How I Learned to Cycle at (almost) 30 and You Can Too!

The thought of Cycling always filled me with fear.

Despite trying to cycle dozens of times while I was little, each time it was an unpleasant experience. I met with a minor accident while I was in school and never gave it a shot again.

As I grew older, I kept asking myself, isn't it too late to learn?

No !

In 7 days, I have gone cycling from around a km a day to around 20 kms at one shot. Here's how I did it and you can too..

Why did I want to learn to cycle now?

Amsterdam is the city for cyclists ! During my visit there, I found myself missing the fun of cycling along the many canals in the city. That's when I decided I got to learn to cycle!

Additionally, I lost 10 kgs in 2 months only by simple exercises mostly at home and healthy eating. No crash diets. My work requires me to sit in front of the laptop for long hours every day. I was constantly finding different ways to stay healthy and was running out of options... And then I thought, why not cycling?

The Journey

Rented cycle from Mybyk - a bike sharing service close by, requested my house help to teach me, who, after a very confused look, agreed.

• Day 1 - Evening 6 pm, picked up a cycle for 20 hours and returned it in 2 hours.
• Day 2 - No practice
• Day 3 - Rented cycle for 1 week. Did 2 rounds at an extremely slow pace at 11 pm.
• Day 4 - 11 pm. 5 rounds at decent speed.
• Day 5 - 11 pm. 20 rounds at a slow and fast pace.
• Day 6 - 7pm. 40 rounds at a fast pace.
• Day 7 - 6pm. 50 rounds at a fast pace.

As you might have seen there was a drastic improvement on Day 5. Here's me cycling on day 5 :

My Top 5 tips for You

Here are the principles which made the biggest difference :

Don't Give up - Obvious, but don't underestimate this. I almost gave up after Day 1. Make sure you have someone who holds you responsible for progress or the absence of it. When you feel like giving up, ask yourself what the real reason is? I made minor changes on Day 3 (which are explained below) and started again...

Choose the right cycle size - Seems like a straightforward decision, right? But easy to miss in initial stages. Try the bicycle before buying/ renting. On Day 1, I took a large sized bike which did not work well. Make sure your feet comfortably reaches the ground. The biggest fear is of falling - however, if you can put your feet down easily and ensure that you reduce the chances of an accident, you gain confidence. Use this guide to pick the right fit as per your height. Besides, I attracted a lot of attention as I chose 6pm to practice. Which brings me to the next point..

Pick the right time - I realised that the embarrassment and "What would other people think?" consumed all my attention instead of me focusing on the task at hand. That's why I changed my practice hours to late night on Day 3.

Practice Fast and Slow - Pedalling slow will improve balance. Once you have that, cycling fast will ensure you build control during abrupt turns. I used to reduce my speed to close to zero while turning on Day 4 and 5.

Expect the unexpected, Be prepared - On Day 6, I increased the difficulty - although still inside my apartment complex , I changed my practice hours. I started cycling not during late hours but when kids and their parents were all around. Do this only when you are fairly confident.

These tips worked for me. What worked or did not work for you?

To Finish up..

I never thought I'd say this.. I LOVE CYCLING.

I find this ridiculous as I have always hated cycling and avoided it.

Now I cycle for almost 2 hours every day and still sneak out for an extra session in the night because of the amazing weather presently.

Cycling makes me feel empowered and liberated.

2021 has been a year of transformation for me, here are the few things I changed in my life

1. From Reading 1.5 books/year to 3 books in 3 weeks
2. From Risk Manager to Project Manager with no formal training
3. Losing 10 kgs in 2 months with no crash diet

I encourage all of you - whether you want to overcome your fears or any obstacles, it's never too late. You can shape your life based on the work you put in daily.