start cycling?

Question

I live in Colorado and I see it EVERYWHERE., but how do I like enter the sport?! How do you start? Any good online forums where I can get my questions answered?

Answer 1

Congrats on taking the first step toward a lifetime of the most rewarding and versatile activity you can do. There are so many reasons to ride a bike, as you'll find out. You can start anywhere, from buying a used mountain bike for cheap to getting outfitted with a high-zoot road bike and hitting the local rides. I recommend you contact a local cycling club. You'll find them by searching the web (for example, "Fort Collins cycling" in Google, or something like that). Find an email link, and ask if you can attend a meeting, or meet with a club officer. From there you'll likely narrow your interest to road- or off-road cycling, commuting, bike path rides, or whatever. You'll find many people who will welcome your involvement and will help you with questions about equipment, clothing, where to ride, and many other things. Another great place to start is with you local shop. Usually you'll find at least one person in the shop who can help a brand-new cyclist, and it's OK to walk in and admit you don't know anything about cycling and are wishing to get started. As for web sites, I really like sites about the general cycling lifestyle, like Ken Kifer's site at:

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/lifestyle/index.htm

Also, check out Sheldon Brown's pages at Harris Cyclery,

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html

Sheldon is the cyclist's guru and this is a link to an encyclopedia of corporate knowledge about cycling. Really all you need to get started is to throw a leg over a bike and find a safe place to ride it, like on a bike path or in a bike lane, until you gain a little experience and knowledge so you can ride ever more safely and efficiently. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

Oh you will love cycling... it's so much fun. A local bike store is your best bet. The employees will know more about the best bikes than just any sporting good store. Plus try to make friends with the owners or employees a the bike store. At my local bike store they gather a group of people every night and go on a group ride. It's makes you work harder and you can make more friends.
You might check a few pawn shops for some good bikes at a reasonable price as well. Good luck

Answer 3

You are at a good forum to get your questions answered. :)
Start by visiting professional bicycle shops and avoid the department store bikes. ASK questions of them. Avoid buying the first bike you see, rather look around at as many as you can find. Again -- ASK questions. Most people in bike shops: 1. want your business, and 2. are therefore as helpful as they can be. Those shops will know of bicycle groups in your area that have rides you can develop your skills. When riding with a new group keep asking any questions you have pertaining to riding technique etc. Have FUN!

Answer 4

This forum has some good answers- its easy to spot the wishy washy dreamers, so ignore them.(oops!)

The best bet mate, is to speak to your local bike shop, (not store) but small shop!

You didnt say what sort of bike you ride, it doesn't really matter!, someone there is usually connected,- if not?, find another shop!!!!!

If your an aspiring roadie, then it usually means afew weekend rides, with a local club before your application for membership is accepted. From there, you can obtain a wealth of experience from other members and try your first race!

Hope this helps mate! and good luck!!

Answer 5

Something no one mentioned here is you start by getting on your bike and riding. The wonderful thing about cycling is you can do it whenever you wnat to and you don't need anyone else to do it.

I enjoy hooking up with others to ride, if you want to race etc. a club is the best place. However, I enjoy riding alone too in the park. I get to relax, think, look at great scenery etc. It's quite and enjoyable.

Answer 6

Go to forums.mtbr.com, there are a lot of forums there, from novice to parts forums, as well as state forums.

Go to bike shops and talk with the guys there, they might give you some insight and probably know some good groups where you can start riding.

Answer 7

Use common sense. What kind of cycling will you do? Mountain and trail? City? Road riding?

Go to a garage sale and buy a good bike for $20 and find out if you really want to ride.

Answer 8

Yeah, this one has tons of bike nerds. But your best bet is to go into your local bike shop, they know what they are doing, and they are real, live people you can talk to face to face.

Answer 9

pick up a bicyclist magazine and look in the back...classifieds.