How To Ride A Road Bike For The First Time

Road bikes are among the most popular bikes today. If you do not know how to ride a road bike, you are missing out on something beautiful. However, it is never too late to embark on road bike riding. Road bike riding can be so exhilarating. 

There may be no better way to spend your leisure time or to exercise than to hit the road with your road bike. So if you do not know how to ride, I am about to show you how to ride a road bike for the first time.

Any enthusiastic rider would tell you how much the sense of speed and the feeling of wind blowing through your hair can be so satisfying. Here are some tips to help you begin and eventually get there.

Choose A Bike That Fits You:

The first tip for a successful beginning to road bike riding is to choose a bike that fits you in every sense of it. Riding a road bike sometimes means you spend a lot of time pedaling in one posture. You are supposed to bend your body downwards until your back is flat. This might not go well with your riding comfort if you are riding the wrong bike fit. 

When you are riding a bike that fits you just right, cycling in that posture will not accentuate a postural problem regardless of how long you ride. Choose a road bike that matches your height. You know it is the right fit when you can stand over the frame with your feet on the ground and still leave a 1-inch clearance between you and the bike. 

In a static position, you should be able to sit comfortably on the saddle with one foot on the ground and another on the pedal to help you push the bike forward. 

Gear Up:

If you thought finding the perfect bike is everything, you are wrong. You need to dress up properly for cycling. This is where you gather every gear you need to feel comfortable, be safe, and minimize resistance while cycling. You need to put on safety gear and every other gear that is needed for road bike riding. 

You need a new helmet that you should wear every time you are cycling. No matter how much you are tempted to reach for an old helmet, resist the temptation. As a beginner, you need a new one that fits your head and style.

If you desire to look like a pro, you can also get yourself a cycling kit that consists of a jersey with padded bib shorts that match, socks, and athletic shoes. What makes the kit special is its material, which wicks away sweat while at the same time regulating your body temperature.

Bike Inspection And Planning Your Cycling Route

Before you embark on actual cycling, you need to do these two things; inspecting your bike and planning your route. You need to ensure your road bike is efficient and in the best shape possible. You need to check every part from saddle, chain, and tires, to brakes. 

A beginner riding a poorly maintained bicycle or that is in poor shape is a disaster waiting to happen. You have to review your bike this first time and several other times after this because regular inspection is necessary. 

Nothing should stop you from making your first road bike cycling experience pleasant. That is why you have to pay close attention to the tires’ pressure and other parts before you begin. Then you can complete the preparation with proper planning of your cycling route. 

Ride Carefully:

Browse the map of your area to select the most desirable but safer roads. When choosing the right routes to cycle along, you need to consider factors such as beginner friendliness, safety, traffic, and difficulty level of the terrain. 

You can begin with riding on tracks that are less challenging and move on to more challenging ones every time you graduate from the previous level of difficulty. You can cycle along a road with minimum traffic but only after you practice on your neighborhood road where the traffic is almost zero. 

A beginner needs an open road to practice various road bike riding techniques. Such roads have no noise that can distract you nor do trucks that run too close. Also, you can take your practice to a street that you have researched so much about. A beginner should never pedal on the side of a major road. Only pros can do that.

Distance To Cover And Speed

If you are a beginner, start by covering less than two miles every training session. You train your body to adapt by beginning with a short distance and increasing it gradually as your skills continue to improve. 

However, never rush into increasing the cycling distance lest your body gets overwhelmed and harmed. You should only increase your distance when your training is properly maintained and the progress is good. After about ten weeks of serious training, you will be good enough to cycle for ten miles, maybe more. Within ten weeks, the distance should increase gradually from two miles to ten miles or over. 

Just like it is with distance, the speed at which you cycle should increase gradually with continued practice. Start slowly, then increase systematically over time. High speed is never recommended for a newbie, as it can be too dangerous. 

Conclusion

Follow these guidelines and you may just be on the road to being a great road bike cyclist. Everything takes practice and dedication to get better at. Morning hours are the best practice. So get up early every morning and do your thing. You can look for a cycling partner and train together. This usually works well for cyclists, beginners, and pros alike. The more experienced your training partner is the better. You can learn new moves from the partner and even chat in between training to relax.