Phyllis Simon, at 65 years old, finally conquered one of her biggest fears and started riding a bike. Simon never rode a bike as a child. She was a marathon runner who eventually injured her IT band so badly that in 1985 she had to give up running long distances. She decided to try a triathlon, making this her first attempt at learning how to ride. For four months she forced herself to train on the bike and disliked it so much that the day after the race she hung her bike up, never to ride it again until 2008. That same  year she was again convinced to give riding a chance, only to do it long enough to buy a new bike and place it on the wall with the first one.
Finally during the winter of 2012, her friend and business partner Kelly McKinnon    convinced her to sign up for the 88 kilometre Prospera Valley Fondo which took place July 21 in the South Okanagan. In preparation for the event, both women also signed up with the Kits Energy Cycling Clinic, coached by me and Kelyn Akuna, and so her story begins.
The thought of riding a bike with clipped in pedals scared her and continued to scare her every day of her training for just over three months. But Simon persevered and can now proudly say that her accomplishments include a sprint triathlon, the Prospera Valley Fondo and the confidence to swim across Dutch Lake for a total of one kilometre.
On March 28 Simon arrived to the first day of the clinic, terrified of being trapped in her bike clips. She had visions of either crashing or being hit by a car. Her lack of cycling knowledge and skills made her nervous on the bike and every time she left the house to ride she would have to take a big breath and talk herself into going. She knew that if she hadn’t had the group she would have found an excuse to hang up her bike again for a third time.
For Simon learning the skills of how to ride a bike properly gave her a lot of confidence especially because it was something that she found so hard. This confidence moved into other areas of her life as well and she finally completed another huge goal which was to swim across Dutch Lake. The total distance was approximately half a kilometre each way and she believes that pushing herself with her riding gave her the confidence to push herself to swim the distance.
Although the Fondo prompted Simon to sign up for the clinic, her main goal in life is to stay fit. She wants to start every decade feeling strong and athletic. She has high standards for her level of fitness and having a goal helps her stay motivated. The key she says is to find a goal that motivates you but doesn’t stress you out too much.
Since she started the clinic in April, Simon has improved immensely and has learned much about the bike. She has four pieces of advice for new riders who are either tentative to try or are being hard on themselves for not learning fast enough.
One: Everyone is going to have fears and usually learning how to clip into your bike pedals is one of the biggest so take it one step at a time. Start by learning in the parking lot and continually build on your skills one day at a time. Through frequency and repetition you will eventually feel comfortable. For Simon it took her three months to finally feel confident clipping in and out of her pedals. Even though she rarely fell, Simon would practice in the parking lot wearing downhill mountain bike pads to help boost her confidence as she knew she was partially protected.Â
To help minimize the fear of falling or being hit by a car, Simon also chooses her riding routes carefully and rides early in the morning to avoid traffic.
Two: The learning process is slow and gradual so you need to be consistent and patient. Don’t try to ride every day or even very far. Start small and slowly build as your confidence and fitness allows. Simon rides twice a week; on Thursdays with the Kits Energy Cycling club and once on her own on Saturdays.
Three: You have to decide if learning how to ride is important to you. Most things that are important are also usually hard, so every day you have to remind yourself to remain consistent and committed. Having a group will help you stay focused on your goal as the group won’t allow you to cop out or make excuses.
Four: Don’t let it bother you if you aren’t a great cyclist or if you are even the worst rider in the group. Use the group as a means to get you out. The knowledge from the coach and the consistent practice guarantees that you will improve and it is really only yourself that you are competing with. Your achievement is the final victory.
Although Simon has completed her goals for this year, she isn’t going to hang her bike up again. She will continue to ride into the fall and maintain her new bike fitness through the winter through spin classes at Rep1 Fitness. Her goals for next year are to better her times in all the races she did this year and to continue to challenge herself with longer distances.
Kristina Bangma is a coach, personal trainer and writer with a love of riding and racing. Email questions to [email protected].
