How to Ride a Bike

Like most people, I learnt to ride a bike as a child. However, it turns out this is very different to lycra-clad, clip-in-pedals, gilet-wearing road cycling!

My big brother is an avid cyclist, and I would often see him getting up at unearthly times, dressing in what seemed like completely unnecessary kit, cycling for hours, up hills, and dismantling and re-making his bikes multiple times just to get 50g off its weight. I admit - I didn’t understand it at all.

I decided I wanted to do a tour with my film, Vitamin Sea. However when looking into the logistics, the idea of driving hundreds of miles just seemed so wasteful, damaging, and misaligned with my values. So I decided to cycle it instead.

Fortunately I was loaned a beautiful bike by the lovely people at Specialized.

This is the first time I can really say I have dabbled in road cycling. And I love it. Hours and hours outside, red in the face, but grinning, at being able to explore places close to where I live that I had either never been, or never travelled through slowly enough to truly appreciate them.

Suddenly I got it. You can travel miles, in a very short space of time, with no diesel or petrol emissions, and feel your body come into its own all at the same time.


I explored, took the time to smell the honeysuckle in the hedgerows, watched the insects in the grass, and the birds in the trees. I cycled past farms and said hello to the heifers.

I tried riding without the cycling shorts. My bum nearly fell off. So now I also see why the lycra and padding is important! And the bum cream to stop the chaffing.


Here are 8 lessons I learnt pretty quickly, that nobody really tells you when you’re new to the sport.

You’re not meant to wear pants under your padded cycling shorts, unless you want blisters. You ARE meant to wear bum cream to prevent chaffage. It’s very important. There are natural options.

Coffee cup holders on a bike are a con! One cattle grid and your cup, and the coffee, are all over the floor. Better idea - stop for a coffee and a cake instead. You’ll have burnt enough calories to warrant it.

To avoid the bonk, eat little and often. I made some lovely protein balls with dates, honey, peanut butter, citrus peel, cacao and toasted nuts. Energy dense and delicious, and almost completely plastic free.

Remember to unclip. Clip-in pedals help you up the hills, but won’t help you stay upright in traffic. The first time I used them I was so conscious of them that nothing went wrong. Then I got complacent, and at zero miles an hour forgot to unclip until the last minute. Unclipped the right foot, tried to put down the left foot, stacked it in front of a lot of people. I say I won’t make that mistake again but I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time!

Find a local cycling shop that can help you out. I discovered Cycle Scuderia in Bideford, and they have been so, so patient with me, translating all the cycling jargon into English, helping me to decide what kit I really do need, and what I can live without to avoid waste and over-consuming, and giving me tips on where to ride.

Get your bike fitted to you. I was reluctant to spend the money on this, but that’s because I didn’t appreciate just how important it was. Before the fitting, I was getting a very sore neck, tight ITB, numb feet. After the fit, my neck can go for hours. It has absolutely revolutionised the experience for me, and I know that it’ll allow me to go further with less pain. Please get your bike fitted to you by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Listen to your coach. They know what they’re on about. My wonderful coach, Simon de Burgh of Tri-Force Fitness has been so helpful getting me up and running with this biking malarkey. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge, and having somebody to help out with questions, training plan, adjustments, routes and to know what to do when my legs are so wobbly I can’t get up the stairs has been invaluable. Thank you Simon.

Forget the sunkissed-look. You’re going to have interesting tan lines. I’m talking very brown knees, very pale thighs, watch strap, and t-shirt lines. There’s no avoiding it unless you avoid the lycra. Don’t avoid the lycra - see number 1. I plan to embrace it.

It’s been a real transition for me away from ocean-based training, to training on a bike. Several times I have rebelled and gone surfing instead of getting on my bike. More than once I have questioned what on Earth I’m doing spending so many hours in land. And then I’m out there, whizzing along, exploring new places, experiencing the hedgerows in all their beauty, being smacked in the face by oncoming insects, smelling the flowers, taking in the trees and the bird song, going SO fast down hills, working my body, knowing I can stop at the pub for dinner and get an extra portion of chips if I like. It’s absolutely magical. And although I know that cycling up to 50 miles a day for some seasoned cyclists wouldn’t be much of a challenge, for me it definitely is. It’s also something I can feel proud of, and which aligns with my values. I can deliver my film tour without emitting heaps of carbon by driving. And I can continue to feed myself with the endorphins and feel-good factor I crave from physical challenges.

I would love to have company on this trip. If you fancy joining for some cycling, please get in touch!