Are you a man or woman who rides a bike and want your spouse to join you so they can join your world of bike riding? No matter if you tour ride, pleasure ride or ride just for the heck of it, you want to show them that they can do it too. My wife doesn’t ride bikes so I tried to figure out how to get her on a bike so that I could say that I enjoy cycling with the spouse.
In this post, I am going to tell how I finally got my wife to take her first bike ride with me. And when she did she thought it was great. She let me know that she wasn’t going to ride a lot like I do, but that is what I said when I first started. We will see!
Reasons She Wouldn’t Ride
Believe it or not, most people feel that they physically won’t be able to get out and ride for a period of time. They think that they will get out there and embarrass themselves when they go 5 blocks and have to throw in the towel. Then there is the thought that I would just ride off and leave her way back.
This is understandable when I have been riding for a spell now and I can put some miles in pretty quickly. I know from when I first started that you really don’t know how to pace yourself at a good speed so you will get fatigued pretty quick. And if you are not mentally ready to take on the challenge it is pretty rough.
The Way I Got Her To Try It
Well, one day I asked myself, how could I convince her it wouldn’t be as bad as she thought? Well, I have an e-bike that I use to pull my lawn service trailer in the neighborhood. I have ridden it to work sometimes and I know that because it is pedal assisted it doesn’t beat you down.
But at the same time, you get the workout you would get if you were on a traditional bike if you ride it long enough and not rely totally on the motor. I would just hope she doesn’t ride me too hard since she has the motor. LOL.
Well, she took it further than I thought. She actually did not use the motor until we were on a hill or got a little tired. She actually did pretty well. I was impressed and ask her to try to take one day out of the week for now to ride.
She said okay, but don’t try to force me, let me go when I am wanting to go! What the heck, I can’t push the issue at least I got a start.
My Riding Plan
Hopefully, I can get her to get up on Saturday or Sunday morning because she hates the heat, and take a small ride until she gets used to it. We have a very nice river here where we live that has a path on each side. You can ride to the end and turn around and ride up the other side.
I think this would be a good outing for us to start. After doing that a few times she probably will get bit by the riding bug like I did years ago and it will become just part of her weekend plans. There are plenty of other places where we can explore.
Our downtown area here in Oklahoma City is in the process of beautifying the downtown and they thought about cyclist as many other cities are doing. Maybe we can hit every route. This will ensure that I will be cycling with my spouse regularly.
Conclusion
You know, it is always a beautiful thing when you can find something that feels new and exciting to you when you have spent some years together and thought you might have done it all. So if you have someone you want to enjoy cycling with, think of why they might not want to try it.
Most of the time it isn’t because they don’t want to. It is likely they may feel that they physically can’t handle it. So if you can come up with a way to show them even if you have to start them out on an e-bike, it will be well worth getting the riding partner that you love to join you. You can Click Here and then click on e-bikes to see a variety of e-bikes that might work for you.
Here is another option you can consider. Tandem Bike riding is a good way to get in sync with one another. Bicycles for two is a great way to establish communication between the two of you. Click Here to get more information on Tandem Bike riding.
I hope you enjoyed this post and that it will encourage some of you to Keep On Pedaling and this time with your spouse. Please leave any questions or comments or ways you got someone started below.
I love this man! When I am able to get my wife to participate in anything I am doing it always makes things better. I was talking with a young man last week who told me that tandem biking with his wife changed his marriage. It forced them to communicate about things like control, what was coming up, and when they needed to put in more work to get up a hill. I’m not sure you have to tandem bike to get the same effect, but getting out there and doing some cycling together would be a great way to connect with your spouse. Thanks for a great article!
Yes, coming up with new things is always a good thing. Lets you know that you are still a great team. And yes tandem bike riding does take a lot of communicating to ride effectively. Here is a link that will show people what it takes to tandem bike ride and what is involved. Click here.
What are your thoughts on tandem bikes? I’ve heard these are a really nice way to learn an activity together and it helps whichever spouse bikes the most account for any potential ’embarrassment’ from the other party in regards to keeping up.
I haven’t yet tried one because I’m personally not well balanced and I worry we’d fall over…But perhaps you can provide your thoughts?
Tandem bike riding is a team effort. There is a lot involved such as giving signals and how to start off. Check out this link by clicking here which will give you more insight.
Great way to use the e-bike as a way to get her going! I think when you have someone to ride with it makes it that much more fun. And you both get a great workout!
Nice post!
Very true. It also takes your mind off getting tired sometimes. You are engaged in the ride with your partner and if you are trip riding like riding to an event downtown and stopping to dine and so forth, it really becomes a great fun ride.
Your story was very engaging, and as a woman I found myself rooting for your wife to enjoy the ride. For new riders starting out, how far do you think is a fair ride?
I think first of all ride at your comfort level. If you are really new to it a couple of miles is not a bad start.
Everyone can learn to ride a bike, either for fun or the exercise. You did a great job convincing your wife to ride, I’m sure she will love it. Once she starts there will be no stopping her. Pretty soon you can take joy rides together, Well done. Good post.
I really hope so. I have been riding for awhile now and always wanted her to accompany me sometimes. Thank you.
Great idea here on waking up early. My wife and I have found the same idea seems to work for us too. When the weather is gross in the summer, which in the midwest it can be incredibly humid in the summer, we’ve found that getting up before the sun comes out is a great option. It not only lets us get out and ride, but do so before it becomes totally disgusting out! I hope other folks can take advantage of this idea as well!
It is a great and fun thing to do. It passes some time away during the course of the day. You guys are smart to take advantage of the morning air. It definitely beats the mid day heat which can deter people from bike riding together.