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I'm considering to do a 50-55 km distance on a mixed surface. Mostly asphalt and gravel, maybe even a little bit of sand. Haven't done any training or exercise, basically been sitting at home all day, everyday for years. Don't know why but suddenly had an urge to go on a journey.

My bicycle is quite old, 12 or so years, not in a great condition either but nothing is falling off so far. That wouldn't be my concern though, my concern is will my legs be able to cycle for 50 km in one go without any previous leg training. Is it advisable for me to do this? Will my legs be stiff after the first 10 km? What do you guys think?

Edit I'm 24. Last year I tried a 30 km distance, my legs were gone after 20 and I had to step off my bicycle and walk a bit, as it seemed easier than cycling. That was my only real exercise I've done in a couple of years.

I really have all day and can take as many rests as I want. I'd say I have a solid 8 hours. Is it doable if I go on a gear that doesn't require a lot of push?

I think this question is a little more complicated than it appears at first pass. I will demonstrate by answering two forms of the question.

Q1: "Is it possible that, despite not having regular training, I would be able complete a 50km without it being a traumatic event?"

To this question, I say absolutely! Riding on fairly flat pavement at low speeds is not too difficult, so as long as you pace yourself properly, this is totally manageable. Never try to push yourself too hard and stop for snacks every hour and it may even be fairly enjoyable.

Q2: "Is it possible that riding 50km, not having regular training, would be extremely miserable?"

Also yes! If you don't ride often, there are a lot of potentially very unpleasant things that could happen on such a ride. This includes:

(1) Extreme fatigue. If you don't ride regularly, it can be very easy miss-pace yourself. It might not feel like your pushing that hard at 0-10km, but suddenly you can find yourself having trouble keeping the same pace around 15km. That's a real problem when you have 35km more to go!

(2) Very difficult terrain. Riding on flat pavement at a relaxing rate is not so bad. Going up hill at any rate can be pretty taxing, especially if you don't ride much. In my opinion, going over sand is considerable harder than riding up hill. If even 1km of that ride is over sand, for many reasons, I can pretty much guarantee it will not be a pleasant experience. I highly recommend not riding over sand in your first ride. Actually, I highly recommend never riding over sand ever; see next issue. Gravel is somewhere inbetween concrete and sand in terms of physical effort required, also raises probability of sliding out and getting hurt.

(3) Mechanical breakdowns. There's a chance something might happen to your bike. You might get a flat tire, the chain might break, or you might ride it through sand, destroying just about every moving part of the bike. If your bike is well maintained, the probability of this happening on any single 50 km ride is low (assuming you avoid sand), but the probability of this happening on one of 20 such rides is pretty high. For a bike sitting in a garage for years, the probability of this happening on the first 50 km ride is actually quite high.

(4) General discomfort. If you haven't been riding for awhile, getting used to a saddle can be...uncomfortable. Not a big deal is you're going 5km, but really starts adding up around 20km, meaning potentially completely unbearable around 30km, and you've still got 20km to go.

In summary, a 50km ride without practice may go really well and be fun. But there's a lot of potentials for it not to, especially if you're not just a bike nut who hasn't ridden in awhile. As such, I personally would recommend giving it a try, but with a solid backup plan. For example, maybe there's a bus route you can ride along (make sure they allow bikes!), so in case any of those issues come up, you can easily bail out.

Also, do not ride over sand and I would advise avoiding gravel. Finally, get your bike checked at the local bike shop.

A fit person can do 50km without too much difficulty, though they'll probably be sore from the effort if they don't cycle much, just because cycling uses different muscles to, say, running. It wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be too hard.

It sounds like you're not very fit. If you were determined, you could probably make it around 50km but I doubt it would be enjoyable at all. I suggest that you start with shorter distances. Try riding 10km and see how that feels. Once you can ride 20-25km fairly comfortably, doing 50km will be a nice challenge: not easy but an achievable goal that you can look back on with pride. Note that gravel and especially sand are more work to ride on than the equivalent distance on the road.

Since your bike's not been used for a while, you should get a bike shop to check it over. Depending on how much it was used and how it's been stored, it might need things like a new chain, new cables and new brake blocks. Possibly new tyres if they're in bad shape.

If you're going far from home, make sure you know how to repair a puncture (bring a spare inner tube so you don't have to use patches unless you puncture twice) and that you have a way of getting back if everything goes wrong. Rather than cycling to somewhere 25km away and then coming back, consider arranging your ride as more of a circle so there's a shorter route home if things don't go well.

Make sure you bring water and snacks with you, since your first 50km will probably take at least three hours.

It's probably not a great idea. Start with a shorter route and see how you do. Pick a flat route without hills. Make sure you have a bail out and a way to get home (public transport, a friend, Uber etc.).

You probably should get a bike shop to have a look over your bike for any issues, you don't want to get stranded by something going wrong or have any safety issues.

How far and fast a new cyclist can go depends on a number of factors - how old they are, if they are overweight and by how much, genetic disposition, whether they were fit before becoming inactive.

To answer your questions -

• "Is it possible to do 50 km distance without any previous training? -
  Yes, it is possible, assuming by no previous training you mean
  cycling training. If a person has been active in running or other
  aerobic activity using their legs it is possible to ride 50 km
  without any previous bicycle training. In your situation it may be
  possible but it is less likely.


• "Is it advisable for me to do this" - No, it is not advisable.


• Will my legs be stiff after the first 10 km? - Yes, your legs will be stiff.

All that aside, cycling is great fun.

You've had an urge to go riding - you should act on that, but ease into it. It's better to have several short rides with a positive. experience than one big one that wipes you out.

Argenti offers some great advice and there are lots of articles on how to ease into cycling.

Here is an example of a beginner's cycling plan.

I can share my own experience.

When I was young, maybe around twenty, I went on a 50-60 km bicycle trip without previous training. Of course I had occasionally used a bicycle before.

After about 20 km my legs started to cramp and I was forced to make some short stops (5-10 min) to recover.

So I was able to finish my trip, but it was hard.

Another time (maybe 10 years later) I did a 90 km trip. Before this I had used my bicycle almost every day (5-10 km).

So I did this 90 km trip (which took me almost all day) and I didn't have any problems except sunburn on my legs and arms.

Conclusion: it's possible to make a long trip without training if you can stop and rest at any time, but it would be much easier if you had some training first.