Setting A Biking Goal

Hi, it's Alanna here with Sixthreezero. Today, in honor of National Bike Month, we are talking about biking goals. We are going to tell you why and how to set the best biking goal for you, whether you are trying to lose weight, get more active, spend more time with family, whatever it is we've got some great tips for you. Be sure to stay 'til the end because we have an awesome live event coming up full of fun prizes, so you won't want to miss out on that info.

Why is it good to set a biking goal? Well, spring is here and that means the weather is perfect for building a biking habit. We're about halfway through the year so that means it's a great time to look back on your new year's resolutions and see if riding a bike can help you achieve any of those goals that you set. Plus, there are so many physical and mental health benefits to riding a bike.

Studies show that performing moderate levels of exercise helps your body produce and absorb more endorphins so that makes it a great stress reliever. Increasing your cardiovascular health by 5% can lead to a 15% increase in mental acuity. Plus, regular biking has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease by 50%. If weight loss is your goal, not only do you burn calories while riding your bike but it gives you a metabolism boost that can last for hours after you've finished biking.

Those are some of the health benefits but there are so many other benefits as well. It's great for the environment, especially as an alternative to driving, and plus it's a great way to spend time with your family, get outdoors, and it's just fun.

What are the actual steps to setting a biking goal? First, you want to start small. Especially if you are new to physical activity or biking, in particular, you're not going to want to commit to 30-minute bike rides seven days a week. A good place to start is a 10-minute bike ride three times a week. You want to set yourself up for success and not make it too hard to start off.

Next, you want to get really specific about what you're going to be doing. That can mean planning all your rides at the beginning of the month or even at the beginning of the week, but just knowing exactly when and where you're going to be riding and for how long is really going to help you succeed and really give you no excuse not to go out for your bike ride.

Part of that is going to be engineering your environment for success, so that could mean putting your helmet and other biking gear near the door where you can see it and it's easily accessible. It could mean filling up your water bottle before going for a ride or even making sure that you're hydrated throughout the day when you know you're going on a bike ride later. You really want to give yourself no excuse not to go on a ride.

Lastly, I would say to find an accountability partner or join a community such as our Sixthreezero Pedalers Group. Connecting with other people with similar goals and interests is really going to help motivate you and help you stick to your goal. There are riders ranging from complete beginners to people riding hundreds of miles a week in our Sixthreezero Pedalers Group and, I have to say, it's so inspiring to read everyone's stories and read how everyone is progressing on their own journey. It really does make me want to go out on a bike ride so I'm sure it'll do the same for you. It's just a great place to connect and feel good about riding your bike.

Hopefully, these tips were helpful to you. Be sure to join our pedaler's group and let us know what your goal is so that we can encourage you. Feel free to share pictures, check on all the other pictures that other pedalers are posting and cheer them on too. It's really a great community to be a part of and we hope you'll join us there.

Before I go, I did mention a live event coming up. On March 20th, that's a Thursday, I will be assembling an e-bike live so from straight out-of-the-box I'll be doing everything and you can tune in, ask questions. Plus, we'll be giving out prizes throughout the live event. So I hope to see you there. That's March 20th and you can find all the info in our pedalers group and that's also where you can RSVP.

Thank you so much for watching, I hope you found this helpful. Remember, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.