{"id":192257,"date":"2023-03-09T09:02:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T09:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=192257"},"modified":"2023-03-09T09:03:01","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T09:03:01","slug":"5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/03\/09\/5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Best Advice for Aspiring Lifelong Cyclists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you have older cyclists in your group that inspire you? Do you wonder how they stuck with the sport for so long? If you want to give yourself the best chance at becoming a lifelong cyclist, follow these five pieces of advice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Love the doing as much as the achieving<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Finishing races, hitting personal bests, and winning medals are achievements that fuel many cyclists to train hard. These can be really exciting and rewarding goals but they won\u2019t sustain you for long. Think of a sport that\u2019s really boring to you. Is it golf? Just joking. But regardless, imagine you are so talented in that sport that you could be the world champion if you trained hard. How long would you do the sport for? I\u2019m guessing a few seasons at most. You\u2019d win the world title, cash in a few checks and then happily retire to go back to cycling that you actually enjoy.<\/p>\n

The point of this example was to illustrate that if you enjoy \u201cdoing\u201d, meaning riding your bike, it trumps being a champion. If you can make those regular everyday rides fun and satisfying, you\u2019re never going to give up on cycling, no matter the medals, prizes or age.<\/p>\n

Seek out driven and optimistic people<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There is a famous quote by Jim Rohn,<\/a> an entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, that summarizes this topic:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re the average of the five people spend the most time with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most cyclists that do group rides know that if you ride with positive and motivated people, it\u2019s more enjoyable and you\u2019re more likely to keep coming back. Unfortunately, this works the other way around too. Negative people can influence your feelings and decisions too. They don\u2019t believe in themselves and blame everyone else for their failings. You may not be like that but people like this will eventually drag you down to their level, given enough time.<\/p>\n

Make a conscious effort to shape your group of cycling friends<\/a> over time. Invest time in people who are driven and optimistic. Make an effort, it makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a>
If your friends like nature and adventure, show them some mythic climbs, beautiful routes, and amazing scenery they will be able to see if they get into cycling. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stick to the fundamentals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s appealing to jump on the latest trends in training, recovery, and nutrition. The problem is not that they don\u2019t work. It\u2019s what you\u2019re giving up by chasing those marginal gains. Doing the fundamentals right gets you about 90% of the way to your maximum potential. While professional athletes need to address the remaining 10% because their livelihood depends on it, you don\u2019t have to, maybe even shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of time, planning, and discipline to stick with a solid training plan<\/a> over a whole month, let alone a whole season or many seasons in a row. If you spend time and attention working on your left-right pedal balance on top of that, you may gain an extra 1%. But you are also likely to make mistakes in your fundamentals because your willpower and time are limited. And the results could be losing 10%. Keep things simple in your training, recovery, and diet. Prioritize fundamentals over marginal gains. Keep that up over the years and decades and you\u2019ll be a better cyclist with fewer injuries.<\/p>\n

Take pride in your effort and commitment<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyclists that boast can be annoying and often end up not well-liked, which is why many cyclists take on a self-deprecating tone when talking about their training and performance. They downplay the effort they put into cycling. While this may be the safer choice socially, it could be hurting you from a long-term view. Learn to take pride in your commitment to cycling without sounding boastful. Building this sense of pride in your own head over many years will strengthen your relationship with the sport.<\/p>\n

Focus on removing barriers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You love cycling, that\u2019s clear just from the fact that you\u2019re reading this type of article on a website called We Love Cycling. You don\u2019t need much to motivate you to go riding. What you need is only to remove the obstacles that are preventing you from riding.<\/p>\n

If you have to cancel a lot of rides because of bad weather, get a smart indoor trainer.<\/a> If you\u2019re struggling to find time for cycling during the work week, start commuting on your bike. If you\u2019re struggling with your diet, get rid of all the foods that you tend to overeat. Create an environment where success is really easy.<\/p>\n

Armed with these five pieces of advice, you\u2019re sure to stay on track to be a lifelong cyclist. It\u2019s not exactly clear how many years of cycling qualify you for that title. But check back when you feel you earned it and let us know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have older cyclists in your group that inspire you? Do you wonder how they stuck with the sport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":192258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[4284,3305,7020],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-192257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-bicycle-commuting","tag-cycling-training","tag-long-term-cycling","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Best Advice for Aspiring Lifelong Cyclists - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finishing races, hitting personal bests, and winning medals are achievements that fuel many cyclists to train hard.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/03\/09\/5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Best Advice for Aspiring Lifelong Cyclists\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Finishing races, hitting personal bests, and winning medals are achievements that fuel many cyclists to train hard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/03\/09\/5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-09T09:02:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-09T09:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2023\/03\/Road-Cyclist-Nature-profimedia-0759738500_CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jiri Kaloc\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/03\/09\/5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/03\/09\/5-best-advice-for-aspiring-lifelong-cyclists\/\",\"name\":\"5 Best Advice for Aspiring Lifelong Cyclists - 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