Cycling 102
This post expands on Cycling 101, and is intended for cyclists who want to safely and confidently take their riding outside their neighborhood or town. Appropriate places to ride vary from place to place, and will depend on the cyclist’s ability and bike type. If you are starting to ride longer distances, add distance gradually until you are comfortable and confident in your ability to get back home.
Where Should I Ride?
Many cities, towns, and counties will have bike maps or active transportation plans. Consult your municipality’s website, or call your local department of transportation to find out more. Resources for the Seattle-Puget Sound region:
If you feel comfortable, talk to people at your local bike shop about their favorite places to ride, or if there are any informal cycling groups you can join. Lots of bike shops host weekly or monthly rides exploring local roads and trails.
Ride With GPS is a searchable online database of bike routes. You can search by distance from start point, riding distance, elevation gain, or keyword. Ride authors will usually describe the route and add pictures.
Strava is another online platform to share and search routes.
What Do I Wear?
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a jersey and bibs to ride a bike. Tight and aerodynamic clothing might be appropriate if you intend to get into racing or long-distance riding, otherwise just dress in layers appropriate for the weather. It’s usually best to start the ride cold, starting a little bit cold will mean less stops to take off layers as you warm up along the ride.
The example outfits below would be appropriate for a morning ride, or a ride that will encounter variable weather. Below left: Flannel shirt with a cotton tank top and capri yoga pants. Below right: Wool jersey with a down vest and bike shorts. In general any comfortable shirt you would wear running or doing yard work would work. When choosing pants, look for pants with stretch and ideally a gusset and flat seams to reduce friction and rubbing.
How Do I Maintain My Bike?
It’s important to take your bike in for routine maintenance. Chains, tires, chainrings, cassettes, bottom brackets, cables, cable housing, and bar tape all wear out over time, and it’s normal to replace these parts regularly, depending on how much you ride. Here are three simple things you can do at home to prolong the life of your tires, tubes, and drivetrain:
Keep your tires inflated properly. Bike tires indicate the appropriate tire pressure on the side of the tire. Check your tires before each ride to make sure they’re holding pressure and properly inflated.
Keep your chain clean. Your chain is the powerhouse of your drivetrain and can take a beating! Every week or so, wipe down your chain with a clean lint-free rag to clean out the metal grit, mud, and grease. All of the detritus can wear down the chain, chainrings, and cassette over time so keeping your chain clean will reduce this type of wear. If you’re feeling fancy you can use degreaser and/or a special chain cleaning tool to get your chain extra sparkly.
Keep your chain lubed. After cleaning your chain, squeeze a drop of lube into each chain rivet. Let the lube set for a few minutes, and then wipe the excess lube off with a clean and dry lint-free rag.
Check out this video for another approach to chain maintenance.
Learn how to change a tube. This is the most frequent type of maintenance and repair, and takes 10 minutes or less once you get the hang of it. This video is a helpful introduction to changing a tube.
As I mentioned in Cycling 101, there are also lots of community bike shops across the world. These spaces are low-cost places to use tools and learn bike maintenance and repair from peers.
How Do I Build Community?
Cycling should be fun! I am a real extrovert, so cycling is one of my main forms of social interaction and it is how I met some of my best friends. Check with local bike shops for group rides and meetups, join a cycling club, or find a cycling group through social media.
Remember that building community takes time, and that not everyone you meet is going to be a lifelong friend. Be patient with yourself and go forward with confidence and a smile.