my arm can manage dancer and iv right sided nerve damage.

my bike dose't over streach me but dose require that i have some weight on my arms. I have front suspension and don't bump up and dowen paths. So its cusioned enough not to be jarring.

i am aching a bit and crunching and crakling all over the place since the bike ride a few days ago but i gain some more strenth and flexiability if i keep at it.

besides its fun so a bit of pains ok as i be soar anyway. At lest i feel normale as theirs some couse behind the pain.

and no saddle burn

Orchid - the temps dropped down to 13 degrees one night and I stayed with a friend for several nights after that. The temp in the house actually reached 38 degrees one night. Brrrrrrr.
My yard has been cleaned up, and I was very fortunate that my insurance paid for all of my losses. Still need to get a few broken branches trimmed in the trees. After it was all over, I felt that I did not function well at all for at least a week. It was undoubtedly the most stressful thing I have gone through, other than my divorce many years ago.

My bike group -- the Ozark Roadies -- bikes every Saturday starting in May through September, and some of us who are retired get together for mid-week rides. A number of the members of the Roadies are also hikers with the Ozark Society, a hiking/conservation group, and we are in the woods every Saturday from mid-Sept through April. A great balance.

I biked 28 miles Monday and hope to get another ride in this week. The high today is only going to be in the 40's with a north wind, so back to the gym.

When cold out of doors and I use my car instead of my bike, I use the stationary exercise bike indoors. I hate it and it is sooo boring but it does serve its purpose. I sm soo looking forward to the nicer weather and biking outdoors. So far I have three women and two men interested in joinng the 'Pedal Pushers' and haven't even spread the word openly yet.

Chatty, we have stationary bikes in our building's fitness rm. but they are not sized for me. too big, so I will get hurt. However I have not used the other option of indoor cycling training, which is to ride one's own bike on training rollers, set up in living rm. or wherever. We haven't got enough space. So if I get myself disciplined I just do stretching floor exercises. Of course, not having a car means that if we don't bike, we must get around by walking and public transit. closest station is 15 min. walk away. So minimally, one must walk 1/2 hr. if taking public transit. Not a big deal. It's all downtown. Great that you have such interest for your group!

I agree cyclinggal that hiking is a nice complementary physical activity. Admittedly we don't do as much hiking, however we live about 1/2 hr. away or so by bike to walking/hiking trails that lead up through mountain areas. have you seen any photos of Vancouver? The city skyline backs directly against local mountains.

Celtic, somthin' tells me you will need to cycle more to de-stress preparation for that job interview. Cycle as much as you can each day, who knows your cycling opportunities might be suddenly curtailed if you get that job!

orchid de-stressing or not and that is some of the benifits, its just fun for me and fun for child on his bike.

i just wokien up some muscles that haven't done much over winter. i am enjoying it and do plann more cycling over the weekend. bit by bit i will get stronger and less achie, makes me feel normale lol.

Orchid, Thank you for this info on the arms. Sounds great, like I will love cycling. I know some cycling folk from dance as we all had breakfast in the same place after our morning work out for many years. They ARE lovely people, really. At least dancers get along well with them!

I am still dancing so I have flexibility plus. I was born flexible and will stay so. I have doctors orders not to stretch to warm up or to do any exercise to warm up because after all these years of ballet I am doing damage to my mucsles by doing any warm up. I can't wait to give biking a try again.

Here they bike year round because it's the desert with mountains for them to ride. It can get sweltering hot though in the summer and I will have to ask how healthy it is to bike in over 100 degree tempertures. I'm sure they have their tricks.

It sounds like my new bike must FIT and that is key to me. I will try on many bikes and start right away. I plan on buying a good bike right off because I can't damage my body with anything less. My body is my living and I am still dancing as I said.

Biking sounds like peace of mind and a chance for me to space a bit by myself even if I am with people. I could use that and also, the thrill of biking when one is having real fun. I have no fear of the heavy stuff because I am an athlete already. I'll just have to learn technique again and more technique than I had when I rode in my twenties.

Thanks again!

Dancer

would recommend celtic that you do at least a recovery ride, which either is same distance at a slower pace or less distance if you feel still abit sore. After a few days, it goes away if one does moderate cycling several times a wk. That means one is getting more fit...:) Really. Every bit helps.

Dancer, cycling in 100 C dry heat is probably more for experienced cyclists. And they probably have built up acclimization by starting off in short distances at that temp.

When I lived in Ontario, we did bike touring with fully loaded panniers (2 of them per person) in the summer. In Eastern Canada, summers can become very humid..at 100% humidex with temperatures up to 90degrees F. (except for being by the Atlantic Ocean). To deal with this and also for my regular fitness rides (and commuting to work), I would start cycling very early in the morning...meaning approx. 6:30 am or earlier. On weekend, I would be done my cycling 2 hrs. later and have the whole rest of day to enjoy. So it's not a terrible thing after all. There are ways to cope. And so early, it's lovely and more quiet with the sun rising.

Certainly for cycling on a long distance trip from city to city, it meant that we would aim to get into town by 2:00-3:00 pm with several stops along the way to sit down to eat and drink.

As a result, my body now compared to 25 yrs. ago, is more atuned to waking up naturally without an alarm clock, at aroun 6:00-7:00 am.

The interior British Columbia or Okanagan Valley is B.C.'s wine-growing region. It is also Canada's desert. Dry hot temp. in summer up to 100 degrees F. I know for me to cycle at 90 degrees F, for only 1/2 hr., I find the air searing my throat. Probably because I'm not used to it since Vancouver is beautiful warm (not hot) at moderate humidity. Temp. no more than 80 degrees F. at most. though Vancouverites born here, think it's sweltering. To me,it's just perfect summer weather for climbing long hills (if one has to do this enroute. Seattle is something like our weather.

thanks orchid and your right a little more exercise dose help with the ach of a suffering we muscle. I can't belive i forgotten that fact! I weighttranned and swamm every day, well change activities tranned for strenth and mass one day arobic next and split body into upper and lower for workouts.

i propably done to much too often and didn't give my body enough rest time. I even rember my first second wind lol i was swimmin g 60 lenths and it hit about 45-50 swam on my back for two lenths then zipped the rest of the way to the end of 60-then done another 20 lol.

felt great and still loved the whole second wind experinses. Iv never been sure what couses it.
but thers nuthing like excersis to make ya happie as well as all the other benifits.

Thats the one thing I regret Celtic, never learning to swim. I want to take lessons and have tried now that I am older and just can't seem to get the hang of it. I do swim around but with a float device beneath my arms. Thats nothing like being able to swim laps though.

Swimming is wonderful, Chatty, so healthy! Stay with it, you'll learn to swim! It takes time to learn, do you have a teacher?

Dancer