You want to Improve Your Cycling before your Great Bike Tour, we want to share with you some tips to accomplish this goal!
To improve your cycling all you have to do is set some goals and remember to keep it fun, you are not training for the Tour de France . Putting a few more miles a week on your bike will help you get more joy from your bike tour.
The good news is that it’s not that hard to improve your cycling! To get better all you have to do is jump on and spend more time on your bike. If you are looking at taking a Great Bike Tour, cycling must be something you love doing, and there are many things you can do to keep the boredom of training at bay.
Start with Structured Training to Improve Your Cycling
Start with setting a few small goals and you can build from there, but having structure is the key to your improvement. Do you want to comfortably complete more miles, be stronger on hills or build more strength for example?
Your first goal does not need to be your final goal, think of it as a stepping stone. Recently we found some great tips on cyclingweekly.com to share with you!
When setting goals, the tried and tested method to follow is the acronym, SMART:
• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Attainable,
• Realistic
• Time-specific
It is a good rule of thumb to follow, and pretty self-explanatory. By asking yourself, SMART ensures you know your goal inside out, what it involves, and when you should be reaching it by.
Writing down your goals takes the thought to an action. Get in the habit of keeping a log of your cycling to help you track your improvement and to know when you have accomplished your goal!
Steps to take to Improve Your Cycling
First, to improve any task you set your mind to, you must fuel your body properly – be sure you pay attention to your diet.
Be sure to gradually build your way towards your goals – and if you should suffer an injury make sure you take the full time needed to heal! Consider adding a mile or two each time you go out, or take different routes on different days so the terrain will be different and challenge your muscles at different times during your ride.
Make sure your bike “fits” you. Everyone is built differently and off the shelf bikes do not work for everyone. Stop in the bike shop and make sure your bike is set up for you and that you are comfortable riding it.
Think of your cycling as just that, you are riding, not working towards a goal or training. Don’t take the enjoyment out of your cycling! Take 1 or two extra rides each week. You may want to consider cycling to the convenience store or library or coffee shop, instead of taking the car, to increase your miles.
Cycle with a friend and share your goals. There is nothing like having a friend around to push you a little past your comfort zone! Cycling to work may be the right fit for you to!
Remember to stay hydrated!
We cannot emphasize enough how important is it to hydrate, especially on warmer sunny days. Be sure you pack enough snacks for your ride as well. For longer trips you want to start snacking about 30 min into your ride and drink high carbohydrate/electrolyte drinks. Nobody wants to “bonk” on a ride.
Choosing your Great Bike Tour
Our trips are rated from Very Easy (Key West) to Easy/Moderate (New York’s Adirondacks/Vermont) With 10 Different destinations to choose from we are sure you will find one of our trips that is just right for you. Many destinations offer multisport options including kayaking, sailing, and more. Design your own custom private guided group trips as well.
Learn all about Great Bike Tours destinations
Each of our trips is supported by two 15-passenger vans. Two vehicles makes it easier for us to cater to everyone’s needs and desires – we have enough room in our air-conditioned vans for everyone on the tour – no more waiting by the side of the road because the van is full.
The vast majority of our trips will have three leaders and two vans. We may even add a 4th guide if it will benefit the tour. On some of our smaller trips (13 people or less), we might opt for two leaders and one van, as long as we can still guarantee everyone a seat in the van while maintaining our exemplary level of service.
Great Bike Tours is on the cutting edge of bike tour research, seeking out new and novel bike-tour-destinations that the larger companies haven’t even thought of yet. Great Bike Tours was the first company to design trips in the Florida Keys, Rhode Island, Georgia’s Golden Isles, Hilton Head Island, the Adirondacks of New York, and New Hampshire!
Watch for our next exciting new destinations. We hope that you can join us next season!
