Try different activities, you might surprise yourself, I got the bug for road and mountain biking after enjoying spin classes. We are lucky enough to live near the mountains and have fantastic scenery that’s on our doorstep – perfect for biking!
Set a goal
After finishing playing football, I needed a different focus so wanted to set a new challenge for myself. I invested in a decent road bike (through the cycle to work scheme) and decided to sign up for Prudential RideLondon which is the world’s greatest festival of cycling. This event allows amateur cyclists, like me, to participate in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 mile challenge on the same closed roads as professionals.
Plan and prepare
In order to prepare for such a long distance, we signed up for Wiggle Sportives, which I highly recommend. A Sportive is the cycling equivalent of running a marathon and can involve anything from 50-150 miles. It’s a great way of exploring different parts of the country and helped build up the mileage in our legs ready for those hills – there is nothing like specificity!
Cycling is a really good way to build up your cardiovascular fitness as well as increasing your muscular strength and endurance. I also found exploring somewhere new and being outdoors is good for my mental health too.
Top tips
I had no previous experience of road cycling before signing up to these events so here are my tips if you’re thinking about getting involved:
- Road cycling can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. I learned from experience but there are some good websites such as https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/community/round-ups/cycling-etiquette to raise awareness and help keep everyone safe.
- If you are going to be completing road Sportive events, look into Cycle to work schemes, this allowed me to invest in a decent road bike which I could pay off monthly. You will be sat on that saddle for a long time so getting a well-fitted bike is worth considering if its something you are going to take up.
- Research and shop around – I found specialist bike shops very expensive and catered more towards elite riders. I didn’t want to pay over £1000+ for my bike so I went to Evans Cycles in Cardiff and found they offered a good range of bikes suitable for my budget.
- Look on Welsh Cycling website: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/wales they have loads of information about clubs and campaigns, as well as local development officers to help you get involved. There are also women’s only rides you can get involved in https://www.letsride.co.uk/breeze
I hope this inspires you to be brave and try something new. If you are looking for tips on health and fitness then please get in touch via my contact page or follow me on social media.
