The best cycling goals for beginners

You’ve got the bike. You’ve been riding. Now what are you working toward?

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Goal #1: Get pedaling

There’s a bit of gear to get acquainted with on your first few rides—clipless pedals, shifting gears, and bike handling skills, traffic rules.

Find a flat, traffic-free, bike-only routes to concentrate on riding and increasing your comfort with your bike.

If you have clipless pedals, practice coming to a stop and unclipping. Then, practice clipping into them without looking down at your pedals. That’s because your bike follows your sight, so if you’re looking down, well…

It may be easier to ‘memorize’ the unclipping pedal action if your bike’s secured to an indoor trainer. Bonus: you won’t fall over.

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Goal #2: Find the best time for you to ride and schedule it 

It’s no secret that what’s on your calendar gets done. But before you find a good time to ride, you must examine everything on your plate right now. 

What are you doing today and what do you aim to accomplish this year? What priorities do you have for work, school, relationships, and health? Get everything out of your head and onto paper, without editing yourself.

Next, review your list. Are there projects on there that aren’t relevant anymore? Can you cross them off your list to make space for new goals? What are the things that will have the biggest payoff in your life? What will you have to do to make it work?

For example, if your goal is to ride at least 3 times a week, what must happen for this to work?

Then, schedule a time on your calendar—much like an important meeting—to ride.

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Goal #3: Build your base ¹

Building your riding fitness, or cycling base, is the foundation to your cycling success. 

That’s because it’s the springboard toward high-intensity riding, sprinting, and climbing—all key factors in becoming a fitter, faster, stronger cyclist. 

Do base-building rides at a comfortable tempo. Meaning, you should be able to speak without gasping for air. 

If you plan on riding solo throughout your base-building rides, you may like this post, Cycling Alone? Essential Tips You Need to Know.

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Goal #4: Stay on top of recovery

Any regular endurance habit requires rest days and down time. Much like the goal for a cycling session is to build fitness, the goal for rest days is to take it easy.

And it’s incredibly important because it’s your body’s time to rebuild and repair muscles, and to prevent boredom and burnout. 

Resting may seem unproductive, but remember, rest days are both productive and important. 

On rest days try:

✔️Active recovery, such as an easy effort on your bike to get blood circulating. Or, a foam rolling session to increase circulation.

✔️Eating quality carbs and protein. Are you on Pinterest? Have a look at the sheebes.com board on Healthy Dinner Recipes for ideas.

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Goal #5: Keep it fun

After all, you wouldn’t stick with your goals if there wasn’t at least some fun in it, right? Take some pressure off yourself and keep it fun with group rides, new trails, or a bike race.

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