I'm about to turn 38 and decided to take up cycling, I am starting to get fat and don't want to be really fat into my 40's.

Any tips on training would be appreciated, I done a few 30km rides on a really bad mountain bike which was to small and hurt my knees, but I've just bought a rode bike and cycled 48km on my first ride.

My legs are really aching and I think it's going to take them a good 3 or 4 days to recover, I was hoping to cycle 3/4 times a week but i doubt that is possible for me doing those distances.

Maybe i should be doing 4 20km rides or is it better to do two 40/50km rides every week ??

thanks

When i can find enough time i do 2 one hour rides during the week and one longer ride during the weekend (usually 2 hours). I've heard that giving your body enough time to rest in between rides is important

take it easy the first few rides, you have your whole life left to do it. but it's also normal that you have DOMS after not doing a lot of physical activities for some time.
- it's important that you setup your bike properly (seat height etc). http://www.bikeradar.com/beginners/g...n-right-39738/ or http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm are two (of many many) guides how to do it. most of them have some things in common and disagree on some things. you can also ask a local bike shop to fit you. if you have a decent shop nearby, that's probably the easiest option. it shouldn't cost too much, and if you bought your bike at a local bike shop, it is very often free.
- as i said, don't overdo it in the beginning. it's easy to get carried away. but your body needs time to adapt to these new requierements. i'd suggest to just ride 2-3 times a week for maybe an hour or an hour and a half. most of the time, you should ride at rather easy pace (so that you could still hold a conversation). of course, this depends on terrain.
- after a few weeks, start to incorporate longer rides once a week, maybe 2-3 hours, as mkay suggested. if you don't have friends that you can ride with: there are A LOT of local group rides that you can join. google should help you, or again, ask local bike shops. most group rides will probably be too fast for you (at least for the next few month), but over time, they will become easier.
- after that, do whatever feels right to you.
- http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85...s-lsd-1242248/ is a cycling log with some good discussion on differing topics, if you feel like reading a little bit.
- www.strava.com is very popular in cycling and a great way to measure your progress.

If your goal is to loose weight I suggest interval training. Meaning go very hard and then have steady pace inbetween.

You are going to hurt inbetween if you are out of shape. Just keep going at it and body will adjust.

Cycling is pretty low intensity and unless you're going pretty hard you can ride 6 days a week no problem, once you build up to it. Gradually increase distance like 10% a week until you get to a distance you like. To be a solid recreational rider I'd recommend 6-7 hours a week, and yeah a few good short hard rides during the week is a good idea.

To get faster intervals are a good idea, barring that join harder rides and hang as long as you can. Find something to aspire to each year and achieve it.

Lots of good advice in the thread already. My advice concerns the above, your legs shouldn't really be aching after a normal 30km (18 mile) ride. Work on using an easier gear to push at a faster rate. You should have a cadence(RPM) in the 80's, if you can't push the gear you are using that fast use an easier gear. You should find your legs are the last thing that ache. Usually my back give out long before my legs, lol.

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/o...g-cadence1.htm

Hah well maybe you don't remember your first longish ride, but the first time I rode 5 miles I could barely walk up stairs

I don't really recall ever having overly sore legs. My back, hands, even my arms would be sore, but my legs would be ready to go further. Maybe its because I started as an older couch potato and just couldn't ride hard enough to strain my legs.