How long 'till you get your recumbent legs?

Hi,

I am interested in hearing from the veteran 'bent riders, especially those who used to ride DF road bikes say 50-100 miles/week or more, how much mileage and time it took to get your recumbent legs?

Of course speed might not have been equivalent between the DF and the recumbent even after a period of time but how long did it take until you could transfer an equivalent amount of percieved effort into your recumbent cycling?

I've read on the web any where from 6 months to 2 years.

 

I was not a hammer head on my DF. Maybe rode 800 miles a year. But when I got my first recumbent (a trike) my first year mileage rose to 1,500. Quite an accomplishment for me.

Yes it does take time to build up recumbent legs. (You use slightly different muscles from regular riding.) I think 6 months is a good amount of time to get your leg muscles used to riding a recumbent.

I hope Mike will chime in as he is much more an expert in this field.

 

Well, from a girly perspective. I had always ridden a mountain bike. I would guess and say the max distance for me was about 10 miles. Plenty of stops for whatever. The first time I did a long ride on my DF without stopping I got maybe a total of 15 miles and hated it. Went home threw my bike down and demanded a recumbent. I was in such pain... Once I got my recumbent and learned how to ride it correctly I was did pretty good. took me 6mo to a 1 year to really have my legs and be able to do a really good long distance tour. Now I love riding long distance and will only do so on the seat of a bent. No DF for me any more.:nah:

 

Freddy,

I have been riding 'bents for about 12 years now. Prior to switching from DF's I had been riding 80 - 100 miles a week. From my experience, and that of others I have talked to, it seems to take roughly 800 miles, or about 2 months, of consistent riding at the same training level as you use on your DF to get your 'bent legs. One caution, start out slow and easy on the recumbent then build up to your normal training level. You will be using your leg muscles differently on the 'bent and you want to avoid overuse injuries.

Another issue is your comfort level with the riding position. It took me to the end of the first season to really relax into the bike. This is important because when you are tense you tend to waste energy that could be applied to the pedals. Similar to what happens when you white knuckle the handlebar while climbing on a DF.

A lot of how long it takes depends on your riding style. If you are a big gear masher on your DF it will probably take a little longer to adapt than if you normally spin lower gears. This is because recumbents require spinning lower gears, especially climbing. If you are not used to spinning you will have to learn the technique so this adds a little time to the adaption.

I have also found that Bottom Bracket position and crank arm length combine to effect spin rate. The higher bottom bracket position on my 'bents vs a DF reduces my comfortable spin rate by about 10 rpm when using the same length crankarms. By using crankarms that are ~ 15 mm shorter (i.e. 155mm vs 170mm or 160mm vs 175mm) I get those 10 rpm back.

Shorter crankarms have a trade-off. They increase spin but decrease leverage so don't go too short. How short is too short is a personal preference and it takes a little experimentation to find yours. I got a set of crankarm shorteners normally used for the stoker position on tandems. These allow you to experiment with 4 shorter positions without changing crankarms.

It seems to be a paradox in that the higher your level of training on a DF, the more you will notice a performance drop when you first switch to a recumbent. Consistency is the key. If you normally ride 100 miles a week, riding 20 miles per day 5 times a week will help you transition faster than doing 2 50 mile rides a week.

I would be really surprised if you do not see significant improvement in you 'bent legs by the end of 2 months.

 

It took me almost a full season. Call it 4500 Km. The biggest improvement I saw was not in getting my 'bent legs,' but in figuring out how to ride it differently so as to take advantage of the new speed profile. I found that it was often easier to drop the upright group than to let them set the pace; and the hillier the route, the more that was True. Eventually, getting a faster recumbent helped, too. Now I routinely drop them whenever I get the urge - in fact, they expect it.

 

It took me about 1,000 miles or a couple of months.

 

Hi Freddy,

My first recumbent I didn't ride a lot, but I did enjoy it (SUN Ez-1), however my second recumbent (Actionbent Jetstream) I picked up in September and the following March I did a metric century. So far, this has been my longest ride. I'm doing the same metric (Tour De Sewer) this March.

I expect to enjoy the ride more, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed it last year. Especially about the halfway point when the DF folks were complaining about being in pain and I was able to say I was nice and comfy! I rode last year with 2 friends on their DFs, and they were faster than me, but they also rode a lot more than I had. They were impressed that with as little riding as I had done, I completed the ride in not much more time than they had.

Enjoy your bent, remember to spin up hills, it makes it much easier!

Curtis

P.S. So far I've ridden almost as much in the first month of this year as I did in 3 months in 2008. Bents tend to get you thinking, "Can I ride there instead of using the car?" I look for excuses to ride!

 

Remind me not to ride with you. I am a S L O W rider!!!

 

Freddy it take about one or two good rides or maybe more for a person to get their bent legs. I know one thing if you ride all year round like you do and can you never loose them. As for us who live in climates that get down right too cold to ride we loose ours. Or I loose mine after a few months of not riding.
Cheers
Shawn

 

This is why I play tennis (can be done year 'round here, more or less), or racquetball, or have a resistance trainer, or a stationary recumbent (in my case, with mag resistance and digital bells n' whistles). I love tennis, r'ball is wearing out my knees, don't have a trainer, and I HATE the stationary bike. But the latter is my only option on really lousy weather days.

My point is that you gotta do something in the off-season, even if it's shoveling snow or jogging in place. Starting over after weeks or months of being a couch potato always has a risk of "screw it, I'm going home" attitude.

 

It seems then that I am on the right track for getting adjusted to a recumbent although I have made a couple of mistakes along the way.

I purchased my 'bent a little over three months ago with a 175mm crank.
I had ridden DF road bikes with 170mm and 172.5mm and although I am only 5' 7" tall I didn't make a big deal about the crank. After a month and a half my legs were getting used to the recumbent but I had some muscle pain in the lower third of my thighs. I did some research on the web and found one Mark Stonich from Minneapolis who shipped me some cranks shortened to 153mm. I have had those cranks for 5-6 25 mile rides and the muscle pain has gone.

The shorter cranks boosted without any conscious effort my cadence to 90-100+. This leads to my second mistake, I have a tendency from my roadie days to shift to a harder gear when the cadence gets this high. I'll need to learn to suppress that urge.

With all the excitement of a new bike I did a couple of 40 mile rides after only a month and a half. That together with a mild overuse injury from running in one of my knees has put me in recovery mode. I am doing a lot of stretching and exercises to hopefully resolve that problem.

Freddy

 

It seems then that I am on the right track for getting adjusted to a recumbent although I have made a couple of mistakes along the way.

I purchased my 'bent a little over three months ago with a 175mm crank.
I had ridden DF road bikes with 170mm and 172.5mm and although I am only 5' 7" tall I didn't make a big deal about the crank. After a month and a half my legs were getting used to the recumbent but I had some muscle pain in the lower third of my thighs. I did some research on the web and found one Mark Stonich from Minneapolis who shipped me some cranks shortened to 153mm. I have had those cranks for 5-6 25 mile rides and the muscle pain has gone.

The shorter cranks boosted without any conscious effort my cadence to 90-100+. This leads to my second mistake, I have a tendency from my roadie days to shift to a harder gear when the cadence gets this high. I'll need to learn to suppress that urge.

With all the excitement of a new bike I did a couple of 40 mile rides after only a month and a half. That together with a mild overuse injury from running in one of my knees has put me in recovery mode. I am doing a lot of stretching and exercises to hopefully resolve that problem.

Freddy

 

This site is all about putting 'bents out there for the world to see. "Promotion" vs "Proselytization" I guess you could say. Speed demos are one way to do it.

My group occasionally gets visitors from the local race club, or visiting cyclists who want to continue their training for TTs or Tri-s. They're usually of the opinion that 'bents can't go fast, so the guys in the group will warn them ahead of time to not 'play any testosterone games' with the old guy on the bent. If they do, the group collectively bows out; but I personally am more than happy to ride at any speed they want. I'll even give them a head start! Apparently, it's somewhat demoralizing to be hammering at 30+ mph and have the old guy in the bent pull alongside and start talking in full sentences. None of them come away saying bents are slow; in fact, the usual remark is that now they understand why the UCI banned them from racing against regular bikes.

 

That's funny John. I can picture that pretty easily although those speeds are difficult for me to reach even on downhills. lol

 

Don't forget to drink LOTs of water!. Especially a couple of days prior to doing any serious ride 25+miles. It helps keep your muscles loose and stretchy.