Do you love to cycle? Are you ready to bike the trails, paths, and roads near your home?
Many people are turning to activities like yoga and bike riding as healthy alternatives to do from home. Cycling is a simple way to stay fit, healthy, and get out in nature. If you’ve been feeling the urge, now is a great time to start.
If you’re ready to get on your bike, here’s how to start smart.
Get Your Gear Ready
It’s helpful to have all your bicycling gear ready and waiting. You shouldn’t have to sort through your garage every time you want to go riding.
Put together a bike-ready kit. This may include:
• A mask
• A helmet
• Any medical identification
• A mini-first aid kit
Have all your must-have gear in one spot. This will help you feel ready and organized.
Do A Safety Check
Knowing your equipment is safe helps you feel confident about cycling.
If you are new to cycling, or it’s been a while, get a refresher. Check out your town or community for a Bike Safety course.
Once you review the basics, get into a familiar routine. Make it a habit to do a safety check before every ride.
• Inspect tires and check the air pressure
• Check the brakes
• Check your front and rear lights
• Check the air pump
• Check your tire repair kit
• Grab your helmet, mask, and gear kit
Start Small To Gain Confidence
Every cyclist started as a first-timer. If you’re noticing that certain streets or traffic conditions make you nervous, pay attention. Cycling fear is natural. You can tackle each aspect by taking small steps.
If you find a certain hill too steep, start with a smaller one. If you aren’t used to bicycling in traffic, start with a less popular road. If it’s hard to see at twilight, ride earlier in the day.
Similarly, get to know your equipment. Get familiar with the ins and outs by taking a bicycle maintenance course. Once you know how to analyze a squeaky gear or fix a flat tire, your confidence will soar.
Encourage Yourself
Feeling confident will inspire you to go to new places. You’ll try out a different route. You could join a cycling club and meet like-minded people. It’s also true that you may decide to apply your newfound confidence to bolster your health in other ways.
For instance, once you’re confident in your cycling, you may notice other areas of your health to prioritize. Eating healthy foods. Getting more flexible with yoga. Finding the best health insurance for your family.
Protecting your health and your family’s health is a top priority – but health insurance quotes, options, and coverage amounts can seem challenging at first.
Fortunately, when you break it down into little steps, it’s easier to do. It’s easy to shop online for health insurance quotes and get answers in minutes. You can take small steps to design your coverage, choose your provider, and check out your benefit amounts.
In other words, you’ll be able to protect your family with smart safety habits, the best health coverage. It’s a lot like getting your gear, habits, and tools ready for action.
Cycling For Health
Experts from the Mayo Clinic agree cycling is great for health. Cycling has massive benefits for getting in shape, staying in shape, and improving your fitness levels. Cycling could be the piece that helps you achieve your health goals.
Think about it.
Cycling offers a wide selection of the things we’ve been missing during the pandemic.
• Getting outside and spending time in nature.
• Social relating – while staying safely socially distant.
• Staying physically active.
• Having structure in daily life.
• Commuting with an earth-friendly alternative.
Cycling is a great activity that you can use for commuting, playing, socializing, and exercising. It’s a very effective way to stay active – whether you’re a solo warrior, or riding with your kids. You can explore different terrains – off-roading, on trails, or on roads.
Most importantly, you don’t have to have a bunch of new gear or be in great shape to get started. You need a bicycle. You can start with short rides. As you get stronger, you’ll naturally want to ride more. This is when you’ll magnetically feel the urge to ride longer, go up hills, and test your limits.
Sum Up
If you’ve been thinking about cycling, now is a great time to put your ideas into action.