Possible?: Getting rid of cycling rituals

In another topic here, 2010 cycling goals, Bleeckerstgirl mentioned she wanted to try as much as possible to ride her bike with the least amount of rituals (or preparation).

Not sure if I can get rid of any cycling rituals, no matter how much I abandon my preparatory rituals/routine just before and after cycling.

And we live at the foot of a popular bike route in heart of the city!
Still, even for a short dinky ride, I feel most secure with my most minimal ritual preparations: wear my bike helmet, carry my keys, some money, bike lock (in pannier because there's no other spot to fasten it without rattling or spending another flippin' 5 min. tieing it down) and eye protective wear of some sort.

And the after bike ritual, of locking up my bike inside a shared locker is necessary.

I can't de-ritualize my routine. It's like a security blanket for me. :o I can't just jump onto my bike...I might change my mind and stop at a store, bank near by etc. :rolleyes:

Some of it can be "automated", I guess...

I have a saddlebag on my road bike with a spare tube, patch kit, tire levers and then the pump is attached to the frame. For MTB, I have a camelbak that I prestocked with the MTB's spare tube, some tire levers and a first aid kit. My "commuter" backpack has a pocket that I always keep a lock, a rainfly, pants clips, blinky lights, Action Wipes, and a 10-ride train ticket (just in case!) No thinking or big checklists, just depending on the ride, I grab the appropriate bag.

I have a ziplock baggie with a copy of my ID and my local map. Throw in my cell phone and a few cash bills. My keys have a little detachment so that I don't have to carry the entire ring to get back into the house or car.

I tend to keep my helmet, gloves, and sunglasses together in the same place. No thinking there.

So when it comes time to really go, it's just a matter of grabbing snacks and filling up the waterbottles or bladder.

What I don't skimp on is the pre-ride bike check rituals, or my ABC: Air in the tires, Brakes engaged and functional, and Cleats clean and tight... (tho a recent event triggered me into adding a quick tug on the quick release skewers now, too!)

-- gnat!

hmmm. I was thinking - why would you want to? Unless you know for a fact that you always overplan, or spend an annoying amount of time preparing. Most bike rituals are there for a good reason. I spend time assessing the weather and putting on the right clothes because being comfortable when I ride is important to me, and I bring the stuff I'm going to need because, well, I'm going to need it :)

I like being prepared. Not for everything, I don't even carry anything for a flat, just bus card and cash. But my dh will laugh at me when I put on bike gear to bike down to the store 3 km away :rolleyes:

Shootingstar,
i was actually thinking of starting a thread about it when I made that post. Glad to know it made you think about this too. :)

But I wasn't thinking about the basic safety stuff like wearing a helmet and checking your tires or bringing water or ID. That's like puttin gon your seatbelt and bringing your ID with you in the car. No, I was thinking about accumulated effect of adding of all the other little things that together might make someone just decided "Oh the heck with it!" and not go for that ride at all.
I read regularly here where women have a hard time getting motivated to get on their bike, and often the excuse becomes related to all the preparations and special stuff you have to do or wear beforehand.

My big step last month was abandoning the added step of recording my mileage and average speed after every ride. The heck with that. :D Now I just leave the computer on the bike and set it back to zero after each ride. (I do like to know how many miles some rides are, since we do a lot of varied rides in the countryside here). I've also stopped adding electrolyte powder to my water bottle, except for rides of over 25 miles now. I used to ritualistically put it in my water every time.

I keep all the paperwork I need to bike/run in a small ziploc bag permanently. License, insurance card, organ donor card, credit card, park pass and at least $20 in cash, preferably including a few $1 bills.

The whole thing goes in the cash slot of my purse the rest of the time, so when I dress for a ride or a run, all I have to do is grab the baggie and put my phone in it, plus my car key if I'm not leaving from home.

As I mentioned in another thread, all the rest of my gear (gloves, shoes, helmet, sunglasses with attached mirror, arm and knee warmers, shoe covers, chamois cream, sunblock, Nuun, maps....) lives in a mesh backpack, so it's all in one place whenever I get ready for a ride.

When I got my new bike, I chose not to put a computer on. I still do a basic tracking of miles (I know how many miles all my regular routes are), but I try not to worry about speed. It's something I still struggle with. In fact, if I look at the clock before I ride, I'll often do the math later and calculate my speed, but at least it doesn't ruin the ride.

Since you've need recording speed and miles for so long, BSG, it may be hard to give up. But, in the end, it's made riding much more enjoyable for me. I can't wait to hear if you find it better, too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redrhodie

When I got my new bike, I chose not to put a computer on. I still do a basic tracking of miles (I know how many miles all my regular routes are), but I try not to worry about speed. It's something I still struggle with. In fact, if I look at the clock before I ride, I'll often do the math later and calculate my speed, but at least it doesn't ruin the ride.

Since you've need recording speed and miles for so long, BSG, it may be hard to give up. But, in the end, it's made riding much more enjoyable for me. I can't wait to hear if you find it better, too.

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Gave up my cyclometer ..um over a decade ago. I usually know the distance that I ride daily because there are several routes of choice that I go on regularily. That's how I can report my daily mileage here on TE. Plus if I'm riding with dearie, in an area/along a route I seldom do, I just ask him. He religiously tracks his mileage on ...a spreadsheet for cumulatives, graphs. No guff.
It's freeing ...and I'm still in shape, still cycling fit-ok and I still do decent mileage. (But I will never be a racer. But so what.)

Agree with gnat, that some of this ritual stuff is automated but only because I've learned the hard way over the yrs...forgetting my helmet once, forgetting money 1-2 times, forgetting my lock....never again.

It's nearly impossible for me just to jump onto a bike without this stuff even if I'm just intending to go for a 5 kms. ride. Usually it ends up longer or I want to go wandering off inside a store. Like a wandering child distracted by possibilities: she wants to explore. :D

I just haven't broken the barrier of not wearing cycling shoes, etc. for just a cycling 'jaunt'.

The biggest drag for me is changing my clothes to go for a ride.
Hard to get around some of that stuff, for sure. I need my chamois for anything over 10 miles! :o
But happily I don't use clipless so I wear any shoes I want or happen to be wearing already. I also never wear jeans (with troublesome heavy seams) or long skirts...I'm always in black leggings or capris often with short easy skirts, so I can actually just pull some bike shorts over them if I need a bit of padding.

I always use a tiny Baggellini purse with a diagonal shoulder/chest strap as my normal everyday purse, and I can actually wear that biking if I want or just throw the whole thing into my saddle bag. It's about 3" x 4" and carries everything I need to go out anywhere...even my cell phone slips into a pocket on it.

Lisa,
Where can I get that purse?
I did what you are doing (letting go of recording mileage, speed) at the end of last year. While I still like to know how far I go, I use my computer (s) for that. Most of my regular routes, I know the mileage. It forced me to stop obsessing on my average. I will check it once in awhile, but mostly I don't. It has been liberating, especially since this year I have had several injuries, etc. that have made it pretty hard to ride fast. It's more important that I am out there riding. I do write down the mileage from my Jamis' computer and every few months I will add it in my head to the mileage on my road bike. Then, it's like a surprise to see the total.
I can't let go of the special clothing stuff. I have tried riding in regular clothes and it just feels wrong. I do have some different, casual riding clothes for errands that are not just for riding, especially the top half. It's the bottoms that are cycling specific, although not regular shorts or pants. Overall, I love having (and buying) the clothes I need for all the sports I do; I find at this time of year, it's sort of a pain to get ready for any outdoor activity, because it involves so many layers, you have to think about which level of warmth for the socks, etc. But, it hasn't stopped me.
I even get dressed in my yoga pants/tops to do yoga in my house, since I bought them when I was going to a gym. It makes it feel "serious" and once I put those pants on, I am comitted to doing at least 30 minutes.

Robin, it's this one, their tiniest one:
http://www.mybaggallini.com/shop/pro...?products_id=5
Smaller than you even expect, just perfect for the downsized life. ;)

I know what you mean about putting on certain things to make you feel more committed to doing something....but it can work against people too, if they are having a hard time forcing themselves to just get in a few minutes of something.