10 Reason to Start Road-Cycling

Trundling along on the bike today, mind wandering as you do, I started to think about what a great hobby road cycling is. Here are ten reasons why you should consider to start road cycling (in no particular order).

1. It isn't time dependent. If you're busy, you can jump on the bike when it suits you, rather than being driven by something that is time dependent, like many team sports.
2. You can do it indoors or outdoors (indoors using a turbo trainer which is a device you can set your bike into which turns it into a static training bike).
3. You get to see some fantastic countryside. As your ability to ride greater distances develops, you get to explore some roads that you never knew existed. It really helps you to familiarise yourself with your locality and further afield.
4. You can do it alone, or as part of a group. Some days you just want to jump in the saddle on your own, other times it's great to ride with a group. The choice is yours.
5. There are a number of different disciplines to road cycling. You might start out on the road, but may develop into other elements such as time trialling (cycling against the clock on a pre-determined route).
6. There are lots of organised events you can participate in. Not only races, but charity fundraisers or rides such as sportives and audaxes.
7. You get to meet a lot of likeminded people. I've developed a large network of new people since starting cycling, great way to meet new friends.
8. You can keep it simple or get right into it. If you want to just jump in the saddle and do some miles - fine, alternatively if you like technical stuff - you can get immersed in all the details of bikes, fitness and training.
9. It's a great low-impact form of exercise. You'll find a lot of ex-runners on bikes, because of it's low impact on the knees. If you want to lose weight, it's a great way of getting fit, losing weight and improving your cardiovascual capablity.
10. It's easy to measure how you're improving. You're not dependent on anyone else, you can log how you're improving over time and this is a real motivation to keep going.