Are you expecting a new cyclist in your life? You won't necessarily have to give up riding your bicycle and lose your hard earned fitness, which will be a great benefit throughout your pregnancy and during birth.
Most cyclists won't be able to ride for the entire pregnancy, but you probably will be able to for quite a long time if you are already an avid cyclist. However, there are some issues that you must take into consideration, and of course, you should consult your physician or midwife.
First of all, your body is different now. You should always be cautious and when in doubt, consult your practitioner. Pregnancy requires an additional 300 calories every day. Add that to 500+ calories for even a short ride, and you have a very different nutritional situation than you had before your pregnancy.
While it is good that cycling is a low-impact aerobic exercise, you will still need to take care when cycling while pregnant. Your center of gravity will begin to shift starting around four months gestation, causing balance problems. You may very well find that you already have balance problems and "placenta brains" - forgetfulness and klutziness - from the very beginning, and you should ride in such a manner as to avoid sharp turns and tricky maneuvering. And, when riding in a group, you might not want to stay too close to anybody's wheels while drafting.
Simply put, you don't want to crash. If you do happen to fall, the baby is well protected by the amniotic fluid. Normally, the baby won't be hurt unless the injury to the mother is severe. Signs to be concerned about are decrease in fetal movement, tender or painful uterus, uterine contractions, fluid leaking, or bleeding from the vagina. A quick call to your practitioner can alleviate your fears.
If you are not in shape and want to start cycling for exercise because you are pregnant, my personal opinion is that you should take up something less stressful, such as walking or swimming. Cycling is something that requires balance, which you may no longer have, and a good aerobic capacity, which may be diminished because of your pregnancy.
Avoid rough terrain. Try to ride on smoothly paved roads. Yes, that means no mountain biking. If you spend your days off-road, I'd suggest buying some nice, high-pressure smooth-treaded "slicks" for riding on the road. Sorry, but your days of thrashing through the woods are over for a while.
Stay hydrated. Yes, you need to stay hydrated just as always. But, as a pregnant woman, you really need to stay hydrated. Your body needs to make amniotic fluid for your baby, and that takes more water than you normally need. Plus, your body is going to get hotter sooner, so you'll sweat more. Again, you will need more fluids. Furthermore, even when you stop cycling, you need to stay very well hydrated so that you don't let your levels of oxytocin get too high, causing contractions.
During pregnancy it is important not to overexert yourself. Wear a heart rate monitor while riding if you have one. Your pulse should not exceed 140 beats per minute. This is why you will want to avoid the hills and just try to take it easy. However, this is not necessarily an accurate guide to how hard you are working. Very fit cyclists may have a very difficult time getting their hate rate up without over doing it. Another way to judge your effort is to use the Talk Test. If you are working at an acceptable pace, you will be able to carry on a normal conversation while riding. However, if you are out of breath, you are riding too hard. Slow down. Remember, if you are short of breath, so is your baby.
You will probably want to sit up straighter than you do now as your abdomen grows, especially if you have an aero position on the bike. You should raise the handlebar stem up as far as you can manage, raising it slowly over time, perhaps a half a centimeter a week. Too much change too soon will likely make your back hurt. You might try tilting the seat down a little to see if that will shift some of your weight to your arms and away from your pelvis, but this might not be for everybody. If you feel too much strain on your back, you might even try using a longer stem. Some bike shops might even have an adjustable length stem that they use to fit custom bike packages.
Buy clothes that fit. You will get bigger, and that is a good thing. If you don't gain at least 2.2 pounds each months during the last two trimesters, you should immediately stop exercising and consult your practitioner. But, you will probably need to buy different shorts, and your jersey won't fit anymore. Many pregnant cyclists have found that bib shorts and a t-shirt make a good combo and should be supplemented with a supportive sports bra. If your feet start swelling, you will have to start wearing regular athletic shoes and switch to a platform pedal. This shouldn't be a problem, because you won't be racing and you shouldn't be climbing hills.
There are some alternatives to riding your road or mountain bike on the pavement while pregnant that you might want to consider. You could try riding a recumbent bicycle, which would take some of the pressure off your pelvis, which will start to soften as pregnancy progresses, possibly causing you pain. You could move indoors to ride on a stationary trainer to gain control over environmental factors, such as temperature and gradient. This could be necessary to keep your heart rate down to an acceptable rate, and most importantly, you won't crash!
And, please remember, before you exercise while pregnant and if you should have any questions regarding exercise while pregnancy, you should talk to your practitioner and may want to call a qualified exercise specialist for advice.
This week we've done a combined feature on pregnancy and exercise with a bunch of other guides. Be sure to check out the following:
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