How to Ride Safely Through Your Pregnancy

Your OBGYN will better understand your needs and goals if she prioritizes fitness, too. 

“The first thing I did was look for a doctor who was a triathlete or into sports,” says Rebeccah Wassner, a professional triathlete herself, and a three-time winner of the New York City Triathlon. “I found Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who is now the chief women's health correspondent at ABC News, and she told me what to expect and to not overdo it. I didn’t have to stick to a strict heart rate, but I did scale back from three hours to one hour of exercise a day.” 

My friends had some solid references, but for me, finding an athlete in a white coat within my insurance network wasn’t in the cards. But that didn’t mean I was out of good options. 

“Although it’s important to find someone who is compatible with your needs and your personality, most OBGYNs now know the benefits of exercise,” says Dr. Gloria Cohen, a sports medicine specialist with New Mexico Orthopaedics and the former team physician for the Canadian national and Olympic cycling teams. “They know regular physical activity helps with weight management, reduces the risk of gestational diabetes, and is good for your psychological well being,” she says, citing a paper out of Penn State University on the maternal health benefits of moderate to vigorous prenatal physical activity. 

Ultimately, while my OBGYN and I couldn’t talk QOMs or disc brakes, I still made a consistent effort to have an open dialogue about how my expanding body was responding to workouts in each trimester. Her guidance gave me the cautious-yet-confident mindset I needed to keep pedaling.  

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On a crisp day in October, I returned to Central Park with my bike, a Cuban tan, and a few tremors of morning sickness. My legs felt great, but unusually labored breathing, fatigue, and seemingly audible pounding in my chest caught me off guard. I had hoped biking would provide a sense of normality, but it made me even more aware of how much my body was changing.

These feelings can cue you into potentially serious issues, even if you’ve been cleared for exercise. “Uncomplicated pregnancies can become complicated,” says Cohen. 

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Wassner, for instance, confronted placenta previa in her first pregnancy and preeclampsia in her second—two conditions that can develop over a pregnancy that can lead to complications. 

It’s easy to run into problems, Wassner says, if you don’t remain vigilant about self-care; she stresses a proper nutrition intake and the need to stay extra-hydrated while working out, as water is key to helping deliver nutrient-rich blood cells to the placenta. Wassner also recommends carrying water bottles, even if you’re not used to drinking so much while training. 

“Be aware of the dehydration indicators, like dizziness, thirst, headaches, fatigue. These signs really came on more so than if I wasn’t pregnant.”

“The best advice I can give is to listen to your own body. Don’t get caught up with what other people are doing,” says Wassner. Just because another woman on your group ride was, say, still riding in the drops at 33 weeks doesn’t mean you have to. 

I didn’t know any pregnant cyclists near me, so going on group rides presented a new challenge: I had to accept getting dropped. Instead of adding biking to the mounting list of pregnancy grievances (like a shrinking wardrobe and bladder), I signed up for easier Westchester Cycle Club rides, where I wouldn’t feel the pressure to stick with the pack of non-pregnant people. 

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“It’s important to step back and say, ‘I’m doing everything I can do,’” agrees Wassner. “The number-one priority is having a healthy baby. You don’t need to keep up with everybody else.”

It’s difficult to say how much slower women can expect to get while pregnant. Your experience will vary greatly, depending on how late into the pregnancy you train, how soon you get back on the bike after giving birth, and the type of pregnancy you have. 

I created a training plan and gradually acclimated to my hypersensitive body. By the time the bump arrived at five months, I had reached a new level of appreciation for the miracle underway. I learned to have realistic expectations, and not get discouraged when I couldn’t stick to my planned workouts. Any lingering frustrations about my waning fitness turned to complete gratitude for the bike and its ability to put joy in place of stress, which a recent study has shown can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders in the baby.

At six months, I bid farewell to my last group ride so I could chart my own routes and rhythm, without fear of crashes in a paceline; it was time to be more cautious.

In the early stages of a pregnancy—roughly the first nine weeks—the fetus is an embryo protected by the bony confines of the pelvis, Cohen says, “but as the uterus grows, there’s more potential for trauma.” As your abdomen widens, your center of gravity shifts. “It’s important to recognize that to prevent falls,” Cohen says. “If anyone feels off-balance on a bike, until appropriate adjustments to bike fit are made, they should not ride on the road." 

As my bump grew in the second trimester, the handlebars got harder to reach. Layton, who rode outside until 23 weeks, had a solution. “I flipped the stem and brought the stem and saddle way up to allow better clearance for my belly,” she says. “I tilted the handlebars to a slightly-more-upright-than-normal race position so I could more easily shift gears. I used that position on the trainer as well.” 

When the cherry blossoms popped in Central Park, I could no longer see my feet over an eight-month bump. I called up Bike Pretty author and leisure cyclist Melissa Davies, who had just been in the same situation. “I planned to keep biking up until the day I gave birth, but as you learn during pregnancy, your body has other ideas,” she says. “At the beginning of my eighth month, I felt massive, really just too pregnant to move. I tried to stay active for as long as possible, but during the last three weeks I barely left the block.” 

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Though my balance felt normal and biking was still easier than waddling to get places, it seemed an unnecessary risk to continue riding clipped in, or even outside. 

“Later in pregnancy, it’s okay to continue cardiovascular workouts, but I’d suggest doing more on the trainer to prevent too many unknowns on the road,” says Cohen. 

I’d been mixing up trainer drills with outdoor rides through winter, and by late spring, started doing all three of my weekly bike rides indoors (with the exception of an occasional Citi Bike cruise in the park). To combat cabin fever, I watched every season of Downton Abbey as I sat up on the trainer, with a TrainerRoad program simultaneously leading my workout regimen. In addition to walking frequently, I went on moderate hikes with my husband and lifted eight-pound dumbbells at home. Was I crazy? 

“It’s important to keep exercising to boost blood circulation, which is vital to maintaining optimum health for the baby,” says Layton, who also continued to strength train while pregnant, pumping iron at the gym into her seventh month. She cut her reps way back to avoid putting too much strain on her belly, and to avoid overdoing it, which can divert blood flow from the uterus to the muscles—not to mention lead to premature labor. “I did low weight and high reps to stay in shape,” said Layton, “and used the machines, which provide a lot more support than free weights.”

Having a body that no longer belongs to you isn’t an easy thing to deal with for nine months—especially if, like me, you aren’t a patient person. 

It’s been two months since I gave birth to my son Rémy (in the photo above) via C-section, and I am just back on the trainer, preparing for my first duathlon this October. I knew in those final weeks that he would be a breech baby and that I would have a long road to recovery. But it’s been immensely easier to accept this new bleary-eyed world than I could’ve imagined. 

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I didn’t expect to be tested so much before becoming a parent. As much as I love biking, there were many days when I wanted to give it up because I was too tired, or because my heart rate of 165 made me feel like a bad mom already, even when my body felt in great form.  Now I’m grateful I developed the discipline to let my body dictate the ride—or the rest day—as I recover. The moments that challenged me inside and out, like no climb or century ride ever had, had been for a reason: I’ve had a strong support community and a beautiful, healthy boy to help me heal, yet my mental and physical resolve is what I’ve relied on most to get through it. 

Still, I have to be reminded to be patient and take it one day at a time. 

“For anyone, you have to pace yourself [when coming back from pregnancy]. I would advise rest days, which are very individual to the person's level of fitness and to the pregnancy. A short leisurely walk might be a rest day for some, or no activity might be a rest day for others,” says Cohen. “As for the specifics, you could sit down with a coach and work out a plan. Do cross-training and get your legs back slowly on the trainer. Remember the postpartum aspect; if you’re breastfeeding, do you have enough hydration and proper breast support? What kind of delivery did you have? Bottom line, get direction from your physician before working out.” 

These days, before I get out of bed to start the wild merry-go-round—juggling a baby, a marriage, a business and a training plan—I’m often reminded of something Wassner said: “It takes a lot of patience. You say to yourself, I don’t know if I can do this again, train and race after giving birth. But of course, now I can’t wait to get in shape and race again.” Amen to that.