Going for a weekend ride? What all do you need to keep in mind before you head out to ensure your bike is safe and functioning properly and to also ensure you’re comfortable and have a great ride?

PRE-RIDE CHECKLIST

Keeping everything ready for your ride the night before is critical to ensure the ride is perfect – you are not frantically running around in the dark to find your gear, you’re mentally prepared and all set to ride and you won’t forget any important gear on the ride.

Here’s a great cartoon that you can print out and use as a checklist when you get ready for your bike ride. Super simple to add to this and make your own customised list.

SAFETY ON THE RIDE

Safety on these rides is of utmost importance. Make sure you follow road rules and ride sensibly. You might be on a bicycle, but remember, you’re still traffic and need to follow road rules.

  • Helmet – Helmets are absolutely mandatory. Even for those super short rides.
  • Gloves – to prevent your palms from getting numb on long rides. Gloves are great to wipe off the sweat from your brow and to also prevent your palm from getting scratched in case of a fall.
  • Riding glasses – good riding glasses are critical to ensure your eyes are safe from all the dust and debris on a bike ride
  • Clothing – cycling shorts and a proper cycling jersey always make the ride more comfortable. You can easily match up with some funky socks to ensure you are rocking your ride :) If you have reflective gear, wear it! You get lightweight fluorescent and reflective straps that you can wear over your cycling jersey to be highly visible
  • Lighting – use front and rear lights on your bike to enhance visibility. Brighter the better. Flashing modes ensure you are even more visible on the road
  • Basic first aid – carry basic first aid in your saddle bag. Simple items are sufficient to run a quick fix and keep you riding – band-aids, some antiseptic cream, and some cotton gauze.

NUTRITION & HYDRATION

If riding for an hour is fun, riding for 10 hours must be 10 times as much fun. The crux of the issue is making sure the engine, your body, is properly fueled at all times. Carrying some energy drink and some quick energy bites is a good idea. Don’t carry too much, as that can spoil your ride.

While there are a ton of good hydration options available now (check out our hydration & nutrition offerings), you can fix a quick home-made energy drink which is pretty interesting – Mix a good dollop of honey, fresh lime juice & water. And your good to go. The honey gives you the carbs and the lime juice gives quite a few vitamins and essential salts.

BIKE CHECKUP CHECKLIST

This awesome infographic comes from the collaborative community GOOD. Ten parts of the bicycle that you should check and maintain, along with safety and comfort tips before a bike ride.

The ABC Bicycle Check is a popular & quick way to run a routine check on your bicycle before you head out for your ride. Make sure you run this before every ride until its muscle memory.

Enjoy your ride!

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About the Author

Rohan Kini

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CYCLING I love riding my bike. Whether it's a simple commute, a high-intensity road race, a jaw-grinding brevet, fixie rides thru packed Indian city or a kick-ass technical single track – I love it all. Apart from riding bicycles, I love being all geeky and know everything there is to know about bicycles, technology, bike fit, and service. I started BUMSONTHESADDLE to share this passion for cycling. DISCIPLINE: Partial towards MOUNTAIN BIKING but love it all CURRENT BIKE(S): Specialized Rockhopper, Specialized Tarmac, Pure Cycles Original DREAM BIKE: S-Works Epic HT & S-Work Roubaix OTHER PASSIONS: Technology, Photography, Baking, Travel, and Reading

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