Okay, a couple of things. One, I am on the struggle bus with life, but steadily moving in the right direction. I bought myself a Zwift Hub for my Christmas gift.
Step backward. I haven’t ridden a bike in 2 or 3 years and before that, I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 15 years old. I do NOT know what I’m doing at all. I mean it’s true you don’t forget how to ride a bike, but the gears and all the other crap that comes with biking stress me the hell out. It’s kept me from really getting into biking. Running is easy. I am completely moronic with biking.
Why then would I buy an expensive (expensive to me) bike trainer then? Well, for all my stupidity I make up for it with grit, persistence, and determination.
I cannot run right now. I will eventually be able to run again, but I never, ever want to be in a position again where I don’t have a plan B for exercise.
Here I am entering the Zwifting world which is supposed to be fun and easy. I’ve rode 3 times now. I will keep riding because I’m hardheaded and determined, but it’s only mildly fun for me right now. I kind of like Peleton better, but I am getting a better workout and I want to get used to using my bike.
I can’t figure out what I’m doing. Let me make a list for anyone that wants to jump in and help me or so when I figure this out one day, I make a list for fellow dummies. Cyclists, sorry guys, you all stress me out. They are not morons. Probably because you must have money to buy a nice bike and the gear that comes with it. This means you must have a job that pays okay therefore, you just can’t be a complete imbecile. (Oh, wait, I bought a bike and a trainer…. There’s hope right?)
Question 1 – How do I track my fitness?
What does this watts/kg mean? For that matter what does watts mean? And power? Not sure what any of it means? I get cadence and heart rate.
Question 2 – How to make friends or find people to “ride” with within the companion app?
I have figured out how to click ride on and follow people, but hell that’s like randomly friending people on Facebook. Ugh, weird. I’m thinking maybe I just need to make friends with real people that ride bikes. But the perks of Zwift is the convenience of my home. Okay. Help a girl out.
Question 3 – Races, events, and free rides.
I know that I am not doing a race right now. Since I have no clue about my current bike fitness or what I’m doing I’m not attempting a race. However, when I do attempt a race because I know me, I eventually will. When I do attempt a race, I do not know how to figure out what category to enter. I kind of read on that and I’m sure I’m in the dead slowest at the moment. (I’m okay with that. I’ve been in a cast on one leg or the other for 12 weeks out of the last 6 months. I feel GOOD about what I can do.)
Anyhow, the races are all confusing to me. I did one event which I didn’t have a clue about and one free ride.
Question 4 – Workouts and training plans
The workouts and training plans were also confusing. I wanted to find a “Couch to 5K” version for training or a complete imbecile’s first race training plan. Does anyone want to point me out to how the hell to use that? I probably will just try one and not know what the hell I’m doing. Thankfully I’m comfortable with feeling like a moron and I’m perfectly okay-ish with completely embarrassing myself.
Question 5 – Why can’t I get out of the saddle?
I tried Google. Useless! I have rode a real bike and while I suck at getting out of the saddle I am capable of it. On my MYX bike that I was using with the Peloton app, I could get out of the saddle. Every time I try with the Zwift Hub and my bike the pedals are loose like there is no resistance.
Question 6 – Should I be shifting gears with a smart trainer?
I barely know how to shift gears or when to shift, to begin with. The Zwift hub clearly increases and decreases resistance based on the routes, but I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be shifting gears. Again, I barely know how to use a bike, to begin with.
One of the reasons I bought this is because I wanted to figure out how to use a bike while in the safety of my own home. I wanted to practice shifting and figuring this out in a non-scary environment.
I think that’s it for now. Once I tackle these questions then I have to tackle you know, real bike questions. Like how do you check your tires? How do you change a flat tired? Oh my, I could keep going.
For today, I’m going to just be happy that I got on the bike that I don’t know what I’m doing anything with and got some exercise. That makes me less of an idiot than the idiot that did nothing today.
So, if you’re a biking guru that has the patience of a saint and wants to help Mrs. Big Dummy, I would love any answers to any of the above questions.
