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#HURDLEMOMENT: 8 Essential Lessons I Learned As A New Cyclist · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: It's fun to be a new cyclist. It's fun to
0:02
Speaker 1: try something new. It's fun to prove to yourself that
0:05
Speaker 1: you are capable. You've just got to be willing to try. Hey, Hurdlers,
0:23
Speaker 1: Emily Abaddi bringing you another installment of Hurdle Moment from Hurdle.
0:28
Speaker 1: This week, I am chatting to you all about the
0:30
Speaker 1: lessons I learned in my first three months as an
0:34
Speaker 1: avid cyclist.
0:36
Speaker 2: I've been getting.
0:37
Speaker 1: Tons of d ms as I've been posting more and
0:39
Speaker 1: more bike filled content on my Instagram, and so I'm
0:42
Speaker 1: bringing it to the feed to answer some of the
0:45
Speaker 1: questions that.
0:46
Speaker 2: I have been seeing on the regular.
0:48
Speaker 1: I thought about bringing some big guns, so to speak,
0:51
Speaker 1: in for this episode, maybe a pro cyclist, someone that's
0:53
Speaker 1: been doing this for a long time, but really, at
0:56
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I think sometimes the best
0:58
Speaker 1: thing for other beginners is to hear someone who recently
1:02
Speaker 1: went through themselves to explain it to them in a
1:04
Speaker 1: way that makes sense.
1:06
Speaker 2: And it might not be the most technical. I am,
1:08
Speaker 2: by no means.
1:09
Speaker 1: A cycling expert, but I hope that the insight that
1:12
Speaker 1: I can bring you today is helpful and appreciated. Before
1:16
Speaker 1: we get into today's episode. I do want to explain
1:18
Speaker 1: the circumstances around how I got into cycling. I mentioned
1:21
Speaker 1: a few months back dealing with some hip wonkiness and
1:25
Speaker 1: that ended up being what we think is diagnosed over zoom.
1:29
Speaker 1: Of course, some pureiformists tendonosis. So to work on that,
1:34
Speaker 1: I was doing a ton of bandit exercises and I
1:37
Speaker 1: was also taking some time off of running, which during
1:41
Speaker 1: a pandemic, I am in my apartment alone.
1:43
Speaker 2: I'm spending most of my time alone.
1:45
Speaker 1: I'm just like who, a little frustrated with my body
1:49
Speaker 1: and looking for an outlet. And I was having a
1:51
Speaker 1: conversation with my girlfriend, who works at Specialized, and she
1:55
Speaker 1: said to me, do you think now is the time
1:57
Speaker 1: for you to finally get on a bike? And you
2:00
Speaker 1: know what, I had been hesitant for some time. I
2:04
Speaker 1: had a bike previously in my apartment. I got a
2:07
Speaker 1: Cannondale in twenty fifteen when I was gearing up for
2:10
Speaker 1: the New York City Triathlon. Since then, just because of
2:14
Speaker 1: the space available in this apartment, I had sent the
2:17
Speaker 1: bike back home to Connecticut with my dad. And so
2:20
Speaker 1: when this offer kind of came on the table from
2:23
Speaker 1: Specialized to try and get back on the bike to
2:25
Speaker 1: try a bike, I said, I kind of threw my
2:28
Speaker 1: hands up in the air and I said why not.
2:30
Speaker 1: So basically, with the team I specialized, I talked to
2:32
Speaker 1: them about what it was that I was looking for.
2:34
Speaker 1: I was looking for a road bike, and soon in
2:37
Speaker 1: this episode i'll break down the different types. But I
2:39
Speaker 1: wanted a road bike that was good for activity, that
2:41
Speaker 1: was lightweight, because again I needed to be able to
2:44
Speaker 1: carry it up the stairs to my apartment.
2:46
Speaker 2: And other than that. I just filled them in on
2:48
Speaker 2: some basics like my height, and that was it.
2:50
Speaker 1: The bike was ordered to a bike shop that was
2:52
Speaker 1: local to my area. I went to pick it up
2:54
Speaker 1: with a mask and gloves, I got fit for the bike,
2:57
Speaker 1: we adjusted.
2:57
Speaker 2: The seat height, and just like that, I was ready
3:00
Speaker 2: to go.
3:01
Speaker 1: The bike I own at home is a specialized Ubay
3:03
Speaker 1: I think that's how you say it. And back at
3:05
Speaker 1: home in Connecticut, I have a Cannondale Synapse.
3:09
Speaker 2: So that's why that's why I got into biking.
3:11
Speaker 1: Since starting with this bike a few months ago, I
3:14
Speaker 1: have had the opportunity to go all over New York
3:17
Speaker 1: City and now as of this week, also across the
3:19
Speaker 1: gw Over in to New Jersey and up a popular
3:24
Speaker 1: cycling destination called River Road, and I'll share some insight
3:28
Speaker 1: about what that's been like cycling in an urban environment,
3:32
Speaker 1: some best tips I have for that, as well as
3:35
Speaker 1: some of the biggest mistakes I've made in the past
3:38
Speaker 1: few months on the road. If you have any more
3:41
Speaker 1: questions surrounding the subject I don't cover today, of course.
3:44
Speaker 2: Feel free to reach out to me over on social media.
3:47
Speaker 1: It's at Emily a Body and at Hurdle podcast and
3:49
Speaker 1: if you want to take its email be my guest.
3:52
Speaker 2: It is Emily at.
3:53
Speaker 1: Hurdle dot us. And with that it's time to talk bikes.
3:57
Speaker 1: Let's get to hurdling. I've always loved running because it
4:07
Speaker 1: feels really meditative, right. It's like this experience where you're
4:10
Speaker 1: on the road, you're just plugging one foot after the other,
4:13
Speaker 1: and you can get lost in that cadence, in that pace,
4:16
Speaker 1: and it's so so needed for me and so so relaxing.
4:21
Speaker 1: But the thing about cycling is I almost feel like
4:23
Speaker 1: it takes that experience to another level.
4:26
Speaker 2: It's a no impact sport, which.
4:28
Speaker 1: Means that it can be really great for anyone who
4:31
Speaker 1: is dealing with some wonkiness in their body to keep
4:34
Speaker 1: moving without all of that extra force on your joints.
4:37
Speaker 1: I really do feel like it's super meditative and something
4:40
Speaker 1: that's been really necessary for me during this time. So
4:45
Speaker 1: again for today's episode, I am talking you through the
4:48
Speaker 1: lessons that I've learned in my first few months of biking.
4:51
Speaker 1: The biggest lessons I think all beginner cyclists should know.
4:56
Speaker 1: The first lesson there are a lot of things that
4:58
Speaker 1: go into choosing the right bike for you. There are
5:02
Speaker 1: a lot of things that go into this, and if
5:04
Speaker 1: you've ever just googled bicycles like you're probably obscenely overwhelmed
5:09
Speaker 1: just at all of the choices that.
5:11
Speaker 2: You see online. So here's the thing.
5:14
Speaker 1: The first thing you've got to ask yourself is where
5:16
Speaker 1: are you going to ride now? If it's going to
5:19
Speaker 1: be mostly on pavement, then you're looking for what is
5:21
Speaker 1: commonly called a road or a fitness bike. The catch
5:25
Speaker 1: is that some road bikes are called cruisers, and those
5:29
Speaker 1: are like the bikes that you would ride down to
5:31
Speaker 1: the beach. They've got a big, padded seat. As you
5:33
Speaker 1: can imagine, that's not the thing that you want to
5:35
Speaker 1: be riding for fitness. If you're going to take it
5:37
Speaker 1: to do laps around a local park. There are other
5:41
Speaker 1: bike types, of course, there are more technical models like
5:44
Speaker 1: mountain bikes and gravel bikes for trails, and if you're commuting,
5:49
Speaker 1: you may want something that's called a city bike or
5:51
Speaker 1: an electric pedal assist or e bike, depending on how
5:55
Speaker 1: far you're going and really what you're using it for. Now,
5:59
Speaker 1: there are a couple different frames, or what you would
6:01
Speaker 1: call the main structure of the bike the bike itself,
6:05
Speaker 1: and these frames can be made of metal like aluminum
6:09
Speaker 1: or carbon fiber on more expensive models. Now, the reason
6:12
Speaker 1: that people would lean into a carbon fiber bike over
6:16
Speaker 1: a metal frame bike is that the carbon fiber bikes
6:19
Speaker 1: are lighter, which means that if you're going to be
6:21
Speaker 1: doing a lot of climbing, which is a fancy biking
6:23
Speaker 1: word for going up hills, then the lighter the bike,
6:26
Speaker 1: the easier it's going to be to move up the hill.
6:30
Speaker 1: That also means the faster it's going to go downhills.
6:33
Speaker 1: It also means again in my case keeping it in
6:35
Speaker 1: a fourth floor apartment, having a carbon fiber bike was
6:39
Speaker 1: really important to me because then I was going to
6:40
Speaker 1: be able to easily lift it up the stairs. Next
6:46
Speaker 1: thing you might think about on your bike your handle bars. Now,
6:48
Speaker 1: they mostly fall into one of two categories. There are
6:52
Speaker 1: drop bars or upright bars. Drop bars are basically fitted
6:57
Speaker 1: to bikes that are intended to go fast or for
7:00
Speaker 1: long distances. They have the multiple different positioning options for
7:04
Speaker 1: your hands, and they also look like a little sea
7:07
Speaker 1: curve at the front. These are the kind of handlebars
7:09
Speaker 1: that often you'll see when you go to a spin studio. Otherwise,
7:13
Speaker 1: a bike will be equipped with what is called upright bars,
7:16
Speaker 1: which can be either like a straight a crossbar or
7:19
Speaker 1: handlebars that go up a little bit, as the name entails.
7:23
Speaker 1: When it comes to tires, I just learned this about
7:26
Speaker 1: my bike the other day and I've had it for
7:27
Speaker 1: three months, which just shows how much faith I am
7:30
Speaker 1: putting into the universe that I'm going to be okay
7:32
Speaker 1: out there. You either have a tube bliss tire or
7:36
Speaker 1: a tire with a tube. Now, the tube less tire
7:40
Speaker 1: is literally just a tire and the air goes directly
7:43
Speaker 1: inside of it. A tubed tire has the external tire,
7:48
Speaker 1: then it has a tube inside of the tire. So
7:50
Speaker 1: when you get a flat, which can happen for a
7:53
Speaker 1: number of reasons. But for example, I got one because
7:56
Speaker 1: I rode over a small piece of glass which punctured
7:58
Speaker 1: not only just the external TI tired, but also the
8:01
Speaker 1: tube inside. When you get a flat and you have
8:04
Speaker 1: a tire with a tube in it, you need to
8:06
Speaker 1: replace the inner tube and inflate the inner tube and
8:08
Speaker 1: then you're good to go.
8:09
Speaker 2: You don't need to put a ceilant on the outer tire.
8:12
Speaker 1: From what I understand, most people ride with bikes that
8:18
Speaker 1: have tubes in the tires. From my understanding, you want
8:22
Speaker 1: to have a tire with tubes. It's easier to change
8:25
Speaker 1: if you were to get a flat when you're on
8:27
Speaker 1: the move. But again, I'm not a pro here. I'm
8:29
Speaker 1: not claiming to be a pro here. I'm just spreading
8:32
Speaker 1: the knowledge as I get it. The last thing to
8:34
Speaker 1: note I said this before that I gave my friends
8:36
Speaker 1: it specialized my height. Bikes do come in different sizes,
8:40
Speaker 1: and I'll make sure I'll link to a couple of
8:42
Speaker 1: the helpful size charts in the show notes that I've found.
8:45
Speaker 1: But this is primarily based on your heights, so you'll
8:48
Speaker 1: be able to adjust the seat height once you get
8:51
Speaker 1: your bicycle. But it's important that you're buying a frame
8:54
Speaker 1: that caters to your personal dimensions. Now, in terms of price,
8:58
Speaker 1: bikes can be pretty expensive. Sure you can get one
9:02
Speaker 1: for three, four or five hundred dollars, but a really
9:05
Speaker 1: great bike is probably going to be a little bit
9:07
Speaker 1: more expensive. And I compare this to when you may
9:10
Speaker 1: be investing in sneakers. I know, I remember when I
9:13
Speaker 1: first started buying sneakers. It was a hard thing to
9:16
Speaker 1: wrap my head around the idea that I had to
9:17
Speaker 1: spend one hundred and thirty dollars on like this Goldilocks shoe.
9:22
Speaker 1: But the thing is, it's like you're making an investment
9:24
Speaker 1: in the thing that's going to help you do the
9:26
Speaker 1: thing that you love. So if you can spend say
9:30
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred dollars on a bicycle, yes, that is a
9:33
Speaker 1: chunk of change. That is something that's going to require
9:36
Speaker 1: you to put money aside for maybe months at a
9:39
Speaker 1: time before you're ready to make this purchase. But once
9:42
Speaker 1: you have this bicycle, think about how much joy you'll
9:46
Speaker 1: get and like the cost per ride. For instance, in
9:49
Speaker 1: June alone, I've ridden my bike over three hundred miles.
9:54
Speaker 1: If I bought a fifteen hundred dollars bicycle. That's five
9:58
Speaker 1: dollars a mile, and please, I mean that's only June.
10:01
Speaker 1: So if you think about that over time, three hundred
10:04
Speaker 1: miles a month, nine hundred miles so far, like, I
10:06
Speaker 1: am really getting my money's worth and I expect to
10:09
Speaker 1: be riding this bike.
10:10
Speaker 2: For a long long time.
10:12
Speaker 1: So those are just some of the things you need
10:14
Speaker 1: to know when it comes to how to choose the
10:17
Speaker 1: bike you want. The second lessen, there are many places
10:21
Speaker 1: that you can purchase your bicycle. You will be able
10:24
Speaker 1: to buy a bike from a few different locations. First up,
10:26
Speaker 1: you can buy it straight from the dealer online, so
10:28
Speaker 1: if you go to a website likespecialized dot com, if
10:32
Speaker 1: the bike is in stock, you can order it straight
10:34
Speaker 1: from there. The next option would be buying it from
10:37
Speaker 1: a local bike shop. Now, the good thing about going
10:40
Speaker 1: to buy a bike at a local bike shop is that,
10:42
Speaker 1: just like if you were going to buy a car
10:44
Speaker 1: at the car dealership, you can go to the local
10:47
Speaker 1: bike shop and test some different models. If you're going
10:50
Speaker 1: to go do that, make sure you show up ready
10:52
Speaker 1: to get on the bike. You want to make sure
10:54
Speaker 1: that you're wearing comfortable clothing and sneakers, the last place
10:57
Speaker 1: you can buy your bike would likely be second hand,
11:00
Speaker 1: so whether you're buying it from a place like eBay
11:02
Speaker 1: or crideless. The catch with this is that whereas a
11:06
Speaker 1: place like a bike shop or a dealer could have
11:09
Speaker 1: a really great refund or return policy, you're not going
11:12
Speaker 1: to get that same courtesy when it comes to a
11:15
Speaker 1: second hand option. This brings me to lessen number three.
11:19
Speaker 1: I talked about bringing your sneakers to trying on a bicycle.
11:23
Speaker 1: If you're buying a performance bicycle, it's more than likely
11:27
Speaker 1: then it is going to be clipless. Now, okay, I
11:30
Speaker 1: know this sounds super doesn't make sense because you were
11:33
Speaker 1: technically clipping in to the bike with cycling shoes.
11:37
Speaker 2: Basically, there are two types of pedals.
11:39
Speaker 1: There are flat pedals, which are literally the pedals that
11:42
Speaker 1: you can use your regular pair of nikes on and
11:44
Speaker 1: bike around and go down the street and go to
11:46
Speaker 1: the beach and do whatever. And then there are the
11:49
Speaker 1: clipless pedals. This requires you to have a specific pair
11:53
Speaker 1: of cycling shoes with cleats on them. I get so
11:56
Speaker 1: many messages from people asking me how did you learn
11:59
Speaker 1: to clip in? And how do I do it? I'm
12:01
Speaker 1: so scared. Listen, I get it. I've been there. I
12:05
Speaker 1: have a confession. I've only fallen on a clipped in
12:10
Speaker 1: bicycle once. It was shortly after I got the Cannondale
12:13
Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen. I was in Central Park. I was going,
12:17
Speaker 1: thankfully quite slowed across the street and I went to
12:20
Speaker 1: get off and clip out of the bicycle and literally
12:23
Speaker 1: tipped over and I survived. And I'm here talking into
12:26
Speaker 1: this microphone right now. Is it like a no brainer thing?
12:31
Speaker 1: Not necessarily, but it's a skill that you can learn
12:34
Speaker 1: and you can do well. For those of you that
12:37
Speaker 1: I've never clipped into a bicycle before, literally your feet
12:40
Speaker 1: clip into the pedals. It's as if you are one
12:42
Speaker 1: with the bike. And the benefit to this is that
12:45
Speaker 1: you can produce a ton more power. Going over a
12:49
Speaker 1: bridge on a bike where you're clipped in versus a
12:52
Speaker 1: bike where you're just on the flat pedals is a
12:55
Speaker 1: completely different experience, because not only now do you have
12:59
Speaker 1: the power to push down, but as you are clipped in,
13:02
Speaker 1: you can use your hamstrings and gain some more momentum
13:05
Speaker 1: on the up swing to bring that force back down,
13:09
Speaker 1: if that makes any sense at all. For people that
13:11
Speaker 1: are new to clipping in. I would definitely suggest, just
13:14
Speaker 1: like when you're going to learn how to drive a
13:16
Speaker 1: car in the parking lot, learn to clip in mirror
13:20
Speaker 1: your home in a place that is safe and not
13:22
Speaker 1: filled with cars, and that you can literally just have
13:25
Speaker 1: some room to breathe. Again, it might feel scary, and
13:30
Speaker 1: that's okay, But even something like standing with one foot
13:33
Speaker 1: on the ground and just simply learning how to clip
13:36
Speaker 1: your foot in and out and in and out. Things
13:40
Speaker 1: like that take time, but that practice will make you
13:42
Speaker 1: better in the long run.
13:45
Speaker 2: Lesson number four.
13:46
Speaker 1: Writing in urban areas is completely different than riding in
13:50
Speaker 1: suburban areas or on the trail. It definitely takes some
13:54
Speaker 1: time getting used to being around traffic and around cars.
13:58
Speaker 1: I really really try to keep most of my riding
14:01
Speaker 1: to streets that have bike lanes, and the good thing
14:04
Speaker 1: about a site like Google Maps is oftentimes if you're
14:07
Speaker 1: charting a bicycle ride, it will chart your ride.
14:11
Speaker 2: On streets that have bike lanes.
14:14
Speaker 1: On the safety front, you always want to make sure
14:17
Speaker 1: that you have a lot of room between you and
14:20
Speaker 1: other vehicles as well as you and other cyclists. The
14:24
Speaker 1: more room that you give yourself, the more room you
14:27
Speaker 1: have if something were to go a little bit wrong,
14:31
Speaker 1: as if you were to maybe hit a bump in
14:33
Speaker 1: the road. Literally, it can be tempting in the city
14:36
Speaker 1: to do things like a light turns red and you're like,
14:40
Speaker 1: I still have a little bit of time and go
14:42
Speaker 1: through that, or when you get comfortable like riding in
14:44
Speaker 1: the actual road. And really, the best advice that I
14:48
Speaker 1: can give to new riders is follow the traffic laws.
14:52
Speaker 1: Just as if you were in your car, it is
14:54
Speaker 1: important for your own safety that you follow the lay
14:58
Speaker 1: of the land. My favorite vorite rides are the ones
15:01
Speaker 1: that are done early enough where there aren't a ton
15:03
Speaker 1: of cars on the road, especially early on a Sunday morning.
15:06
Speaker 2: It's my new favorite recovery activity.
15:07
Speaker 1: So you've got to find a place to ride where
15:10
Speaker 1: you feel confident in your circumstance. The last thing you
15:14
Speaker 1: want to do again, I'm talking about how biking is
15:16
Speaker 1: such a meditative opportunity. The last thing that you want
15:19
Speaker 1: to do is stress out the entire time you're on
15:21
Speaker 1: your bicycle. Something important to note here as well. Nothing
15:25
Speaker 1: makes me more frustrated than being on a bicycle and
15:29
Speaker 1: trying to tell another cyclist that I'm coming up on
15:32
Speaker 1: their left and they are too busy wearing headphones to
15:36
Speaker 1: be able to pay attention to what's going on around you.
15:38
Speaker 2: You need to be able to hear your surroundings.
15:42
Speaker 1: So it's one thing to go on a run with
15:44
Speaker 1: some headphones, I would say, it's a completely other thing
15:48
Speaker 1: to be wearing them on the bike. It is not
15:50
Speaker 1: a safe thing to have two headphones in while you
15:54
Speaker 1: are riding on two wheels, so please do not do it.
15:58
Speaker 1: Lesson number five, gear up the right way on the bike. Now,
16:04
Speaker 1: I got a DM that was asking me how not
16:06
Speaker 1: to look like a total loser, And I think the
16:08
Speaker 1: thing is is that if you're gonna be a cyclist,
16:11
Speaker 1: you kind of need to accept that the look is
16:14
Speaker 1: a look right from the jersey, the padded bike shorts,
16:18
Speaker 1: the calf height, socks, like it all goes in with
16:21
Speaker 1: the fact that you're on a bike. So like, embrace
16:24
Speaker 1: the mood, embrace the vibe. I mentioned padded shorts, that
16:28
Speaker 1: is super important. I hadn't owned any in a few years,
16:31
Speaker 1: and I tried to get on my bike the first
16:33
Speaker 1: few times without them, and let me tell you, I
16:35
Speaker 1: didn't make it far. Especially performance bikes, they don't have
16:39
Speaker 1: the biggest saddle. You're trying to be aerodynamic and move fast,
16:43
Speaker 1: so you're gonna need padded bike shorts. If you're going,
16:47
Speaker 1: I would say maybe rides over forty five minutes. It
16:51
Speaker 1: might feel a little bit like you're wearing an adult diaper,
16:54
Speaker 1: but I promised too everybody else, you don't look crazy,
16:57
Speaker 1: and you will be so so so thankful for the
17:00
Speaker 1: added support when you're out there and enjoying yourself instead
17:04
Speaker 1: of thinking that, oh my god, I can't wait to
17:05
Speaker 1: get off this thing, I'm so uncomfortable all that stuff. Also,
17:09
Speaker 1: when it comes to gearing up smart, you're going to
17:11
Speaker 1: want again that cycling jersey. It's a T shirt basically
17:14
Speaker 1: that zips up and oftentimes comes with a lot of
17:18
Speaker 1: conveniently placed pockets to put things like nutrition or your
17:21
Speaker 1: cell phone something else to mention. A helmet, of course,
17:24
Speaker 1: do not think you are too cool for a helmet.
17:27
Speaker 2: You are not. That's just it. I have a couple
17:30
Speaker 2: options myself.
17:31
Speaker 1: I have one old helmet at collaboration between Specialized in
17:34
Speaker 1: Lemon that I love. I also have another more casual
17:38
Speaker 1: helmet from thousand, which is just like the sleek matte
17:41
Speaker 1: black and I am equally as obsessed with it. Oh,
17:44
Speaker 1: before I move on to lessen number six, I do
17:47
Speaker 1: want to quickly note there are a ton, ton ton
17:51
Speaker 1: of places you can buy cycling gear. Some of it,
17:53
Speaker 1: of course, will be more expensive than others. Again, this
17:56
Speaker 1: kind of follows my philosophy of think of how much
17:59
Speaker 1: use you're going to be getting out of this stuff.
18:00
Speaker 1: I have one pair of lululumon bike shorts that I'm
18:03
Speaker 1: wearing more than nearly anything else. They were on the
18:07
Speaker 1: pricey side. I think I'm guessing one hundred and twenty dollars,
18:10
Speaker 1: and for me it was worth the splurge. They have
18:13
Speaker 1: everything that I was looking for in a cycling short,
18:16
Speaker 1: a ton of different pockets, zippers, a really great fit.
18:20
Speaker 1: They are my Goldilocks pair, and I'll link to them
18:22
Speaker 1: in the show notes. Some other brands I've really been digging.
18:25
Speaker 1: Specialized obviously has great bike clothing, machines for Freedom. Another
18:28
Speaker 1: great brand, Outdoor Voices, just launched a collaboration with Rafa
18:33
Speaker 1: pricey but excellent brand, So tons of options out there.
18:37
Speaker 1: Lesson number six. Bring fuel with you on the bike.
18:42
Speaker 1: One of the biggest differences between cycling and running is
18:45
Speaker 1: with running like you're sweating pretty quickly, right, and that
18:48
Speaker 1: might not be the case with cycling, but especially as
18:51
Speaker 1: it is hot out there, you need to remember that
18:54
Speaker 1: if you're gonna be out there for a while, you're
18:56
Speaker 1: gonna need fuel. So I'm leaning into a lot of
18:59
Speaker 1: the same choices that I would take with me on
19:01
Speaker 1: the run. I love, love, love the Gatorade, endurance shoes,
19:05
Speaker 1: the cliff block gummies.
19:07
Speaker 2: I also find that I'm looking for something a little
19:09
Speaker 2: bit saltier when I'm riding, so sometimes I'll bring actual
19:12
Speaker 2: cliff bars with me. And then of course water water water.
19:16
Speaker 1: A lot of bikes don't come standard with water bottle
19:19
Speaker 1: cages on them, so it's really important that you buy
19:22
Speaker 1: these like right when you buy your bicycle.
19:25
Speaker 2: They're super easy to install.
19:26
Speaker 1: The two that I have on my bike or from
19:28
Speaker 1: a company called Blackburn, super super important for you.
19:32
Speaker 2: To have that water with you on the go.
19:35
Speaker 1: I know, with running, you know you might fuel every
19:38
Speaker 1: three or four miles or thirty minutes. When it comes
19:41
Speaker 1: to biking, I don't have a strict strategy like that.
19:44
Speaker 1: I feel like about every hour or so. I'm kind
19:47
Speaker 1: of reaching for something new on the hot days. Again,
19:50
Speaker 1: super super important that you're drinking before you're thirsty.
19:54
Speaker 2: You want to stay hydrated.
19:56
Speaker 1: Just the other day, when I crossed the GW and
19:59
Speaker 1: went up River Road, I was dripping sweat.
20:01
Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever drank water so fast on
20:04
Speaker 2: the bike. Also on the.
20:05
Speaker 1: Fuel note, you're probably thinking, how am I going to
20:08
Speaker 1: carry all this stuff? Like I said, there are going
20:10
Speaker 1: to be pockets and a lot of cycling jerseys.
20:12
Speaker 2: But also they make really.
20:13
Speaker 1: Convenient bag that can velcrow and attached to the bike
20:18
Speaker 1: that can either go near the handlebars or under the
20:20
Speaker 1: seat where you can stash all of your stuff, which
20:23
Speaker 1: brings me to lessen number seven. The things that you
20:26
Speaker 1: should bring with you on the road, of course, like
20:29
Speaker 1: I said, the nutrition, but also in the event that
20:32
Speaker 1: you do get a flat tire, you're going to want
20:35
Speaker 1: to have everything you need with you to change said
20:38
Speaker 1: flat tire.
20:39
Speaker 2: So I got a flat tire.
20:41
Speaker 1: As I mentioned, and when I did, I had with
20:44
Speaker 1: me an extra spare tube, a CO two cartridge that
20:47
Speaker 1: would be like putting air into the tire, and.
20:50
Speaker 2: Pliers to get the tire off of the wheel.
20:53
Speaker 1: But what I did not have was a multi tool,
20:56
Speaker 1: which is essentially like a screwdriver that looks like a
20:59
Speaker 1: Swiss Army knight, and that is what you need to
21:01
Speaker 1: take the wheel actually off of the bicycle. So because
21:04
Speaker 1: I didn't have that multi tool with me, I couldn't
21:06
Speaker 1: change the tire by myself, which meant I had to
21:09
Speaker 1: take it into a bike shop and fifteen dollars later,
21:12
Speaker 1: I was out of there and everything was fine. So
21:14
Speaker 1: on the bike again, you want to have the things
21:16
Speaker 1: that you need to change a flat if you were
21:18
Speaker 1: to get one. And I know that's like a really
21:21
Speaker 1: scary thing to say. I'm not gonna lie. I don't
21:23
Speaker 1: know how to do it right now. I know that
21:25
Speaker 1: everyone tells me you do it with practice, and so
21:29
Speaker 1: that's why I have everything I need on me. I
21:31
Speaker 1: always carry my cell phone when I ride, and I'm
21:33
Speaker 1: told that YouTube is priceless, So so again here I
21:39
Speaker 1: am just kind of rolling with God, also carrying with you.
21:43
Speaker 1: I have two lights I bought off of Amazon on
21:46
Speaker 1: the front and the back of my bicycle. If I'm
21:49
Speaker 1: ever riding home a little bit too late, that's super important.
21:52
Speaker 1: I don't think I really realized how difficult it would
21:54
Speaker 1: be to ride a bike at night, thinking that the
21:56
Speaker 1: new York City streets were lit up enough.
21:59
Speaker 2: I rode home at around eight thirty.
22:02
Speaker 1: Just as the sun went down a few weeks back,
22:04
Speaker 1: and immediately walked inside and bought these lights off of Amazon.
22:09
Speaker 1: So it's really important that you can see where you're going,
22:12
Speaker 1: not just the street ahead, but of course the potholes
22:15
Speaker 1: or the or whatever other things are in the road. Again,
22:18
Speaker 1: your safety is the number one priority while you were
22:22
Speaker 1: on the bicycle. And the last thing I learned in
22:27
Speaker 1: the past few months of riding is that it's really
22:30
Speaker 1: fun to be a beginner.
22:31
Speaker 2: Again.
22:31
Speaker 1: Listen, there are a lot of scary parts about this,
22:34
Speaker 1: right It's it's scary not to know exactly how to
22:38
Speaker 1: change a flat. It's scary clipping in all the time.
22:40
Speaker 1: It's scary to try to climb a hill. It's scary
22:44
Speaker 1: when I worry about the tam lines, that these cycling
22:47
Speaker 1: shorts and this jersey you're going to give me. There's
22:49
Speaker 1: a lot of scary things happening here. But the thing
22:51
Speaker 1: is is like, what a fun opportunity it is to learn.
22:55
Speaker 1: I can honestly say that this is one of the
22:57
Speaker 1: most fun hobbies that I've picked up in some time.
23:00
Speaker 1: I'm already starting to get exposed to the cycling community
23:03
Speaker 1: here in New York, which seems to be pretty rad
23:06
Speaker 1: and it's really special to have that opportunity to be
23:09
Speaker 1: a beginner, to try something new, to put yourself out there.
23:12
Speaker 2: It's fun to learn lessons, it's.
23:13
Speaker 1: Fun to be reminded that there are things that we
23:16
Speaker 1: can do outside of our normal routine to expand our horizons.
23:20
Speaker 1: It feels really accomplished and just stellar to show myself
23:26
Speaker 1: day in and day out that I am capable of
23:28
Speaker 1: trying new things. And I know that if you're still
23:31
Speaker 1: listening to this part of the episode, you feel the
23:34
Speaker 1: same way as always At Hurdle Podcast at Emily Body,
23:39
Speaker 1: another hurdle conquered.
23:41
Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time.