How to Get Better at Cycling

If you've been riding a bike since childhood, when you had a horn and streamers on your handlebars, you may think that cycling is as easy as, well ... riding a bike. But there's a lot more to it if you truly want to know how to get better at cycling.

I was watching the World Triathlon Series race in Leeds yesterday. There were times when even I, an experienced rider and racer, was cringing as the cyclists ripped through the city streets, mere centimeters from each other's wheels. When you watch cyclists of this caliber, you really start to appreciate the importance of proper cycling.

The type of technique I am referring to shows up in their smooth pedaling, their judicious braking, and their seamless gearing. It also shows up in their hairpin turns, their tight grouping and their overall safety at high speeds.

This isn't the type of stuff you learn from a spin class (actually, quite the opposite) or from pedaling your commuter around town (although that helps). It also doesn't automatically come from owning an expensive carbon fiber bike or a flashy cycling outfit (also known as a kit). This stuff takes practice, practice, more practice, and focus.

Cycling Physical Fitness

Technique and fitness often go hand in hand. Obviously, if you lack the strength, stamina, flexibility, and focus, you won't ever achieve the level of technique required to ride with the lead pack safely.

For example, if you're riding up a steep hill without adequate strength, power, and endurance, you won't be able to keep your cadence high and your exertion low. When you are coming down that hill, your fitness switches to upper body strength that helps you handle the bike, flexibility to get down low to reduce wind resistance and of course the confidence and nerve to allow yourself to hit some top speeds.

Cycling Mental Psychology

A recent research paper about the effects of cycling on cognitive function and well-being in older adults shows that cycling is not only good for your body, but it's also good for your brain. And the benefit goes both ways. The more you practice good cycling technique, the more you embed the movement patterns into your neuromuscular pathways. (Neuromuscular pathways are the points where an electrical impulse from the nervous system is passed to the muscle). The more that happens, the closer you get to riding like a pro. Like I said before, practice, practice, practice.

The main areas of cycling technique are:

• pedaling
• gearing
• cadence...

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