What Are Your Best Beginner Cycling Tips?
I often get questions about cycling tips from beginners looking for fast improvements. I introduce them to the basic training principles and basic rules for optimal training I know. Training consistently for a long period is a cornerstone in every cyclist’s success and using some principles for recovery accelerates the progress.
Nevertheless, it can be a good idea to hear what you readers say to your friends when they ask you about beginner cycling tips.
Best comment on this post wins $25
The winner will be chosen on June 5th and the prize can be paid to PayPal accounts only. Training4cyclists.com is allowed to present tips entered in this competition in future posts.
Now it is time for competition: What are your best beginner cycling tips?
When someone starts cycling I usually suggest a few group rides that are good for beginners or get them to do one of the longer challenge rides.
Getting in a well paced bunch teaches them alot about cycling, gives them friends to ride with and makes the starting process alot more fun.
The challenge ride, like around the bay in a day, set them an achievable goal which encourages them to go beyond what they thought their limits were. I am currently trying to get my 60year old mother to register for a 100k ride with the offer of doing it with her.
First, I encourage them to set realistic goals. They can’t expect initially to go out on typical LBS group rides and complete the entire mileage and pace if their fitness level doesn’t match the others in the group. In other words, their baseline fitness level will determine their level of training.
For example, my sister-in-law is an avid runner. She participates in half-marathons and marathons across the country. She recently took up cycling as part of her cross-training. Therefore, I encouraged her to start out riding 15 to 20 miles per ride and work her way up to higher mileage as she sets a base for herself.
Cycling will present new challenges to her body physiologically and biomechanically; therefore, her adaptation to these challenges will go smoother by slowly integrating the aforementioned routine into her cross-training schedule.
On the other hand, my neighbor hasn’t been doing any physical activity for years. Therefore, he would need to start out at focusing on lower mileage per ride with an emphasis on building a solid base.
Next, don’t worry about speed at first. I’m a huge proponent of Thomas Chapple’s book “Base Building for Cyclists”. Concentrate on building the base, then one can enjoy the benefits of a faster pace later. In other words, live by his motto, “Go slower to get faster”.
Last, I wrote a post in April on my blog that addressed four things every beginner cyclists should know. It provides sound advice that will increase the quality of any ride a beginner chooses to participate in. Those paraphrased tips are as follows:
1. Purchase quality cycling clothes
2. Purchase cycling shoes
3. Bring energy bars and drinks on each ride
4. Ride your own ride
I trust this information is useful.
Five tips.
1. Get fitted for your bicycle. It’s worth it.
2. Pedal on lower gears, at higher cadences.
3. Pedal in circles, don’t stomp.
4. Hydrate, and make sure to eat before and after rides.
5. Trimming two pounds off your bike can cost hundreds of dollars, trimming two pounds off your body is relatively costless.
[...] Contest Name: What Are Your Best Beginner Cycling Tips? [...]
My best tip:
Start Slow, End Fast - For beginners, the key is to start with something simple and in an environment where there are not too many hazards or obstacles. As you build up your confidence, you can start to go faster and on more tricky terrain.
Remember, the rabbit may not always win the race, to be slow and steady may just do the trick for you!
Get a riding partner. As with starting any training program, the hardest thing is to just do it. When you set a time to ride, its hard to blow it off when you know your partner will be waiting for you and vice versa. My training partner and I ride before work at 5:30 AM. We meet at a mail box nearby our homes. We never leave each other there waiting.
As a new cyclist myself, I can tell you the MOST important thing is to get your ass out there and just ride. Everything else comes after that, and nothing can possibly come before. Great website!
Thanks, Craig
Numb toes:
Stretch your hamstrings, quads (against a wall), and calfs before riding. This will loosen up your muscles and allow increased blood flow to your feet. Make sure your riding shoes are loose. Now here come the weird tips. If you normally take a shower then try sitting down while you shower. I noticed that after a ride my toes get even more numb if I stand on the hard surface of the bathtub. And finally try Robert Bruce’s NEW energy ways on your feet. Those exercises help quite a bit, even though they were designed for something else entirely. Replacing the default paper thin insoles with Superfeet or SOLE is highly recommended as well. A metatarsal pad may also help.
Seat:
The further forward your seat is the easier it will be to overly engage your quads. The further back your seat is the easier it will be to engage your hamstrings through “pulling up and back.” You want to find that spot right in the middle.
The worst thing you can do is go out there and push yourself way beyond what your current level of fitness is. Doing this will only injure your body and leave you off the bike for possibly many weeks. Don’t forget to rest either. It is worth reminding yourself that “rest requires discipline – the discipline to not over-exert yourself.”
[...] What Are Your Best Beginner Cycling Tips? [...]
Find a cycling buddy to ride with!!!
Riding alone is a beginners nightmare (as is winter cold). Finding someone that you can rely on to go for regular rides with is almost as important as the bike itself. If exercise has always been a chore then staying motivated is essential to avoid latent ambivalence getting the upper hand over you.
Stay disciplined and regular. Four rides a week is a reasonable starting goal.
Cycling should be compulsory, well …. if I had my ay it would!!!
The two most important things to me, as a beginning cyclist and bidding racer, is to get out there and ride, and get out regularly in a group. You’ll feel accomplishment by getting the miles under your belt and you’ll get a huge amount of motivation from riding with like minded people.