Get Prepared To Start Riding Your Bike Again

If you haven’t ridden your bike in awhile, remember that your bottom may be sore for the first few days of riding.  Make sure you get your bike ready for your rides.  Since school has started, it has been a treat for my 7 yr. old son to be able to ride to and from school with me on the trails.  We didn’t do this last year because there are just too many bikers and walkers and I didn’t think he was ready to manage a bike in that crowd.  This year he is ready, so I plan to ride to and from school with him as long as he is willing to get up a little earlier for school each morning.  It is great exercise for both of us and we both enjoy the ride.  Here are a few bike preparation tips to ensure a great ride.

Here are two of my favorite bike accessories.  I have the flashlight in case it gets dark on me and the clock that measures distance and times my rides.  Check the batteries in these gadgets, you don’t want to get caught in the dark without a flashlight or be late for school because you couldn’t watch the time.

This is the perfect bag for my bike.  It is just the right size to hold my cell phone,  house keys and a few other goodies if needed.

Don’t forget the water bottle accessory.  My bike came with the pre-drilled holes, but we had to purchase a water bottle holder separately.  Notice the small bungee strap, depending on the size of your water bottles, you may need one of these to keep your bottles from falling out on the side when you hit a bump.  I also have a bike lock that we use when we go to the grocery.  I use my bike lock to hook my bike and my son’s bike to the bike rack whenever we go inside.  It would be horrible to walk out of the store to find that someone had taken your bikes.

Also, make sure to check the air pressure in the tires and get yourself a kickstand if you don’t already have one.  You can pick up a kickstand at a local bike store.  I have a bike trailer that I haul when I pick up groceries and it is much easier on your bike if you have a kickstand when hauling one of these since it is hard to lay your bike down on the ground when it is connected to the bike trailer.

When is the last time you rode your bike?  Are you close enough to a grocery or restaurant to ride your bike there?