Every. Day. Ride #35 with Sam

Tell us a little about yourself

Hi, my name’s Sam (@sam__craven). I am from England, in the northwest, in a town called Warrington. I work in IT, sat at a desk all day, so you can see why I like to get outdoors and out on the bike.

How and when did you get into riding?

I don’t really have this big motivational story about getting into cycling, unfortunately. I literally walked into the store Decathlon, was looking at the road bikes, and thought, yes, I want to try this. I also decided I was going to document the process along the way — from a beginner, being raw, authentic, and honest about my journey. That was about four months ago, in May, and it’s still ongoing (watch along on my Instagram to follow my journey).

What are the best and worst things about riding?

Well, considering I am a beginner, I love everything about cycling at the moment. I especially love the longer rides, going to new places, cycling down quiet country roads, and stopping off for a coffee and cake. I love the actual act of riding a bike, Seeing the farm animals, the descents (not the climbing) — I could go on and on. What I dislike isn’t much at the moment, but the wind does annoy me, especially when it’s coming at you. You feel like someone’s pushing you back, but I know this is making me a stronger cyclist.

It is currently summertime in England, so it’s hard to dislike anything to do with cycling. However, I know winter is on the horizon, so maybe come and ask me if I dislike anything about cycling then.

Tell us about your most memorable ride to date.

I’d say my most memorable ride up to now is probably ride number 22 on my documenting journey. On that ride, I rode my longest distance so far, which was 79.99 km (can’t believe my Garmin robbed me of the 0.1!). It was a huge achievement for me, knowing that I can ride for that long and for that amount of time.

What’s the best piece of riding advice you’ve ever been given?

As a newbie cyclist documenting my journey, I get some great advice every day from people watching my videos, which I really do take in and am forever thankful for. Honestly, most of the stuff I’ve learned has been from people I don’t even know, which I think is amazing. For them to give me advice and help me out really does make the cycling community a great place to be.

How do you keep your bikes secure at home and on the go?

I currently store my bike in my brick outhouse in the garden, locked with the Litelok X1. I know for sure no one is going to attempt to steal my bike, because they’d be there all day trying to cut into the Litelok.

Share your best tips to help others keep their bikes safe.

I would say try and keep it inside the house if you can. If not, make sure it is locked up inside an outhouse. Try to refrain from putting it inside a wooden shed if you can, but if you do, use a Litelok — it will give the bike added protection.

When someone asks what kit you recommend, you say…

This is always a difficult question, as people can be opinionated about what brand you choose to wear. For me, I really like Rapha, but sometimes people don’t like that — and they’ll for sure tell me on my socials. At the end of the day, it’s just cycling clothes. You can wear whatever you like and whatever makes you happy.

What’s on your riding bucket list?

I’d probably say my next long ride is my bucket-list ride. It sounds silly, but I am just concentrating on my longer rides at the moment and building endurance. My next ride is going to be 90 km, which I am pretty nervous about but also excited for. So, if you want to see how that goes, come along for the ride. Also — the Dolomites wouldn’t be too bad for a ride.