Useful Cycling Links
- Share The Road Essex County
- Cycling Skills — Ministry of Transportation
- Greenway Etiquette Guide
- Bikepacking Ontario
- Ontario By Bike
- The Windsor Loop
Local Cycling Organizations
Other Resources and Musings
- Cycling’s impact on the body – Evidence-based benefits for health
Cycling Mistakes After a Long Ride
After 14 years of riding in excess of 16,000km annually and now randonneur riding, I’ve learned a few things NOT to do after the ride ends:
- Forget to eat properly! You rode for hours burning thousands of calories, then think you can survive on “just a snack”. This is the time for a little protein but lots of carbs…and before before the beer!…not a time to be dieting!
- Sit down and don’t stand up again! You tell yourself “I’ll stretch in a couple minutes”…3 hours later you are still on the couch and legs feel like cement! Stretch!!
- And walk some to loosen the tight hips and wobbly legs…some stairs help here!
- Overestimate Recovery…”yeah I’m good for another ride tomorrow”…DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) can hit hard the next day, following #1,2,3 above helps!
- Scrolling through cycling reels instead of recovering by stretching, eating , hydrating
Cycling is a beautiful thing, painful and a little crazy, it’s why we love it.
Which of the above do you do after rides?
The Road Gives You More Than You Expect
From the outside, cycling looks like effort.
But there’s a moment on every ride
when the world gets quiet.
No traffic noise.
No thoughts racing.
Just the rhythm of your breath… and the road beneath you.
You start noticing things you used to miss.
The way sunlight filters through trees.
The scent of the earth after rain.
The endless sky stretching above you.
You came to ride your bike
but somehow… you leave lighter than you arrived.
Not because the ride got easier
but because something inside you softened.
And that’s when you realize something.
Some rides change your legs.
Others change how you feel about the world.
Cycling doesn’t just move your body forward.
It reconnects you
to something bigger than yourself.
The road asks a lot from you.
But somehow… it gives back even more.
A kind of clarity you didn’t have before.
A calm you can’t force.
Perspective you only find out there.
That’s what makes cyclists different.
We don’t just ride through the world… we feel it.
The road gives so much to us.
Maybe this time of year is a reminder…
to protect the roads, the air, the quiet that gives you this feeling back.
Ride with awareness. Carry that connection into every mile.
That’s what it means to be a cyclist.
The road gives something back.
You just have to be there to feel it.
Every mile matters. And we’re with you on all of them.
Linda
Global Cycling Gear
The difference isn’t strength. It’s what you don’t notice
Ever finish a ride feeling more tired than you expected?
Not slower.
Not weaker.
Just… more drained.
Chances are, it’s not your fitness.
It’s the small habits working against you.
Small mistakes. Big cost.
Here are 3 fixes that can change how every ride feels:
Grip too tight? Loosen up.
Most riders don’t lose energy on climbs. They lose it in their hands. Relax your grip and free up your upper body.
Waiting until you’re thirsty? You’re late.
By the time you feel thirsty, your performance is already dropping.
Sip every 10–15 minutes to stay ahead.
Grinding heavy gears? Shift sooner.
It feels powerful. But it burns you out faster than you think. Smooth cadence protects your knees and keeps your energy steady mile after mile.
And once you notice them, you can’t unsee them.
These aren’t dramatic changes.
But they’re the kind that separate riders who struggle…
from riders who flow.
The best rides don’t always come from stronger legs.
They come from smarter habits.
And most riders never fix them.
Smart riders do.
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