April 29, 2014
Five Ways to Have More Fun on Your Bike

1) Find Your Tribe
There is nothing better than riding with your biking sisters and brothers. No matter where you live, you are likely not alone, and if there are two cyclists, it’s a ride! So, if you can’t find a fun ride to join, you can fashion your own, with tips and examples from one of the best fun riding resources our there like Shift2Bikes.org.

2) Plan Your First ‘Tour’
When you ride for transportation, the bike is a utilitarian vehicle, getting you from point A to point B. Of course there’s joy in it – especially those moments when you and your bike are perfectly in sync. To extend the joy, plan your first bike tour – even if it’s only a one-day getaway. So many resources can help you take your two wheels to places you’ve never been before – try the TwoWheel Travel blog, Cycle Wild and REI’s touring basics page to get started.

3) Put An ‘E’ On It  CLICK HERE!

If for any reason your love of biking is flagging – big hills, big kids, big loads – you can instantly have more fun by retrofitting your bicycle with an electric motor. Kathryn McCarthy, a cyclist in Portland, Oregon, made her Breezer an electric bike with the addition of a Currie Technologies motor and has never looked back. Two laden panniers of groceries give her no pause when she’s got the electric motor helping her pedal up the steep hill to her home. McCarthy said the ‘e-Breezer’ allows her to ride her bike much more because the mental limits that used to stop her from doing certain longer bike jaunts are gone. “I just ‘go to town’ on my e-bike,” she said. “And I really love that.”

4) Chalk It Up
Adding a Chalktrail – a giant piece of pastel chalk in a ground-level holster – to the back of your bike or your kids’ bike is a sure fire way to start a conversation, as well as a method of making art while you ride. Great for playground riding.

Every tall bike is a bike hack. Photo Adam Baker via flickr.

5)Hack to Heaven
Starting May 7, Snapguide, the app that lets you create “how-tos” on your phone using photos and videos, wants to promote bicycle hacks – you know, those ingenious solutions you’ve come up with to do something on a bike – like carry a pie, or a sofa, or change a tire without getting greasy. There will be prizes for the best bike hack Snapguides, including lovely bike gear from Walnut Studios and PDW. Use the Snapguide app to create your best bike hack how-to, so we can all have more fun biking.