The 10 Most Valuable Lessons I Learned in TEN Years of Cycling!

10 Lessons I learned in TEN Years of cycling.
Enjoy x

// Cycling eBook: https://www.ilikemountains.cc/s-h-o-p
// Instagram: http://instagram.com/katiekookaburra1/
// Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/3352833
// My Zwift Club: https://tinyurl.com/4wusdwxp
// Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/katiekookaburra

Well chuffed to have the following brands support me and my ol’ cycling adventures. So you will see some of their products I choose to use in my content 🙂

https://www.shimano.com/en/
https://www.garmin.com/
https://www.zwift.com/uk
https://exposurelights.com/
Shokz: Use KATIE2023 for £10 off: https://shokz.cc/3Sq4IXJ

Hey all welcome to another video so today is going to be 10 lessons I’ve learned in the 10 years that I have been cycling it’s going very quick number one is going to be consistency is the most important thing for fitness and just generally feeling good on a bik you

Don’t have to do loads and loads and loads you don’t have to do really intense sessions but just keep your riding consistent over the weeks over the months over the years best thing for feeling good on a bike I definitely underestimated what I could do on a bike

And I think when I was starting out I just didn’t think I’d be able to do any of the things that I have done and I guess the piece of advice that I would give for this is you don’t know what your limit is until you have a go at

Things and sign up for things that you think you might not be able to do because you might just get out and do them and I definitely underestimated what I could do on a bike you have good days and you have bad days and as the saying goes in cycling like sometimes

You’re the hammer is that seconding quote sometimes you’re the hammer sometimes you’re the nail I think for me when I was definitely when I was starting out even like in the middle even now even I feel like sometimes you feel you’re progressing really well and you’re like yeah I’m getting more

Confident getting my skills are improving and then you’ll have one ride where you just feel absolute just rubbish and then you just feel like oh it’s not been worth it but you just have good days and bad days you just got to like roll with

It that’s so cringe I was going to like as a way is saying it’s kind of like rolling with the tires God what am I saying ignore me but yeah you just got to take the good days with the bad days and majoritively you’ll have better more

Good days than you will bad days but just have to accept them also what I will add to that though is the bad days give you the best lessons and some of the worst experiences I’ve ever had on a bike does have given me way more an experience and helped me then

Progress also you just get way better stories when the days don’t go right so k shows have good days and bad days and appreciate all of them we are how you feeling wet soggy and yeah and then we’ve got a bloody stream down here you want to show them me go on

Jacket having a little [Laughter] weave and my shoe covers of ripped off this is a massive one specifically now where bike prices are insanely expensive the bike you have is not important um and it doesn’t necessarily directly impact your Fitness and fitness is the most important thing so if you

Are maybe starting out or you’re in the middle of like your cycling journey I guess I would suggest not spending crazy thousands and thousands of pounds on a new bike I would just like I had a giant Avail it was um alloy I had it probably

For the first 5 years I was cycling and I just used it everywhere I love that bike and I use that money rather than buying a new bike to go on cycling trips and Adventures and then build my fitness that way rather than worrying about oh what bike I’ve got I didn’t necessarily

Think I needed oh I need carbon or I need this or I need that or I need these fancy wheels or you don’t need any of that you just need a bike that fits you and is comfortable for you and yeah that’s all that matter oh this next one

Is a very good one because I still need to remind myself this and that is the fear of something or the fear of a ride or the fear of a climb or whatever that is is always worse in your head than actually what it is in reality so if

You’re scared of going and doing a climb if you’re scared of going and doing a specific sport e or you’re scared of I don’t know what it is we always make these things bigger and harder than they are than like how they are in reality today

Is I’m just scared I’m just going to get straight into it basically I’m going to go and climb hard notot keep going keep going God I’ve done it keep going a bit oh my God oh my God oh my God I can’t believe I did it

Although a couple of them I’m trying to think like hard not pass for me was probably it’s probably the opposite actually that that was steeper than I was expecting however just gives you a bit of a challenge can’t believe I’ve done it three years this climb is taking me to do three freaking

Years St for going up there thank you so and then I don’t fear it anymore cuz I went back and conquered it so yeah don’t try not to fear things um this is my less anyway like try not to fear things just have a go at them and then you can

Always overcome that fear this one is a little bit embarrassing to admit but I’m going to do it anyway because I feel like it might help some of you and that is you can be riding 10 years 10 whole years 10 years of riding and I still

Cannot turn right in a u U-turn very well I always ve left because when I stop and get off my back I always put my left foot down so veering like anywhere across from Center to the right just feels weird to me so that’s one thing I still can’t do after 10

Years turning around here what you turn that way for I can’t turn the other way I also can’t clip in on road pedals on a steep hill like I just I just can’t do it I try and I just can’t do it it so the lesson or the the thing that I’ve

Learned with that is you can ride all these years and there’s still going to be some skills or some things that you’re just not going to be great at no matter how how many years you try and do them so yeah it’s fine I’m happy with it

I’ve accepted it yeah that’s that one finding cycling buddies is essential for having more adventures and having more fun I am the first to admit that I love going and doing solo ride Sol Adventures but having friends and people that push you and people that encourage encourage

You to do other things it’s just so important and I guess that’s a lesson that I’ve learned over the years because I started out no I did things with groups and then I did a lot more solo stuff but yeah having like a good club I’m with Rafer in Manchester they’re

Just a really nice bunch of people but there are clubs everywhere there’s different clubs there’s Triathlon clubs there’s like um I guess traditional P clubs there’s AAC that’s like a huge thing in the UK um and a lot of other countries but you will be able to find

Your kind of people somewhere there will be a club there will be people that are just like you that would like doing the sting that you do so just got to find those people but yeah that is a massive it’s not necessarily a lesson that’s

Just kind of a tip but well no is it something that I’ve learned that I I do like doing those things with um with people that are watch of the same things OB goes without saying but do it find those people and this is not sponsored

But stra I find is such a good training tool and that is because I feel like for two reasons I love the community part of it so I love getting all your comments or your like Kudos or your just it’s just so nice and I like doing that to

Other people like I like seeing where other people have ridden it gives me like inspiration and encouragement to maybe like oh maybe I’ll go there that looks a really nice ride and then the other reason is I like having it for me as like a little like diary or Journal

Of everywhere that I’ve been recently I’ve started putting more pictures and more videos like on my rides it’s just nice to have memories and nice to be able to see where you’ve been and photos of of roots and I just really like it and then the other

Thing and do I admit this yeah other people do it as well cuz I know that I’ll get a lot of stick for it I love sometimes when I’m like mid riding I’m like oh I just want to Jack this in I’m like yeah but it’ll look good on straw

And I know do not deny it I know some of you will do the exact same thing and it keeps me going so that’s another little incentive that I like straa for that it can encourage me to do more things I like it I’ve always

Paid for well not always but I think I paid for it since like 2016 maybe cuz I just not necessarily that I use all the premium things but I just loved stra I loved what it was about and I wanted to support that company and I still use it

I still love it I mean we all love stra don’t we getting out sometimes is the most difficult part of a ride and sometimes I’ll be feeling it especially in winter when you’ve got to put like 50 layers on God I hate winter um but sometimes yeah just getting out the door

And getting on your bike sometimes is the hardest thing and that’s something that I’ve learned that also as well that mood follows action definitely something that I tell myself so espe even doing that on zift to be honest even if I really don’t feel like it if I’m tired

Or it’s cold as soon as you get out and you start riding then you just feel a million times better so I always remind myself of that so yeah sometimes you just got to get out the door get your shoes on get on the turbo or get outside

Because you’ll just feel amazing for it afterwards and the last one that is always always always someone going to be faster and slower than you so don’t compare yourself um and just focus on you and how you’re feeling on the bike it doesn’t really matter what anyone else

Is doing unless Steve is watching this because Steve is a guy at my club I’m like oh eatting up the climbs um but it’s a bit of friendly competition but yeah generally there’s always going to be someone faster and always someone slower so just just enjoy this is going to be a

Really cheesy end into this so just enjoy the ride don’t compare but um yeah 10 amazing years and pretty much all those 10 years have been on YouTube pretty much yeah so if you want to go back through the old archives I’ll pick a few out actually leave a couple of

Links to some of the older ones that I think you might like let me know the things that you’ve learned actually let me know how long you’ve been riding and the couple of different things that you’ve learned or your number one lesson that you’ve learned in your years of

Cycling uh if you like this video maybe I’ll do a part two with like some more things that I’ve learned because there’s been a lot over the years and thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you on the next video goodbye