you might be thinking of taking your
next pedal stroke in your cycling life
it could be trying out clear plus pedals
lycra entering your first race or even
considering your first long ride
whatever your aim is to achieve in your
cycle in life it'll take some confidence
everybody has different levels of
experience and usually with experience
comes confidence to try new things
in this video i'm going to give you some
ideas on how to grow your confidence on
the bike
and hopefully by the end you'll be able
to work towards your next big or little
goal in your cycle in life
before we get started let's head over to
the gcn app and answer this poll
how confident are you on the bike once
you've answered that
come back we'll get started
if you're working towards your next big
ride goal make sure you set yourself
weekly targets to make sure
they're achievable no point setting
yourself a big goal
to scare yourself off and then not ride
at all it could be a 50 kilometer ride
you could break that down into two 25
kilometer rides on the weekend
or five 10 kilometer rides over the week
whatever works to your schedule best
and if you devoured those 50 kilometers
why not try 60
70 or 80 and before you know it you'll
be at the big 100.
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standing at the saddle it may sound
simple but if you're just getting into
riding it can be pretty scary
the concept of standing up on the pedals
and swaying your bike from left to right
going up a hill
it is pretty scary why not try this
stationary at home if you're
going to try it out for the first time
stand up on your pedals with them level
and then when you're confident doing
that head out on the road try on a nice
flat road to begin with
then on a descent and then on an uphill
you can also try a bunny hopping this is
really good to get yourself out to some
sticky situations bunny hopping curbs
bottles or dead free on the road
practice does make perfect and i did a
video on how to bunny hop recently and
make sure you head over and watch that
and see if you can do any better because
i was truly terrible so i'm sure you can
there are two great ways to build your
confidence by riding with others
the first one would be to ride with
family or friends that perhaps less
experienced than yourself
you could act as their guide and coach
for them to become better riders
on the other hand you could try riding
with someone who is more experienced
than yourself
this can help you push your limits to
ride further faster and better than you
normally would
you learn roadcraft by talking to others
and sharing knowledge
or by getting more confident by riding
in a group
it is however important to do both
there's no point riding with someone
who's just going to drop
you every ride you do because that's
just not going to be good for morale you
need to do a bit of both
looking back now no i don't mean looking
over your shoulder when you're out
riding on the road
although that is a very good skill to
have i mean looking back at just how far
you've come
to get to this stage it's great to
evaluate just how far you've come
as a rider instead of getting
overwhelmed with what's to come
i always used to set myself annual goals
as a rider something to get
excited about and look back on over the
years to see just how far i've come
keep it regular it's better to ride
little and often rather than one
big ride once a month not only will you
probably worry about that big ride but
your body will get used to not being on
the bike
even if it's just half an hour every
other day it's better than nothing
keep your body and mind in check and
ultimately build your confidence by
spending more time on the bike
if there's something you're struggling
with confidence cornering descending
talk about it it's highly likely that
someone you know will be able to
offer some advice or guidance otherwise
a chat to the cycling community
on social media youtube or on the gcn
app
everyone is super friendly and as for
their favorite gcn saying goes
we've all been there
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obviously trying something new comes
with greater confidence but there are
other types of riding you can do at
lower risk if you usually ride a road
bike why not see if you're going to hire
a mountain bike for a weekend and get
out and hit the trails
you can pick up a load of new skills
without even noticing
and you can transfer them to the road
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perhaps you're struggling with
confidence due to an injury or a crash
or some kind of negative emotion
attached to a location or a ride
try switching it up by riding somewhere
completely different
get inspired by an epic view or explore
your local area that you might have
neglected
once you've built up that confidence you
can return it to that original location
but you don't have to there's a whole
world out there to explore
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getting your confidence on the bike is a
slow process especially if your
confidence gets knocked back by a crash
you'll have to work back slowly to get
back to where you were
don't worry about it and don't rush it
good things come to those who wait as
the saying goes
and don't beat yourself up about if your
friends ride every day
do it at your own pace and do what feels
right for you
and finally watch gcn come on i wasn't
not going to say that
we're here to help you progress through
your cycling lives
if you've just started or if you're a
seasoned pro we're here to help you
we've got tons of videos on our channel
on every possible topic
and if you can't find something let us
know and we'll see what we can do
thank you for watching everybody i hope
this video has helped you build some
confidence to get out on your bike
and talk about riding bikes i think i'm
gonna go ride my bike