Any tips for a beginner cyclist?

I’m 18 and I just started biking for exercise. Right now I am using a mountain bike, but I want to buy a road bike eventually. I have a 8 mile loop that I ride almost everyday. It has a lot of hills.
I usually just keep my bike on one gear, but from reading some answers here that seems to be a mistake. I keep the gears so that I am pedaling hard but not as much. Will someone please explain rpm to me?
Lastly, did I start too late in life to be able to compete successfully?
Sorry for all the questions, but I’m a real beginner.
PS- do you have any tips you wish people had told you when you were a beginner?

Hey, 18 is definately not too late to become a competitive cyclist.
A friend of mine started cycling after he left high school and has competed twice in the giro d’italia (tour of italy) in the 90′s.

Changing gears on an undulating course is important to keep pedalling at the correct rpm (cadence) 65-85 with normal pedals, 80-100 with clip in pedals.

If you start riding seriously on a road bike. Make sure you get some clip in pedals and shoes, also if you have the spare cash a speedo with cadence and also Heart rate is very good to keep track of your efforts.

If your looking at competing eventually the more and more you ride the better, you have to be doing in excess of 20hrs a week to over-train. Keep up the cadence and join a bike club and get racing as soon as you can, it will keep you motivated and you will learn alot from the people you race.

As far as buying a road bike, it depends on your budget, anything over $1500 US is good to race well on. You can spend on $700 however the performance difference is quite large between those price ranges. Aluminium is just as fast as carbon, just not as comfortable.
hope this helps

Mountain Bike Trail Riding Tips & Tricks : How to Do a Bunny Hop on a Bike: Part 1

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