Getting Use to Riding A Bike
A cycling experience designed to regain confidence in riding a bike.
Tour Description:
A cycling experience designed to embolden you to ride a bike to run errands, ride alone, ride with friends, buy your own bike, ride down to the park & back home, ride 60 miles in the hill country…whatever your goal, this experience with get you started towards that goal.
First, you just have to get use to riding a bike. You bring your own bike or we will have a variety of appropriate bike sizes and styles so you may find your steed. (note…informal use of the word). We begin with a bike fit, then helmet fit and an explanation of why gears are your friend and how they work. You then ride a little to practice changing gears and get the feel of the bike.
After a discussion of the basic best practices for safe street, hike/bike trail, or road cycling, we ride on quiet neighborhood streets escalating to more complex cycling as your comfort and confidence levels rise. Depending on your goal, the route to cycle is customized to achieve that goal.
As you begin to recall the joy of riding a bike as a child, your heart opens and fear floats out of sight. Happiness…success…fun. This cycling experience was created for Autumn who bought a bike the next day and is out on a bike frequently now!
Tour Review
“First time on a bike in ages and I loved it!”
I hadn’t been on a bike in 10-15 years and I had never tried riding in traffic. When I read about Texas Bike Tours, I had the idea that maybe a bike tour would be a fun way to break the ice. I wrote to Deaton and explained that I was very rusty and nervous to get out on the road. We agreed to do a “Get Used to Riding a Bike” tour the same weekend. It was so much fun! Deaton had a few bikes available for me to try, and I found one that was a great fit. She had a helmet and water bottle ready for me to use. Since I needed a refresher, I started out riding loops on a quiet street while Deaton reminded me how to switch gears. Once I was able to get around without too much wobbling, we went on a ride with Deaton leading the way. It was fun! Deaton used clear hand signals so I could tell what was coming next, and stopped at intervals to explain when we were approaching a tricky traffic situation.
One of my goals was to ride to the Hike and Bike trail, so we rode through downtown to the Town Lake Trail and Zilker Park. It was a beautiful day and a great adventure. Getting out on the bike felt so good, I ended up buying a bike the next day and now I’m riding it to work! Now I feel like I have cycling adventures in my future. Thanks to Deaton for making my first ride in traffic a fun experience.