I put the question out to our Cycling-Inform Facebook Fan Page asking what they thought was the important “Rite of Passage” for a cyclist. Cycling does have many milestones and they are different depending on the type of riding you do. We are steeped in the tradition of riding our bike and there are many steps along the journey. Here is the list of milestones to becoming a seasoned rider that our Facebook fans came up with (in alphabetical order):

  • Able to bridge gaps
  • Able to do a track stand
  • Able to hold a wheel
  • Able to roll turns smoothly
  • Beating someone you never thought you would
  • Being able to hold your own in a fast moving bunch ride
  • Broken collarbone
  • Broken hip
  • Callouses on the hands
  • Chain ring puncture scars on your right calf
  • Clip-stacks, preferably at a busy intersection in front of waiting traffic…. Or just as you pull up at the cafe in front of the roadie crew
  • Cycling tan line
  • Dislocated shoulders
  • Doubling up race entries for crits – same for cross
  • Finding out that you have left either your helmet, shoes, wheels or bike at home when you get to an event
  • First 100 mile or 100 km ride
  • First win
  • For MTB’ers the first “Over the Bars” (OTB) stack or diving off-track into a creek, dam or mud-bog
  • Fractured ribs
  • Getting a coach
  • Getting a sponsor
  • Getting kit made with worlds/nationals bands on it (regardless of the category) and then wearing it
  • Getting over saddle soreness
  • Going up a grade
  • Having a trainer and using it
  • Having a trainer skewer – or better yet – a designated trainer wheel
  • Lantarna cuts across the inside of elbows from MTBing in Australia
  • Learning how to avoid chainring tattoos
  • Not wearing your underwear under your cycling shorts
  • Puncturing a tire out in the middle of nowhere and not having any way of fixing it
  • Racing a race you never thought possible
  • Riding at VO2MAX for more than five minutes
  • Riding in a team (even just for one event)
  • Riding rollers with no hands
  • Road rash
  • Road rash scar on the shoulder
  • Scars on your hips and cycling knicks with holes
  • Scraped up elbows
  • Shaving your legs
  • Shin scars
  • Standing on the podium (any step, but top is pretty good) as the national anthem is played
  • Strong enough to be up the front
  • The first time you learn to ride a bike
  • First crash

I would like to thank all the people that contributed to this list on our Cycling-Inform Facebook Fan Page.