How to Bike Outdoors If You’ve Ever Cycled Indoors
If you killed him in indoor cycling lessons, you might be wondering if you have what it takes to become a beast on the road. Or you may be scared. Here’s what you need to do outdoor cycling.
Get the helmet
Safety first. Outdoors, there are many ways to fall off your bike, whether by mistake or colliding with other people. While there is some controversy over whether or not casual cyclists really need helmets, you won’t see serious cyclists without them. If your head hits the sidewalk, you should definitely wear a helmet. Take a suitable one and tighten the straps so that it covers your forehead.
Find a safe place to start
If you haven’t ridden in a while, find an empty parking lot or a quiet bike path for your first ride. If you’re trying to divide your focus between handling your bike, exercising well, and avoiding traffic jams, this is something worth considering. When you’re ready to hit the road, plan your route ahead of time so you know where you can go without hitting tons of traffic lights, for example.
Learn to shift gears
In a cycling studio, you simply bend over and adjust this handle whenever the instructor tells you to or when you feel like it. If she screams that you are approaching a hill, no one will know if, instead, you adjust the resistance to a comfortable level.
But outdoors is a different story altogether. You can change gears, but nothing really makes the hills really easy. (And if you try to get around them, you might just end up on a different hill.) So it’s worth learning how to shift gears correctly.
Usually, you try to maintain a good cadence (foot speed) and tune the gears accordingly. This means that when you are on level ground, each pedal step gives you more force to propel you down the road. And when you get to the hill, you shift up to a higher gear so that each push only moves you a little. This means that you will be able to climb the mountain slowly, but not too fatigued.
And feel free to walk. If you live in a hilly area, you will eventually have to get off your bike and ride it uphill. You are still playing sports, you are simply choosing the most efficient way to get around in that particular area. When you reach the top, just jump back and keep going.