more forward towards the front tire than on a mountain bike. The further back you sit on a bike, the easier it is to climb hills, so mountain bikes are made where your weight is more shifted towards the rear (so you can use your leg muscles more efficiently for climbing). But this hurts forward momentum.

Road bikes also have different gearing. Smaller gears mean greater speeds, but the tradeoff is that you have less torque (power) for climbing steep hills.

With road bikes, the stem is lower so when you lean forward on the handle bars, you are in a more prone position, whereas on a mountain bike the stem is longer and you sit more upright (the handlebars play into this as well). This affects not only forward momentum but also increases wind resistance when you're sitting more upright on a mountain bike.

I love talking bikes. Hopefully I didn't bore you.

VitoVino

Sounds like I need a new pair of shoes!

Thanks for the advice on the tendons! I'll follow it and stay away from running until I'm fully healed (no pun intended).

RunbikeSki

Hi all,
It looks like the thread is off to a great start. Thanks Handycycle for being resident training expert I'm sure your expertise will be very much appreciated over the next few months.

Mai, your goal of finishing strong is perfect! I have known people who nearly killed themselves to finish under a certain time and then never ran another race again - too bad .

Vito, run, bike, walk... whatever it takes to keep moving. And yeah, good shoes can make all the difference.

Amy, for me having a goal to work towards seems to be a really important motivator. It can be the difference between hitting the snooze 3 or 4 times and ignoring the planned morning run, and grudgingly getting out of bed on time, but being super happy I completed that planned run.

So today was 400 meter intervals with a 400 meter rest - 8 reps. The target was 8 min miles. When I got up I was (and still am) pretty sore from Sat. weight training but figured I'd get started and if it was too painful I would at least walk it out. To my surprise I got the work out done. And after the first rep, hit my target on the remaing 7 reps.

A lovely way to start the week!

lastri

My husband bought me this bike a few years back. It's a Trek. I don't think it costs much. It's very heavy with the mountain bike tires. It feels a lot lighter when he changed the tires since I never go on the dirt trail. But still quite heavy I think.
Mai

dear_abby

Thanks for getting this started Pam, it's a great idea!

My goal is to run an organized 5K - I want to run the whole way, and finish, as it will be my first, doing it is the big goal.

It looks like the weekend I was planning I'll now have to be out of town, so I'll find another.

I'd value people asking "have you registered yet?" "When is it scheduled", and "how is the training coming?".

Thanks!

Abby

lastri

Vito Vino, after reading your post I am excited to get a new bike. I use to ride in Saigon, Vietnam when I was 12-22 to go to school and latter commute to work. So I am quite familiar with bike. But I hardly ride bike with gear, and I still try to figure out what gear would be best to clime hill, or what would be best for flat, down hill... If you can fill me in with that information would be great.
I think I will ride again tomorrow for 45 minutes.
Mai

lastri

Awesome Pam. What a great 1st day of training.

lastri

Just have a quick question.
Do you warm up before a run? And what kind of warm up, tips you can share?

I usually start slow like a jog then speed up a bit. Half way in, I stretch for a couple minutes and then continues.
mai

almeeker

Ditto.

almeeker

My bike is also a Trek, I bought it on clearance years ago and even then it wasn't cheap. Back in the day the big thing was to have a really light bike, so mine weighs about 1/3 what the newer models do. My bike however does not have any of those "shock" absorbing features. I doubt the light weight makes me any faster, but it sure is easy to hang up in the shed or put on the bike rack on top of the car. Agreed the mountain bike tires are much heavier than the road tires. But when we take the bikes out we usually hit trails rather than roads.