1 Month In Tips

[Robson3022]

I've been commuting to work on my bike now for a month and thought I would share some of my newbie experiences tips for anyone a bit worried about starting/restarting to ride a bike.


I'm 25 6ft and 14.5 stone I have blue eyes........... ooooo wrong website!!!


I'm fairly fit (ish) play footy 3/4 times a week run 5 miles once a week but am by no means super fit.

My commute is 6 miles each way and is basically a big hill. I ride a Saracen front suspension mountain bike circa 2001.

If I say anything ridiculously foolish someone correct me and by the same account if anyone has any advice then feel free to chip in.

The first thing I found was riding hurts your a**e. But it does get better, try to ride through it if you can if its not getting better I'd suggest looking at your bike fit.

Falling off hurts!! But if you do, and are able to, get back on your bike and ride it. Don't let a little off put you off.

Actually get out and ride. I've had a lift in to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and was dreading riding in today but once I got on the bike I felt good and when I got to work I felt great!

Don't worry about all the gear. If you can afford it and you want to go and buy the best gear/bike you can ( I ride a hand me down bike! but hopefully will buy something a bit better soon) I bought some cycle shorts and fingerless gloves from SportsDirect for about £15 but could have lived without them. I wear a long sleeved under armor, a t shirt, my cycle shorts and footy shorts, footy socks and trainers. Don't get me wrong when it rains/gets to single figures I might have to change the footwear/glove situation but my theory is you can only get wet once and on a half an hour commute I get warm and am not out that long. A decent rain jacket and some over shoes will be all ill be adding I think.

PUT AIR IN YOUR TIRES!!! I rode for 3 weeks with essentially flat tires. Riding was a lot easier once i'd put some in. Not so much the uphills but maintaining speed on flat/downhill becomes much easier.

I plan to go clipless but at the moment I have flat pedals. Its easy to put the middle off your foot on the pedal and off you go...don't...try your best to use the ball of your foot in the middle of the pedal. I found this transferred my energy much better.

Sit down!!! When I first started I was stood up 90% of the time thinking I was going faster....I wasn't. I was much faster sitting down. Ive shaved 15 mins off my commute and expect to reduce this by at least another 5-10 mins with a new bike, improved technique and more time on the bike.

Oil your bike!!!! For a month my bike has creaked and moaned all the way to work. Last night I ran an oily rag over the chain and put oil in as many of the moving parts as possible. Bike was quiet as a mouse this morning.






Don't know if anyone cares or is interested but thought I would share!! I will add to this if I find anything else!!!

 

[Robson3022]

Thought of another couple in the ride home.


Be confident and get in your position early don't be scared to get in to the middle of the road (primary) once your in front of a car its unlikely the will try to get round you. I find this is actually the safest place to be.

 

[jonny jeez]

Nice.

well played.

 

[Robson3022]

Treat drivers the way you would expect to be treated .


Sounds simple enough but today I could have filtered past 4 cars at a junction and waited at the front. They would of then had to wait for me. Instead I waited for an extra 30 seconds in the que. Yes it slowed me down a little but Kept everyone happy!!

 

[Lynnderella]

Treat drivers the way you would expect to be treated .


Sounds simple enough but today I could have filtered past 4 cars at a junction and waited at the front. They would of then had to wait for me. Instead I waited for an extra 30 seconds in the que. Yes it slowed me down a little but Kept everyone happy!!

Cycling has made me more aware of cyclists when driving! And it makes you realise how many inconsiderate people are in cars!! Just make yourself as visible as possible!!

 

[Robson3022]

Your absolutely right. Unfortunately I can't drive for a while so will not be able to show the consideration when driving as when I have been shown when cycling.

 

[Pistol]

Cycling has made me more aware of cyclists when driving! And it makes you realise how many inconsiderate people are in cars!! Just make yourself as visible as possible!!

Totally agree with this I am a much more considerate driver now when it comes to cyclists. Should be more cycle lanes on main roads though.

 

[Lynnderella]

Totally agree with this I am a much more considerate driver now when it comes to cyclists. Should be more cycle lanes on main roads though.

Totally agree with this I am a much more considerate driver now when it comes to cyclists. Should be more cycle lanes on main roads though.

Yeah, that would help!! I noticed today that some of our cycle paths are being widened and tidied up, should think so too, this is the C2C route!!

 

[Robson3022]

Get used to looking over your shoulder when going slowly as you need to do it all of the time. Being able to do this when going slow makes it easier when your going fast (when you need to be checking more regularly)

Wear headphones, don't wear headphones, wear a helmet, don't wear one, buy a hybrid no don't buy a road bike no a cyclocross?????

People will tell you all sorts do what works for you. Read everything and try everything. I don't wear a helmet but will be buying one and if it feels ok ill keep it if not ill get rid. At the end of the day it might save my life so I would say its worth a go. I wear headphones and play music but do lots of checks and its never caused me a problem yet. If it does I might stop wearing them.


What I'm saying is do what works for you, listen to what people say, take it on board, if it works keep doing it if not, don't!

 

[Reece]

Nice one. Some good info there.

 

[akb]

I wear a long sleeved under armor

Where is your commute?! Across the Grand Canyon? Other than that, great post.

 

[Robson3022]

Thought I'd add a little to this after another few weeks and some new experiences.


Riding with a trailer- Having lost my driving licence Ive had to use this as a mode of transport for my daughter. She loves it!!! I was a bit worried about going on the roads but to be honest Ive been fine so far. I did about 10-20 miles with it empty to get a feel for how safe it would be and to be honest its been great. The encouragement from behind to go faster helps as well!!! The main thing I've noticed is you become more aware of your road position and I spend a lot more time in primary controlling the traffic than I did without the trailer.

Riding on the ice/snow- Now I'm on a normal MTB with nobbly tyres the main things I've worked out are; Don't use any inputs on icy patches that means no steering, breaking or pedaling try and ride straight over the ice. Shave your speed off as much as possible when on patches that are not icy meaning you can hopefully coast over the icy bits without doing 100MPH

 

[Rob3rt]

Treat drivers the way you would expect to be treated .


Sounds simple enough but today I could have filtered past 4 cars at a junction and waited at the front. They would of then had to wait for me. Instead I waited for an extra 30 seconds in the que. Yes it slowed me down a little but Kept everyone happy!!

Generally I find that cyclists accelerate away from lights faster than cars, i.e. they wouldn't have to wait for you. Looking at the bigger picture, you may actually be causing more inconvenience to those cars behind by sitting in the traffic you than you would going to the front. If you go to the front, for example, you plus 4 cars might make it through due to your nifty acceration, if sit in the queue, you plus 3 cars might make it through as you can then only accelerate as fast the car in front of you, you are also subject to a delay from the car in front of you in order to leave braking room!

If you are referring to them overtaking you again, well that is a non issue provided you don't just sit in primary beyond the junction.

I am NOT saying people should filter universally, or otherwise, just making an observation, by filtering or not filtering, you are affecting yourself (safety wise) much more than you are affecting drivers.

 

[Kins]

Great first post. I to ride a mountain bike, only 2 years old and haven't spent a fortune on clothes etc. (just lights) Bought a pair of gloves from George at Asda for £3 (padded leather palms) which are great. Very comfy and warm! Like you, I play footy, but also golf, so have used a weather proof lightweight training jacket and my golf waterproofs for the lower half. Decent pair of Nike cross trainers that I use for running have been superb on the pedals and never lost grip.

Need to do more bike maintenance like you posted though.

I do get out the saddle though, mainly for the first burst of acceleration (loads of hills or inclines round here) then sit down and change to a lower gear if I have to.

 

[Robson3022]

My knees are aching a bit a.t times and my hips were killing after a ride the other day so don't think I'm quite right on the bike yet but I'm getting there.