We’ve all faced a number of challenges throughout the pandemic and no doubt there will be a few speed bumps ahead. But for many of us, the simple pleasure of getting out on our bikes has helped us immensely over the past 15 months.
As restrictions in some parts of the world relax, there will no doubt be thoughts of going for a ride somewhere new and enjoying the freedom our sport gives us.
In our next webinar, we are going to explore five things that can help you enjoy the rest of the year and put you in a good place for your future cycling goals.
1. Draft a plan. Of course, you may not get to stick to it if circumstances change, but at least you will have some goals that matter for you. If you were hoping to travel to ride, you could still include those trips on your plan. Even if there is some disruption to come or you don’t want to actually book anything yet, plotting it out will help – it will show you what you want to achieve on your bike and help you to do so even if your plans change.
2. Think up or at least put down on paper your big goal of the year. This really is very personal – for some of our customers, that goal is as lofty as winning an Olympic Gold Medal. For most of us, it is still something way beyond what we could do last year. The real point of writing that goal down and making it visible is like the overall plan – if there is disruption, you can still focus on the goal. Say that you wanted to do a seven day camp in the summer, but unexpectedly lockdowns came back. Changing that to autumn may be possible and you can still achieve your cherished goal, just a little later than planned.
3. You know that I am always going to say this! If you have been following our advice on how to ride faster, then you are going to hit some personal bests this season. You want them recorded properly and truly, so that you can get real joy out of your achievement and also have a genuine target to take on next year.
4. Because the time on the bike has been cut short so much in the last year and even this year so far, don’t try and do too much. Quality is always better than quantity, even in an endurance sport and pastime like cycling. Make sure you have low weeks or rest weeks so that the improvements can bed in and your cycling can progress to a higher level. You do not get better by flogging yourself. That is a fact.
5. Lastly, change things up a little. Don’t go back to where you were before, step it up. What does that mean for you? It might mean changing some of your group rides. It might mean more time with the family, even out on the bike.
So in our next webinar, we will tease out all these ideas – seek to give some solid advice and a look for some great ideas from our community. If you have some ideas that you would like us to discuss, how about dropping us a line at improve@vervecycling.com.
We look forward to seeing you at the webinar….
The Five Ways to Make 2021 your Best Riding Year webinar will take place on Thursday 27 May 2021. View the available sessions and register.
Verve Cycling is hosting a number of webinars over the coming weeks – check out the full schedule to find out what’s on and sign-up.
