[kocho]

Sam, I'm a bit of a weekend warrior. I just do it for a bit of a look outside, out in the fresh air, but I do try relatively hard. No Lycra or road bike shoes, but I do have a road bike and still have my Hybrid which I purchased before it.

In your case, I'd be getting a Hybrid aka Flat bar road bike. They're more comfortable than a road bike, a bit 'harder' and a good starter bike. Overall the type of bike, clothing, shoes etc all makes a huge difference. If you're out on the road and people are passing you, I wouldn't be too concerned. A mountain bike isn't going to be easy on the road. Even the width of the tyres makes a difference.

Climbing hills is hard. Head winds are hard. Sidewinds are even harder (IMO)! No doubt about it... and for everyone who isn't anything more than a weekend warrior. With cycling, you want to feel like you go through the gears much like a car and it's important to change gears at the right time. If you do it when you feel like you'll be on the verge of getting tired, go to an easier gear and vise versa.

I recommend getting a wind trainer ($100), sticking your bike (ideally a Hybrid for you but anything would be fine) and getting some k's into the legs to start. Do interval training just to build muscles which you wouldn't usually use in your legs. Do it in front of the telly even and perhaps cycling at a certain amount of k's during the show time and slowing down over the duration of the ads.

Also, it's important not to cycle like a bull at a gate. You don't want to burn yourself out too early.