- We all love riding our bikes,
but what if you could make your ride even more enjoyable?
Well coming up, a whole load of decent hacks
to do exactly that.
(biker crying)
What's up?
- I'm just crying tears of joy.
Such a beautiful ride.
(funky dance music)
- A squeaking, creaking bike which changes gear
on its own while your riding it
is quite frankly, a nightmare.
And the thing is, it's often very easily sorted by you,
in your house, before you even go out riding.
Especially with our huge archive of maintenance videos.
I think of it like this, if you think of your bike
before you ride, you won't be thinking about your bike
during your ride.
(funky dance music)
Isn't it about time that you went Euro?
We certainly think so.
So change the units on your head unit
from miles to metric, and you'll be immediately
going further and faster in your ride.
- Wow!
- You won't, really, of course.
You'll be going exactly the same speed.
But it is nice to see bigger numbers,
and you'll feel way more pro.
- I feel more pro already now.
(funky dance music)
Given that we generally start and finish
our ride in the same place,
finding a shortcut does seem a bit pointless.
However, if it cuts off a busy road
or gets you to your favourite road quicker,
it's got to be a good thing right?
Do a bit of map researching before you head out
and see if you can find any roads or paths
that offer a short cut.
That might be a small section of gravel or trail,
but I might be great fun, too.
- Is this is where it comes out?
- Yeah, a little shortcut. - Bloody hell.
(funky dance music)
- Intervals are good for you.
Well, for your fitness, but let's face it,
they're not that much fun.
Riding up and down the same climb, full throttle
to the point of nearly feeling sick,
why do we do it?
Because it works.
But, surely there must be another way.
- Well there is.
All you've got to do is head out on a nice,
hilly ride and go old school.
So forget about your speed, your power, and your heart rate,
and just go on feel.
Sprint randomly,
go hard when you want to,
go easy when you want to.
And if you feel like stopping
at the side of the road to take in the view,
just do that as well.
- Sounds better to me.
(funky dance music)
- Speaking of which, do just that.
Stop and take a break.
If you stumble upon an incredible view,
or sunset et cetera, then stop.
Take it all in, soak it up, and if you want,
get your phone out and get a picture of it
with your bike in front.
Then send it into us at GCN,
and it may even feature as one of our
daily Inspirational Photos.
(funky dance music)
There's nothing like a cafe stop
to look forward to on a ride.
- No there's not.
If I'm perfectly honest, when I was riding full time,
I needed to be serious,
I rarely stopped at a cafe when I was training very hard.
However, now that I no longer need to be so serious,
it's pretty much mandatory.
- Yeah, well it breaks the ride up,
and let's face it,
coffee and cake taste good. - Yeah.
Especially apple strudel.
- Apple strudel,
- Looking forward to this.
(funky dance music)
- There's nothing quite like
finishing a ride with a descent.
Although that's not going to be possible
if you don't live next to one.
So instead, try to always finish your rides
with a tailwind.
Look at the weather forecast before you head out,
and plan your route accordingly.
(funky dance music)
Sometimes it is just nice to ride where you want
and make your route up as you go along.
But if you want to find new roads
and not get lost, planning a route is the way to go.
There are loads of route planning tools
out there on the internet, and your
almost certain to be able to find a new road
that you've never done before even close to home.
(funky dance music)
And finally, one of the best ways
to make a ride even better is to do it
on a shiny, new bike.
The feeling of having a new bike
tucked away in the garage, well it's like
having chocolate in the fridge.
It's always on your mind.
You want it, that feeling of newness, shininess, freshness.
It'll help give you the extra motivation on the ride,
and may even help you go even faster
through the placebo effect.
Really!
I've got a new bike!
New bike!
- Oh my goodness.
He's like a kid at Christmas.
Anyway, those are some of GCNs tips
for how to make your bike ride more enjoyable.
But as ever, we and our viewers
would love to hear yours, which you can leave
in the comment section just down below.
If you haven't subscribed, you can do so
by clicking on the globe.
Coming up, a couple more videos you might well
be interested in.
Just down here, is how to plan
a nice bicycle route, or if you don't want
to enjoy your ride, down here,
are GCNs tips on how to make every ride epic.