Want more riding?
About this page
I don't have enough time to ride my bike" is a common cry, yet daily exercise should be a priority for our health and well being. Some people say they don't have enough time to ride their bike, yet daily exercise should be a priority for our health and wellbeing.
Here are a few suggestions for finding time to ride
Ride to work or school. Add up how much time you spend each day commuting by car or public transport. You could be using some or all of this time for your daily exercise dose. Trips of under 10km can take a comparable amount of time by bike and trips under 5km are often faster by bike. You don't have to ride all the way or every day. Riding to the train station (instead of taking the car) or riding one day a week is better than nothing. For more see the 'Commuter Cycling' section. Another suggestion is to ride to school with your children - see the Ride2School section of the website for details.
Riding to the shops. Need to pick up a carton of milk, a newspaper, return a video or post a letter? Jump on your bike instead of in your car. Your local shops wont be far away and you can park your bike right out front of each shop.
Prepare your bike. If you haven't used your bike in a while it's probably hard to get to at a back of a shed behind the lawnmower and the tyres are probably flat. Suddenly a quick trip to the shop takes two hours because you need to rearrange the shed and service the bike before hand. Spend some time one weekend pumping up the tyres, oiling the chain and getting it ready to go so all you'll need to do is hop on. You may also want to check out bicycle maintenance courses. People who ride regularly usually lock their bike in an accessible place so there's no hassles leaving the house.
Social riding. Catching up with friends on the weekend? Why not go for a social ride along a trail. It's easy to chat while you're riding along and you can have an extra slice of cake at the cafe without feeling guilty. Or take some meat and salad and have a BBQ in one of the parks the trail network runs through. To find social rides organised by others, check the "Find a..." section on our website for your local Bicycle User Group (BUG) or Community Ride.