10 tips I wish I knew when I started bike commuting

here are 10 tips i wish i had known before i started by commuting the first time is the worst time i remember the very first day and the very first few days it was so tiring and i even got lost on a couple of occasions it was well not a complete disaster but it was very hard and it gradually became easier and easier it really does become easier once you get used to the route once you get used to your bike and you need to be patient because really the first time is the worst time you can get started on almost any bicycle i mean i spent so much time analyzing what the perfect bike would be for me i think i spent about a month trying to decide what the perfect bicycle was and really i had access to my brother's bike he was kind enough to lend it to me and it was great and when i picked the bicycle that i eventually ended up using long term uh it wasn't even the perfect bike as it turned out because and that brings me to the next point the perfect bike doesn't exist every bike has some feature or a set of features that makes it useful for something for a certain type of riding but there is no bike that has everything like for example this one is great because i can fold it i can take it with me into stores i don't need to lock it outside but it's not good for climbing steep hills because it doesn't have a good granny gear a road bike might be great for going fast but it might not be great for going off-road or it's not great for going on rough surfaces and so you need to find the feature or the set of features that you're looking for and that depends on the type of commute that you have so i wish i'd stopped chasing for the perfect bike a bit sooner don't obsess over gear gear overload is a real thing and at one point i was so guilty of this i had a light i had a camera mount i had handlebar bag and i had something else mounted to my handlebar and it was so messy just to go to the store i had to take up every single one of them before i could enter and it took me like two minutes to get everything off and another two minutes to put everything on even if i only spent just a minute in the store so simplify your bike don't obsess over gear find the essentials and the simpler the better small changes can make a big difference and i wish i had understood this a little bit earlier the first few days in the first few weeks are all about survival and getting used to the new situation and getting into the habit and getting used to the route and getting your muscles used to commuting by bike but instead of looking for radical differences and radical changes in the bicycle you can make small adjustments and they make a big difference and you start appreciating that after a few weeks probably a few millimeters higher or lower in the saddle or a gear higher or lower all make big a big difference and even small adjustments in the handlebar so you can dial in the perfect position that is going to be the most suitable for you in every riding scenario make the bike accessible and ready to ride at all times it took me a while to figure out that if i kept my bike neatly stored away then i would have to make an extra effort to get it ready to ride it but if i just keep it ready to ride with all the lights charged and the backpack or the pannier or whatever i use for commuting in that particular season if everything is ready then all i need to do is just jump on the bike and off i go it's not a race not against anyone else not against yourself and not against the clock but sometimes against the clock but it took me a while to realize this and initially i was determined that i would get my commuting time under 30 minutes and all i achieved was i was able to shave off a few seconds or a few minutes of the ride and i was sweating like crazy and i didn't really feel like riding the following day so really you need to find the perfect cadence and the perfect pace and some days you're going to be a little bit faster other days you're going to be a little bit slower depending on how the wind blows and how you're feeling but eventually you're going to get there slower is sometimes faster and i came to realize this the hard way because when i push really hard then i'm going to end up sweating a lot and i lose the time that i gained in the commute i lose it in tidying myself up and waiting for the sweat to pass when i get to the office so really sometimes slower is faster safety is always a priority between a car on the road and me on the bike i'm always the weaker guy it doesn't matter who's right i'm always the weaker guy therefore there is no point in me trying to make every single driver obey the rules of the road because i have a lot to lose and in some intersections i know that there are motorists who don't pay attention so i need to pay double attention and i need to yield to them even though legally it is my right away establish a routine instead of preparing the things in the morning just as i'm trying to leave i came to realize it is much better to have everything ready the night before the pannier or the backpack ready and packed check my the weather forecast on my phone and i prepare my clothes as well that way all i need to do in the morning is get in get dressed double check the weather and leave every time i'm too lazy or too tired to prepare my things the night before i am either going to leave late because i need to prepare everything in the morning or i'm going to leave something at home maybe a laptop charger maybe an item of clothing and remember it is okay to not ride every single day sometimes you might be a little bit too tired sometimes you might be exhausted but you don't have to feel the pressure of a superhero on your shoulders because riding is not an obligation it is really something that is fun it should bring you joy and if your body craves for it but give it a break now bike commuting is one of the best decisions i have made in the last few years it has allowed me to interact with my city with my bike with myself with my surroundings in a very different way and there are so many other good reasons to buy commute and if you want to have 11 good reasons why you should give it a try too why not click on this video in which i explain why i ride the bike to work see you there

Channel: Bike Commuter Hero

Views: 12,815

Keywords: bike commuting, cycle to work, cycling, commuter bike, bike commuting tips, cycling tips

Id: crDvj74Ar5k

Length: 8min 5sec (485 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 13 2022