Turn your morning commute into the best part of the day.
For many, morning bike rides represent the ultimate catch-22.
On the one hand, it’s been shown that morning exercise provides invaluable benefits that last long throughout the day, ranging from increasing your metabolism and your work productivity to enhancing your sleep patterns.
One the other hand, mornings can be the worst. They typically involve getting out of bed and frequently precede other less enviable tasks - things like “going to work” and “not riding bicycles all day.”
That’s why we created this list of tips that will help you get your mornings started off right. Follow these steps and your morning routine will get a major jumpstart.
1- Add coffee into your bike routine.
If you’re a routine coffee drinker - the kind that needs a cup (or a pot or two…) in the morning - make coffee a part of your ride. Instead of brewing your own at home, force yourself to ride to a nearby coffee shop so you’ll be that much more motivated to get on the bike.
2- Don’t hit the snooze button or change your alarm.
It’s tempting to give yourself “five more minutes,” but five turns into fifteen turns into an hour. Hide your alarm clock in another room (preferably not your roommate’s), or ask someone you live with to forcefully wake you. It’ll do your body good to be awake earlier.
If you wake up and really believe that you’re not being lazy, but your body genuinely needs extra extra rest that morning, make a deal with yourself - you don’t get a “day off” from your morning ride unless you at least put your gear on and go outside. If you still don’t feel like it once you’re out there, then it likely is your body telling you to take an off-day.
3- Make breakfast a part of your biking, or plan it for after the ride.
Again, it’s all about giving yourself a little extra motivation. Treat yourself to a good breakfast on the way or once your ride is over. This will encourage you to enjoy a meal that’s often skipped, but won’t stop you from getting on your bike early.
4- Plan your clothing and bike gear the night before (or sleep in it).
This will save you that extra step of having to find everything when you’re still half-asleep, making it easier to get up and go, at which point your endorphins will take over and you’ll hardly want to stop.
Want to take things a step further? You can even sleep with your biking clothes on the night before if you really struggle to find the motivation to wake up in the morning.
5- Don’t check your email.
Checking your email may be part of your morning routine before work, and for good reason. On early-morning cycling days, don’t take the extra time to check your email or social media. It’ll be relaxing and refreshing to start the morning unplugged, just you and the ride. Moreover, it will eliminate any opportunity for you to see a stressful message that may throw off your morning before it’s had the chance to take off.
6- Make plans with a friend.
The best way to get yourself to commit to waking up early? Make plans that you can’t cancel. Ask a friend to meet up early in the day or to ride in with you. Accountability to someone other than yourself is often the best motivation.
7- Bring everything you need with you.
If you’re going somewhere after the ride is over, make sure to pack everything you’re going to need on your person. It can help to carry extra deodorant and dry shampoo if you’re going anywhere where you want to look nice and, well, not sweaty.
8- Make early morning rides a habit.
Research says that making something a habit makes it easier to do, so try to make early morning bike rides something you do consistently. Whether it’s every Tuesday and Thursday, or seven days a week, just having a regular early morning ride will get you into the positive habit and make it harder to break.