10 Tips I Wish I Knew as a Beginner Cyclist

Video ID: 1VsKPt5l6vw

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VsKPt5l6vw

Added At: 13-06-25 21:17:58

Processed: No

Sentiment: Neutral

Categories: Education, Health

Tags: cycling, biking, bike safety, road cycling, beginner cyclist, local bike shop

Summary

• The importance of establishing a relationship with a local bike shop for beginner cyclists.
• The value of proper helmet fitting and adjusting the straps.
• The need to be seen when riding solo, especially at night.
• The importance of zone two training for beginners to develop their aerobic engine.

Transcript

how not to make your vagina flaps get
really sore when you're riding okay
and what did you learn there's nothing
you can do you just need lots of
kilometres
right welcome back to the friday vlog
series where today we're going to split
the video into 10 parts i know that's
slightly controversial but both my wife
and i my wife was a beginner cyclist in
2019 and i was a beginner cyclist way
back in 2009 we're both going to share
with you our thoughts things that we
wish we knew when we were beginner
cyclists and there's going to be 10 of
them with a little bonus tip at the end
so let's get into it tip number two
while these are in no particular
sequence of order i could argue this is
the most important one and that is don't
underestimate the value of a good
quality local bike shop like trilogy
cycles here on the sunshine coast reason
being when i first got into road cycling
when i was a beginner i was very much
focused on price finding the best deal
look that's human nature but i wish
someone told me
focus on establishing a trusted
relationship with a good quality local
bike shop assuming you've got one in
your area yes you might have a mate that
can guide you and thinks he knows a
thing or two about road cycling hey
terrence yeah mate what psi do you
reckon mate you got to go 120 in the
front 150 and the rear is the fastest oh
yes but there's nothing quite like being
able to come to a local bike shop when
you're a beginner cyclist to find out
what are the best upgrades for you given
your budget what are the best group
rides to join in your local area based
on current fitness levels what's the
best cycling club to join given what
your goals are in cycling and of course
a safe haven when you run into
mechanical issues tip number three and
we are knocking out the big important
ones first and that is when i was a
beginner cyclist for the first few
months i was a bit silly i rode around
with my helmet strapped like that which
is dangerous so i wish someone pulled me
aside and said cameron first of all does
your helmet fit your head properly how
do you know that undo the retention
system at the back can you fit one
finger just between your head and the
helmet then it fits then put the helmet
strap on do it up tightly the old two
finger trick two fingers between your
eyes or eyebrows and the top of the
helmet and two fingers just underneath
your chin and the chin strap or you can
do the old yawn trick at the bottom of
the yawn you should be able to feel
some tension in the strap make sure the
v's are just below your ears and please
if you're wearing cycling glasses ensure
the arms go over the straps of the
helmet reason being it's not the cool
thing to do if you get into an
unfortunate incident you come off your
bike you don't want these glasses
getting caught up in your helmet straps
so tip number four and this has become
more of a personal agitation of mine but
i was guilty of this as a beginner
cyclist
see this cream right here nowhere on
that label does it say ass smearing
cream nor on the instructions does it
say go out into the public and smear
this cream all over your body like
you're in a porno
[Music]
it's yummy cream which means you can put
some on your chamois which is what i
like to do little bits in here where the
agitation spots are i put a little bit
on my skin as well that's what i like to
do before longer rides but please don't
be the guy or girl that goes out into
public giving yourself a reach around do
it somewhere discreetly and remember
less is more number five is i wish i had
a simple strategy for saddle height when
i was first a beginner cyclist i had no
idea so what i want to do in this little
section is share with you a simple
strategy you can use which has come from
expert bike fitter neil stambre but
before i share that strategy with you i
did want to thank today's video sponsor
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to the 24 month plan so what you need to
do for this saddle height strategy is
sit on the bike either on an indoor
trainer or go out onto the road and if
you're out on the road get the bike up
to speed and then unclip extend your leg
out so your heel can comfortably reach
the pedal without having to lean into it
then drop the seat height by 15 to 20
mil and then ride in that position for
two to three minutes at roughly your 20
minute intensity and take note on how
the position feels then slowly raise the
saddle height in increments of three
millimeters and then repeat the same two
to three minute test and see how it
feels until you get to a point where
things start to feel a little unusual
you'll possibly start compensating
somewhere notably you'll feel a chopping
sensation at the bottom of the pedal
stroke something will just not feel
right so drop your saddle height back
two to three millimeters and then you've
got a good rough starting point number
six make sure you're
seen particularly when riding solo wear
bright colored kits or jerseys like this
one here or something like this when i
first started road cycling i followed
the lead of my mates who had been riding
for longer than me and at the time dark
kits were in fashion so blacks navy
blues etc so i bought a navy blue kit
and it wasn't until probably two years
ago to be honest with you
i got hit by a car unfortunately riding
solo and guess what colored kit i was
wearing at the time it was a black kit
so i was lucky
to get through that but moving forward
now i learned a valuable lesson be seen
as much as you can on the road i now
wear these bright coloured kits from the
peddler these bold kits i also run
flashing lights even during the day you
can see a red one on the back there i
can't find my front though at the moment
so a little bonus tip
don't leave your lights your bike lights
on the floor when your kids are around
because you'll probably never find them
again groups did you take my bike
i think i might be in the pool
so for tip number seven let's hear from
my wife first cleats thing that is so
basic you know i fell over at a set of
traffic lights at the celtex on beach
road very famous cycling gathering
location yes
so what do you wish you could find in
order to learn how to clip into nothing
it was exactly right you just have to
get out there and risk your life
and look to be fair i did a similar
thing to my wife and i wish someone told
me up front that bike handling skills
it's kind of like training you want to
progressively
make things more difficult as you become
more experienced so if you haven't
ridden one of these things
ever before or if you haven't ridden a
bike in a number of years
skinny tires aerodynamics these things
are quick so what i would recommend is
buy some flat pedals first
come to a quiet environment like this
local criterium truck i've got here in
my hometown
and just practice
taking off riding around corners
stopping get a feel for the bike first
then once you're confident here go out
onto the road and get confident out
there might take you three four five
weeks once you're confident out there go
buy some clip in pedals and come back to
your quiet environment practice clipping
in clipping out
stopping starting clipping and clipping
out
and then once you're confident here you
can go out onto the road
number eight i wish i understood the
importance as a beginner cyclist
of zone two training particularly
putting constant pressure on the cranks
while training the aerobic engine none
of this you see when i first got into
road cycling i was in my late 20s and at
the time i was going to the gym i was
pumping on eating sultana brand and
playing aussie rules football and those
two things my friends they are intense
and that was my mindset things needed to
be intense so i carried that mindset
into cycling and every single ride was
hard when i was a beginner cyclist
and that is not how it should be so if
you have not done endurance sports
before or it's been a long time since
you've done them say it was back in your
school days you will have an
underdeveloped aerobic base engine and
what i realize now particularly as a
road cycling coach is that is a huge
opportunity for improvement on the bike
so
get yourself a heart rate strap go out
and figure what your max heart rate is
perhaps look for a local five six minute
com and rip it apart doesn't have to be
your max it can be almost your max and
take 70 to 75 percent of that max heart
rate and between your hard sessions on
the bike whatever they look like do zone
two sessions concentrating on constant
pressure on the cranks keeping your
heart rate around 70 to 75 percent now
those of you with a power meter do an
ftp test and go about 70 of your ftp tip
number nine is i wish as a beginner
cyclist someone had pulled me aside and
really emphasized the importance of
bunch or group riding progression now
i've got some examples to show you here
as this was my first proper bunch or
group ride which is the tuesday world
champs on beach road in melbourne
australia
it's full of a graders and good riders
that know how to go fast now while that
was the ride that enticed me further
into the world of road cycling the fact
is i was not ready for that level of
skill and speed combined far from it
where i did learn a thing or two was
through my local cycling club so joining
a local cycling club and doing e-grade
criteriums or what they call latte laps
where you get coached on bunch riding
etiquette from an experienced rider as
you go around so before you seek out the
local fast bunch ride or any bunch ride
for that matter hit up your local
cycling club see what rides they've got
available on a weekly basis to learn
bunch riding etiquette contact your
local cycling coach and go out on the
road with him put your ego aside and
listen and learn about bunch writing
etiquette if you want to learn more on
this topic you can check out a little
video i've got up there and this is by
no means number 10 on the list this is
very important this one and that is i
wish someone pulled me aside as a
beginner cycler sat me down and drilled
this one home perhaps the most
and that is once you've got a good
quality local bike shop you've got your
helmet on properly you've developed your
skills you're confident
i wish i was sat down and told to be
predictable out on the road so the bonus
tip originally it was going to be about
upgrading your wheels get some carbon
hoops do not underestimate just how good
a nice set of carbon hoops is but i've
got something more important to say
and look i might get a few dislikes from
this comment so if you're with me on
this and you've enjoyed this video
please don't forget to give it a like
that would be greatly appreciated and
that is
can we all please just agree if you're
going to expose your skin out on the
road just shave your bloody
[Music]
tell you legs i'll tell you