How To Enjoy Cycling
Get a comfortable working bike.
A well maintained bike, which works perfectly is a joy to ride. Make sure the gears are aligned and the brakes work as they should. There is nothing worse than cycling along, wondering whether the brakes will actually work on not. Also a well maintained bike should run smoothly and quietly without anything touching the wheels or impeding your progress. If you are not a bike mechanic, take it for regular maintenance sessions at your local bike shop. You may even find someone who will come to repair your bike on spec. Bike repairs are relatively cheap and make a big improvement to the quality of your ride
Don’t Get Annoyed with Motorists
This may be easier to say than do; however, it is an important factor to avoid getting worked up by bad driving. Any cyclist will at some point get involved with bad motorists, who cut you up or don’t give you enough room. If we start shouting at every bad piece of driving we will start to feel miserable and be unable to enjoy our ride. The best thing to do is not expect perfect driving from others. Try to anticipate bad driving and when it occurs let it go without getting worked up about it.
Correct Position
It is important to have a correct position when cycling. If our saddle height is incorrect or our pedal action is misplaced then we can cause ourselves an injury. Take the time to determine your correct saddle height. If you do have to adjust your saddle height make sure you do it in increments. If you have several bikes make sure they all share the same set up and position. If you have different sized bikes it can cause problems especially when you are riding long distances.
Build Up Fitness Gradually.
You may be tempted to jump and ride a hilly 100 mile cycle sportive. But, if your only training is cycling to the local shops, you can be guaranteed you will really suffer from ‘biting off more than you can chew’. If you gain fitness gradually and increase your mileage over time you will enjoy the feeling of self transcendence and increase your capacity without leaving your legs like complete jelly the next day.
Ride With Others
3-4 hours in the saddle on your own can get a bit boring. If you go for long rides try to find a partner or cycling club; cycling can be an excellent way to combine fitness with socialising. The trick is to find people with similar cycling aspirations. There is nothing worse than being unfit and going out with people who are intent or dropping everyone on the climbs or sprinting.
Set Goals
Don’t just cycle aimlessly try to create goals which give you something to aim for. It doesn’t have to be with regard to racing; it could be to reduce weight or make a certain distance on a cycling sportive. When you have some challenge to aim for it gives an added motivation to try cycling.
Avoid Punctures
Getting punctures is irritating. See these suggestions for getting best puncture resistant tyres
R.Pettinger is a keen cyclist and competes in UK Time trials and other races. He updates a cycling blog which you are welcome to visit here: Cycling Blog
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