So I took my new gravel bike (Kona Rove LTD) out for the first ride today. I downloaded Strava so I could get a baseline of my abilities. I mapped a ride to and around a local lake. The first half of the lake ride (all paved) has some gnarly steep hills which I knew was gonna beat me up, especially since it's one of the more hot days of the spring (84 degrees). The real problem was that I seriously underestimated how hilly the ride TO the lake was because you just don't notice when you're driving in the car. So yeah, I was huffing and puffing and I realized that biking just feels like a totally different set of muscles than walking does.
I also realized about halfway that I was on the smaller chain ring on the front which I think was slowing me down a little bit, so I definitely need to get a better feel for shifting during rides. The 700×40 maxxis ramblers that I'm running felt connected during the ride, but maybe a little bit more grippy than I would like for my intended purpose on the bike. I may swap them out for gravel king slicks at some point, still undecided but would love some input from everyone if you have it.
Overall, I felt disappointed in my average pace, but given the significant elevation changes (not sure how accurate Strava is for that), and the lack of training, I don't think it was terrible for a first ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the progression looks.
by funkymonk44
14 Comments
Hey, no one’s born running, you have to start somewhere, good on ya.
One sentiment in regards to the chainrings, being in the small one doesn’t automatically “slow you down”, it’s all a matter of matching your gears to your pedaling speed. Legs are much like a car engine, they have a preferred “rev range” or cadence. Whether you’re on the small chainring and a small rear sprocket or on the large chainring and a large rear sprocket amounts to the same thing, as long as you’re pedaling at a comfortable cadence and can avoid bad cross chaining.
Nice work. Keep putting in the miles, stretching, and building up strength and flexibility. Riding grippy tires is not a bad thing, particularly when you’re just learning technique and building your core strength. Keeping track of miles can help, but don’t beat yourself up about average speed or those kind of metrics at first. Matters much more to make a habit of it and get enough hours in that you can enjoy your efforts. Gains will follow.
Yeah but how good did that 21mph feel?
Keep up the good work
Rome wasn’t built in a day. I bet that if I were to go digging for my first tracked ride it would look like similar. Keep riding!
On my first ride I quickly realized running shape is not the same as bike shape. You will learn and adapt and push yourself in new ways 🙂
The first step of being good at something, whether guitar, snowboarding, painting, riding is sucking at it for a while.
Biggest mistake people make when getting bike fit is over doing it, burning out and chucking the bike in the garage.
Keep doing the miles where you don’t feel like it’s starting to be uncomfortable, enjoy it. You’ll be getting your first 50 in no time 💪🏼
You have to start somewhere homie! Nobody can just jump on a skateboard and start doing McTwists ha ha! Next time you go out, try to ride a few more miles or maybe ride the same path but faster. Just ride baby!
My old fat ass just did my longest ride of 27 miles last week! It wasn’t fast or pretty but I did it!
Welcome to the gravel club, buddy
Just keep at it. Don’t mess with the bike or equipment yet. Think of all the things you can do on your own to improve. Ride when it is cooler. Ride two laps. Hydrate more and better. Fuel better. Shift before you get to the hill, not so much when you are on it. Manage your breathing and heart rate. Ride with a friend who is a little faster.
I’m just a few weeks ahead of you. Yeah so my first gravel ride on my new bike, I destroyed myself because I was having so much fun but trying to do the route all the cool kids do. I am reasonably fit from mountain biking but kind of overextended myself with the time on the bike. And I got lost, ran out of snacks too. But later when I was recovering in the evening I was thinking I couldn’t wait to do it again.
Personal Best!! Nicely done!
Put in reps!