Each day we spend sitting on the bicycle saddle, we feel better and better. We improve our reflexes, our physical condition and it makes us feel a little more “free”. The experience also gives us little tricks that make our cycling life a little better. Here you have 15 of them. Surely some of you already knew it, or you knew it without having noticed it.
- If you feel too lazy riding your bike in the morning, get everything ready to leave the house the night before. All you have to do is get dressed, have breakfast and go cycle.
- Bring latex or rubber gloves. This way, if you have to change a tube or put the chain back on, you won’t get your hands or handlebars dirty.
- So that the disc brake calipers don’t accidentally come together when you remove the wheel to transport the bike, insert your grocery store card (any other plastic card will do) into the gap. This way you don’t have to force them apart with a screwdriver.
- If you ride around in the hot summer months, you can leave on these trips with frozen energy bars. They will keep your back a little cooler and when you eat them they will be nice and refreshing.
- If you have a shoe with a BOA tightening system and the fastener stops working, BOA will send you a free repair kit so that you can repair it yourself if you request it from them.
- When you exit the car, always open the door with your opposite arm, so it will be more comfortable to turn the neck and look back for approaching cyclists. This is also known as the “Dutch reach”.
- Learn to jump over potholes. Diverting to avoid a bump or hole when driving on a busy street can be dangerous. Lifting your weight off your bike to avoid hard contact or trying to jump over it is safest.
- Recycle your bottles. After some time and intensive use the bottles need to be changed. You can still use them as tool holders.
- Bring a small bag that holds your tupperwares within your backpack. It is quite unpleasant to find all your food scattered around the backpack in case your lunch box because of the movements on the bike.
- Use carrier or plastic bags for keys, cell phones, energy bars and spare parts. This will save you from carrying everything in a backpack and making your back sweaty.
- Save the box your bicycle arrived in, even if it’s a little bulky. If you have the space, keeping the box is a good idea to check-in our bike for flights or transport it more safely. Finding a suitable box or having to buy one can be difficult.
- If you want to take the perfect picture of your bike and it seems easy to balance it, use a stick to support it from the bottom bracket axle.
- Use straps or cleats. Whether you go with fixed gear, single-speed or road bike style your pedaling will be more efficient if you use some way of fixing your foot to the pedal.
- Use only bottles for energy drinks and the hydration backpack for water only. Sugary drinks end up leaving traces of their flavour in the container. It is cheaper to buy a new bottle than a new hydration backpack bag.
- Look for a cycling group. Going out alone is great: you don’t have to depend on anyone, you can go at your own pace and you decide the route. But going out in a group motivates you to go out more often, to plan the day, to spend time with friends, to improve physically by “battling” with them and socialising over a post-ride drink.
