What aims for a newbie?

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1

Hi,

I posted another question yesterday which got me thinking about what I should be aiming for as a new rider (apart from recreational jaunts).

I’m not unfit as I run regularly (up to 20 miles a week) but an achilles injury means I need to do something else for a while and cycling seems the easiest to manage timewise.

I’m 16.5 stone and 5’11" so not small. Our kit is a hybrid bike on a Tacx Vortex smart trainer linked to Zwift. We are looking at getting a cheap road bike to leave on it permanently as it doesn’t like the hybrid tyres.

One of the things I see posted about a lot is wattage. As a new rider what sort of average wattage should I be aiming for? Let’s say on a 30-60 min ride. I want to build bike fitness slowly not kill myself.

Thanks for any help.

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I would suggest getting a heart rate monitor and using it during your rides. Do a little research and you should be able to find your HR zones and you can use that to start your training. Most of your riding should be done around zone 2 (aerobic zone).

It would be close to impossible for someone to give you any sort of watt range you should average on Zwift. BTW, averages are about the worst way to judge a workout since there are an infinite amount of ways to hit an average.