Buckle up for the best protection

The right stuff: wearing your helmet correctly gives it a better chance of protecting you if you come off. Photo: Helen Cronin

I once saw a fellow riding towards me on the other side of the road who didn’t seem to be wearing a helmet. When we got alongside each other I could see that he actually had it perched so far back on his head that it had been hidden.

Apart from being mighty uncomfortable, it was possibly the worst example of helmet fitting I’ve yet seen. It’s actually quite alarming that something that’s supposed to protect our most precious asset is often worn very badly.

Small legs can tag along for a big ride

Six of the best: the tagalong meant the Scanlon family could enjoy riding even when the boys were quite young. Photo: Eddie Barkla

Gerard and Heather Scanlon are used to attracting attention with firsts.

“There was a woman who stopped at the lights when Brendan was on the baby seat and took a photo. I’m sure it was because he had this bright helmet on,” said Heather.

But that was nothing compared to the interest they generated when they brought their first tagalong.

“The first [Great Victorian Bike Ride] we did Nathan had his photo in the Melbourne Age, because they’d never seen a kid on a tagalong before,” said Gerard.

Keep yourself well maintained

Age no barrier: take care of yourself and you’ll be firing on all cylinders for years to come.
Photo: SantiMB FlickR

The older you get, the more important it is to take care of your wellbeing. But the older you get the less time you seem to have. We’re a bit like cars.

A friend of mine is a motor mechanic who says most people get it wrong when it comes to looking after their car.

A new car is always clean and polished and treated with loving care. It’s serviced regular as clock work, although it’s in prime condition and generally doesn’t need much maintenance. A little goes a long way in these first years.

As the car gets older it gets dusty and dinted and the times between services drag out – just when it needs more timely care. Moving parts have worn and you need to be sure everything’s functioning well to lessen the risk of an untimely failure.

How is your service book looking? It’s well known that regular exercise lessens the risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, and extends life and quality of life.

Look on the bright side of your bicycle

Powerful thinking: simply focusing on the positives improves your performance and safety. Photo www.pedbikeimages.org Annie Lux

Once you get on a bike it seems inevitable that you want to improve your fitness or tackle a big public ride. Almost as inevitable are the days when it seems as though you’re getting nowhere.

Don’t despair – that’s the secret. Your frame of mind is a major part of achieving any goal. Look on the gloomy side and everything seems to go wrong from there. You feel bad, you don’t perform as well, you make mistakes.

It might seem terribly simplistic, but positive thinking really can make a difference. In the language of sports psychology it’s called visualisation.