Ten Ways to Make Riding Stick

Ten ways to make riding stick

Pick a time, put it on the calendar, ride with people, and keep the first few weeks easy enough that you want to come back tomorrow. Do that long enough and riding stops being a decision you make every day and turns into something you just do.

We first wrote a version of this list in 2016 as general training advice. We rewrote it in October 2026 for riders, because the bike is where most of us actually keep a routine, and because the ideas held up better than we expected.

When we see riders fall off, it usually follows the same pattern: a missed Tuesday turns into a missed week, the weather turns, and suddenly it has been a month. Nothing in particular went wrong. The ride just never had a regular spot in the week.

Give it longer than you think

Our longtime advice is to commit to 40 days before you judge anything. Write the goal down, plan the rides, and get to it.

That number is our coaching rule of thumb, not a scientific one, so we went and looked at the research. A 2009 study in the European Journal of Social Psychology followed 96 volunteers who each picked one daily behavior, like a walk after breakfast, and repeated it in the same setting for 12 weeks. For the people whose data fit the researchers' model, the time it took for the habit to level off ranged from 18 days to 254 days.

So treat 40 days as a starting line rather than a finish line. The finding we like best is that missing a single opportunity did not materially affect the process, so one skipped ride does not undo anything, although two skipped weeks is a different story.

The ten

1. Commit to 40 daysWrite the goal down and plan the rides before day one. A goal that only lives in your head is easy to renegotiate.
2. Do something every dayNot every day has to be a hard ride, and some days are just a short spin or an easy loop. The point is that there is no "day off" sitting there waiting to become "days off."
3. Start easier than your ego wantsCrawl before you walk. If the first week leaves you too sore to get out of bed, you will start wondering how you are supposed to keep this up. Build toward the hard days instead of starting with them.
4. Keep reminders where you will see themTell someone what you are doing. Put a note on the fridge. Keep a ride log, on paper or on your bike computer. Ask a friend or family member to check in on you.
5. Same time, same placeMake the ride part of the day, like dinner. Block the time on your calendar and schedule around it. "I don't have time" gets a lot quieter when the time is already taken.
6. Find the time wastersWe all have them, whether it is TV, scrolling, or a commitment you never wanted. Be honest about where the hour goes, then take it back.
7. Expect bad weeksNobody is perfect, and frustration and setbacks are part of the deal. Knowing they are coming, and knowing what you will do when they show up, is most of the battle.
8. Remove the temptationYou know your weak spots better than anyone, so get them out of the way early, and ask the people backing you to help. Then take away the excuses: leave the bike ready to roll, tires pumped, kit laid out the night before. Anything you have to fix before a ride is a reason not to go.
9. Ride with people who rideYou become a lot like the people you spend time with. Find riders who show up, and you will start showing up too.
10. See the finish linePicture the goal, the hard parts on the way there, and how you will get through them. Know why you are doing this, so the reason is there when the motivation is not.

The ride needs a place to live in your week.Give it one, and protect it like any other appointment.

Fall is the real test

Any routine works in July, but the one that really counts is the one that survives the short days of late fall.

When the clocks fall back an hour each autumn, a ride that ended in daylight the week before can end in the dark. If your routine is an after-work ride, that is the week it either adapts or quietly dies. Charge a front and rear light, like the NiteRider Lumina Micro 950 and the Vmax+ 180 Alto, and keep the same time slot. We wrote up how to be seen in our post on daytime running lights.

If the weather wins a few days, move the ride indoors instead of skipping it. Our indoor cycling guide covers what you need. Keep the same time slot and just change the room, because the habit does not care where the bike is.

Now go put Tuesday on the calendar.