How to Ride More Often: 5 Simple Cycling Habit Hacks

You know you feel better after a ride, but sometimes getting out the door is the hardest part.

Between work, family, social commitments and the temptation to spend your spare time on the couch, finding time to ride can be challenging.

You don’t necessarily need more motivation, you need better habits.

Whether you’re a beginner cyclist, returning to riding, or trying to ride more consistently, these five simple habit hacks can help you spend more time on your bike.

1. Schedule your rides like an appointment

One of the easiest ways to ride more often is to stop treating cycling as something you’ll do if you have time.

Instead, put your rides in your calendar. Choose specific days and times that work for you and treat them like any other commitment.

You don’t need to schedule a two-hour ride every time. A 30-minute ride before work, a lunchtime loop or a short spin after work all count.

Habit hack: At the start of each week, choose three realistic opportunities to ride and add them to your calendar.

2. Make getting out the door easier

Sometimes the biggest barrier to going for a bike ride is everything that comes before it.

Where are your cycling shoes? Is your helmet packed? Do you need to pump up your tyres? What are you going to wear?

Remove as many of these small decisions as possible.

Keep your cycling gear together and get everything ready the night before. If you’re riding in the morning, lay out your kit, fill your bottles and have your bike ready to go.

The fewer steps between you and your bike, the easier it becomes to follow through.

Habit hack: Create a dedicated spot for your bike and cycling gear so you can get ready without searching for everything.

3. Lower the bar for what counts as a ride

Think you need to ride for an hour or more for it to be worthwhile? Think again.

One of the best ways to build a consistent cycling habit is to make your minimum goal achievable.

Tell yourself you only need to ride for 15 or 20 minutes. Once you’re out there, you might decide to keep going, but you don’t have to.

Short rides can still help you build consistency, increase your time on the bike and make cycling a regular part of your routine.

Habit hack: Set a minimum ride goal that feels almost too easy. If you ride longer, that’s a bonus.

Remember: a short ride is always more riding than no ride.

4. Give yourself somewhere to go

If every ride starts with the question “Where should I ride today?”, you’re creating another opportunity to talk yourself out of it.

Have a few easy cycling routes ready to go.

Create a short route for busy days, a medium route for when you have more time and a longer route for weekends. You could also choose destinations such as a favourite café, park, lookout or local trail.

Having a destination can make getting on your bike feel less like a workout and more like an outing.

Habit hack: Save three go-to cycling routes in your favourite mapping app so you never have to plan from scratch.

5. Make cycling social

Want to ride more often? Find people who want to ride too.

Joining a cycling club or riding with friends can make it easier to stay accountable. You’re less likely to skip a ride when someone else is waiting for you, and having a regular group ride can turn cycling into something you look forward to.

Cycling socially can also help you discover new routes, improve your skills and meet people who share your interest in riding.

If you’re new to cycling, look for beginner-friendly rides or a local club that offers different ride groups and abilities.

Habit hack: Organise one regular ride with a friend or group each week and put it in the calendar.

You don’t need to completely overhaul your routine to ride more often. Small changes can make cycling easier to fit into your everyday life.

Start by scheduling your rides, preparing your gear, making short rides count, having routes ready to go and finding people to ride with.

Most importantly, don’t wait until you feel motivated. Make riding easy enough that you can do it even when motivation is low.