5 Essential Cycling Accessories!
Maybe it started as a weekend thing: You would hop on your bike and go for a spin round the park for fun and maybe the next time you timed yourself and tried to beat it. Maybe the next week you decided to cycle to work and realised you could halve your normal commute time. So you bought a better bike and some lights, and enjoyed trying to shave a few minutes off your journey time each day.
Maybe now you are a dab hand at weaving through the traffic and have optimised your route to perfection. Maybe you have started going out at the weekend for hill rides to build up your stamina. Maybe you love cycling and are really happy that you started doing it.
But maybe you are not ready to settle for that…maybe you want to be more than an amateur cyclist…
Here are 5 things you can add to your cycle set up that will help you make the transition from amateur cyclist to a pro cyclist:
Pro Bike
This should go without saying, but if you haven’t splashed out on a good road bike then you should read no further, stand up and run to your nearest cycle shop and bash on the glass until they let you in and sell you something light, strong and awesome.
Pro Shorts and Jersey
You have probably seen the Tour de France and other pro cycling events by now and will have perhaps snickered at the luminous super tight outfits they wear. The truth is that these outfits are specially designed for cyclists and are an essential item of the pro rider’s kit. They are tight (slightly unflattering if you aren’t an Adonis) and very streamlined, yet well ventilated to keep you cool on tough rides.
Cycling Shoes
These slightly awkward additions are designed to stop your feet falling off the pedals. It takes a bit of getting used to as you have to clip your toes onto the pedal, but once to get used to it, you won’t want to go cycling without them. Especially if you go on particularly long rides, or enter a competition.
Smart Computer
Pro cyclists often have a combination of GPS, heart rate monitor, odometer and power gauge to monitor their progress, but increasingly cyclists are opting for an all in one smart computer. This is a screen about the size of a smart phone that provides all these things in one. If you want to be a pro, you need to get one of these.
Competition
OK, so it’s not really an accessory, but entering a cycling competition will ‘accessorise’ your cycling skillset. Start with a local amateur event over a short distance and just enjoy the experience. If you like it, enter more competitions and soon you will be building up pro cycling skills and feeding your competitive side at the same time.
By adopting these pro accessories you will not only be able to shave vital seconds off your times on the way to work, you will be zooming towards ever increasing health and fitness levels and a possible medal or two…
What is your essential cycling accessory you won’t ride without?
Jim Anderson is a keen cyclist. He likes Raleigh bikes best but will use any kind of hybrid bike.
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