Bicycling has long been celebrated around the world — and the sentiment is seemingly growing. An increasing number of protected bike lanes are being built across the United States; Amsterdam unveiled a massive underwater bicycle parking garage earlier this year; and more doctors have been prescribing cycling to help patients with anxiety and depression. 

If you ask us, all the bike brouhaha makes perfect sense. Riding is one of those precious, simple joys we get to experience as both children and adults: the wind whipping through our hair, the feeling of exhilaration when we’re hurtling down a grassy hill, the sense of satisfaction after a long, meditative ride. 

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a rookie looking to get started in style, check out our list of bike helmets, clothing, and accessories to make your riding experience even more enjoyable — and safe. 

Helmets

Smith Persist Road Helmet

Smith

For meticulously designed protection, go with Smith. This helmet features a dial adjuster for a fine-tune fit, air vents to keep your head cool, and the MIPS® Brain Protection System “to reduce impact forces in the event of a crash.” 

Thousand Heritage Helmet  

Thousand

Designed for city cycling, Thousand’s vintage-inspired helmets are stylish and practical, with a hidden channel to slide a U-Lock or chain lock through so you don’t have to carry your helmet into the office or grocery store. You can find staff writer Rebekah Brandes sporting hers (in willowbrook mint) on regular neighborhood rides. 

Schwinn Thrasher Helmet

Amazon/Schwinn

Schwinn has been in the bike game since 1895, and many of us rode around wearing the brand’s helmets in our childhoods. This adult version is a lightweight, inexpensive option with adjustable fit settings and a visor to keep sun off your face while you pop a wheelie. 

Sunglasses

Tifosi Sledge Sunglasses 

REI/Tifosi

This pair, available in three color schemes, comes with three interchangeable scratch-resistant lenses for different levels of light transmission, all offering 100% UVA/UVB protection. The oversized design provides more sun protection while the ergonomic face-fit ensures they stay snug. 

Smith Shift Split MAG Sunglasses 

Smith

Invest in “next-level perception” with this pair of Smith sunglasses. Featuring light-sensitive lenses with ChromaPop™ lens technology that enhances color and contrast, they provide great eye protection with a slightly wraparound fit and adjustable nose pads.

Cycling Clothes

Flylow Hot Tub Men’s Bike Shorts 

REI/Flylow

Per the name, these shorts can be worn in water and are made with quick-drying material that also provides 40 UPF sun protection. But don’t just reserve them for the beach or lake; they’re also built for mountain biking, hiking, or just hanging out. 

Lululemon Women’s Align High-Rise Shorts

Lululemon

Though they were designed for doing yoga, Lululemon’s line of high-rise shorts are great for riding as well: The brand’s proprietary Nulu™ Fabric “feels buttery-soft and weightless,” and they have a hidden waistband pocket to stash a card or key while you’re on the move.  

Inbike Fingerless Gloves

Amazon/Inbike

Cycling gloves are great not just for enhancing your grip, but also for avoiding blisters and reducing the feel of vibrations from the road. This fingerless option will keep you cool and comfortable while providing both palm and knuckle protection. 

Bontrager Circuit Road Cycling Shoe

Trek/Bontrager

Can’t forget about the feet! The Bontrager road cycling shoes combine “elite performance with best-in-class comfort” — and they’re easy on the eyes (and feet) as well. They boast a hook-and-loop toe strap and BOA® L6 dial so you can adjust your fit with ease, and the stiff heels ensure the optimal power transfer from foot to pedal. 

Accessories

Wahoo GPS Cycling Computer

Amazon/Wahoo

This convenient gadget directs you turn-by-turn with LED and audible cues for guidance at a glance, and easy sense buttons allow you to keep your eyes on the road while toggling between features. Monitor your progress and performance, and pair it with your phone so you don’t miss call, text, and email alerts while you ride.

The Polar Bottle 

It’s crucial to stay hydrated when you’re exerting energy, so why not do it with some pizazz (and at a reasonable price)? The 24-ounce Polar Bottle is available in a ton of color options, has a handle for easy pickup, and boasts a leakproof cap design. Plus, each one comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Trek Commuter Pro Bike Light Set

Trek/Bontrager

Safety, first! You should always ride with a reflective surface on your bike, but installing a light is even better for visibility. Trek’s Commuter Pro set wirelessly pairs a high-beam front light with a compact but powerful tail light so you can see and be seen with confidence. 

Heavy-Duty Bike Lock Set

Amazon/VVA

We hope you haven’t felt the specific sorrow of having your bike stolen, but if you have, you know how important a reliable lock is. This set includes both a U-Lock and a 4-foot-long heavy-duty security cable that is both heat and hydraulic shear resistant. It also comes with an easy-to-install mounting bracket so you can store the lock while you ride. 

Sponsored by Babbel

Language is the ultimate connector: It allows us to exchange ideas, thoughts, and feelings with others. And in our incredible, multicultural world, being able to speak in more than one tongue unlocks so many rich experiences, not only when we travel great distances, but also in our own cities and states. Whether you’re yearning to communicate with people across the globe or right at home, Babbel is a flexible, fun, and easy way to start speaking a new language in just three weeks. 

The premium, subscription-based language learning platform offers bite-sized, 10-minute lessons available in 14 languages — including Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Indonesian — and you can access them wherever you’re most comfortable: on the plane, at the library, or home on your couch. Even better? For a limited time, you can get up to 60% off your subscription during Babbel’s Memorial Day sale.

Unlike many other language learning apps that use artificial intelligence to generate lesson plans, Babbel believes in the power of the human mind: It was developed by over 150 expert linguists, and real language specialists design every lesson, so instead of practicing random phrases chosen by an algorithm, you’ll learn how to chat naturally — and on the topics that interest you. 

Babbel

As a Babbel user, you can tailor lessons to the things you’re most into, with special courses focused on sports, festivals, travel, tongue twisters, and more. Learn about the cultures behind the language you’re speaking, too, with Babbel’s Countries & Traditions course, and the many context tips sprinkled throughout each lesson. Plus, with its Speech Recognition Technology, you’ll be honing your accent and pronunciation right from the start. 

Babbel’s teaching method has been scientifically proven to work: Users have reported being able to have basic conversations after just three weeks of daily practice. And it’s designed for learners across various life stages and skill levels. In fact, researchers at Yale University conducted a study measuring Babbel’s effectiveness over a wide range of ages, with 75% of people enrolled being over age 40, and more than 50% over 55. They determined that after just 90 days, 100% of participants had improved their oral proficiency. 

Besides its super convenient 10-minute lessons, Babbel offers other fun learning modes and methods of immersing yourself in a new language. Listen to podcasts, play games, watch videos, and read articles. With Babbel Live, you can even take live virtual classes led by some of the best teachers in the industry. 

Babbel has more than 10 million subscribers, but if for some reason you’re not fully satisfied with your subscription, you can get a full refund with the company’s 20-day money back-guarantee.

Remember, for a limited time you have the opportunity to take 60% off a new subscription during the Memorial Day Sale, so start learning a new language today!

There’s something special about the taste of grandma’s cooking. And Enoteca Maria is all about capturing that something special. The Staten Island, New York, restaurant invites and employs real grandmothers from countries around the globe to cook their family recipes.

“Growing up I realized that my grandmother had been the repository of our family culture and identity. And I found out that, like her, millions of grandmothers all over the world pass down their heritage to their grandchildren,” owner Joe Scaravella, who opened Enoteca Maria 16 years ago, explains on the restaurant website. 

Scaravella began with the goal of sharing the culinary prowess of Italian grandmothers, or “nonnas,” like his own, and has since expanded to feature other cultures, including recipes from Puerto Rico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Greece, and Hong Kong. The grandmas in the kitchen are all lovingly referred to as nonnas, though, regardless of their country of origin.

“We are not chefs. We are just grandmothers (who are) sharing our culture,” Maral Tseylikman, who hails from Azerbaijan and has been cooking at the restaurant for the past seven years, told Today in March. Her compatriot Maria Gialanella, from Italy, has been adding her own flavor to the establishment for a decade. “I’m making lasagna. I’m making meatball. I’m making rabbit. I’m making so much fish, everything,” she said. 

“Many times, these women are empty nesters, their husbands have passed away. Their children have moved out,” Scaravella explained. “So, they’re really looking for an outlet and they have it here. And you know, if they’re not hugging me, they’re hugging their customers.”

Speaking to Travel + Leisure in February, Scaravella emphasized his belief in the power of food to unite people: “Coming off a very divisive period in history, it really helps to bring down those barriers in the same way music and art does,” he told the outlet. “It helps you engage with another culture without even realizing it, so that your personal biases, whatever they may be, are not in the forefront anymore.”

And Enoteca Maria, named in honor of Scaravella’s late mother, has also made it possible for grandmothers and their loved ones to participate in its cultural exchange, even if they can’t make it to Staten Island. Anyone can submit a family recipe to the virtual “Nonnas of the World Book,” made up of entries from the public — click here to check out the recipes and contribute one of your own. 

We’ve all probably heard the old adage “age is just a number.” But it’s one thing to hear it and a totally different thing to witness people accomplishing big dreams and setting new goals later in life. 

United by a drive to keep moving forward, the impressive writers, adventurers, painters, creators, and changemakers featured in our roundup below remind us there’s no age limit for ambition, or creativity. We can continue to evolve and improve, whether we’re in our 20s or 90s, so take advantage of the season you’re in to learn a new skill or pursue something you’ve always wanted — today is a wonderful time to begin.

Yuichiro Miura | Adventurer and Skier 

KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

Described as “The Godfather of Extreme Skiing,” Yuichiro Miura was the first person to ski down Mount Everest in 1970. More than four decades later, he became the oldest person to climb the mountain at age 80 in 2013. 

Although he has faced various health struggles since then, they haven’t stopped Miura from setting new goals that, no surprise, involve peaks. After his 90th birthday in 2022, he told Asia News Network, “I’ll try to move my feet little by little, and someday I want to climb Mt. Fuji again.”

Edwina “Eddie” Brocklesby | Ironman Competitor 

At 72, Edwina “Eddie” Brocklesby became the oldest British woman to complete an Ironman triathlon. Brocklesby, now 79, has adopted the nickname “Irongran” and is still maintaining an active, upbeat lifestyle post-hip replacement. In addition to her training, she is also the author of a memoir and founder of Silverfit, a charity on a mission to promote happier and healthier aging through affordable physical activity. Fun fact: She says she didn’t even start exercising until her fifties.  

Nelson Mandela | President, Leader, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner 

Media24/Gallo Images/Getty Images

We all know Nelson Mandela for his unwavering dedication to promoting peace and justice. However, it wasn’t until his mid-70s that many of his life milestones happened: He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at 75 (in 1993), and a few months later, he was elected president of South Africa in the first election that was open to all races in that country’s history. Mandela had previously spent nearly three decades imprisoned for opposing South Africa’s apartheid system. He died at age 95 in 2013. 

Harry Bernstein | Writer

Bernstein with fellow winner Isabella Hatkoff at The Christopher Awards in 2008 ZUMA Press, Inc./ Alamy Stock Photo

Harry Bernstein wrote his acclaimed memoir, The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers, at 96 in 2007. His book was published by Random House in Britain after it was found in an unsolicited manuscript pile by an editor who described it as “unputdownable,” according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Bernstein was then awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue his writing at 98, and he went on to publish two other memoirs before he passed away at 101 in 2013. 

Julia Child | Chef and Cooking Show Star

Hans Namuth/Photo Researchers History/Getty Images

Commonly referred to as ”America’s first celebrity chef,” Julia Child was one of the first people to host her own televised cooking show. According to the Julia Child Foundation, she was in her early 50s when her sensation of a TV series, The French Chef,  launched on PBS. At 54, she became the first educational television personality to receive an Emmy and she continued to appear on TV shows, write books, and delight the cooking world into her 70s and 80s before she died at age 91 in 1994. 

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, or “Grandma Moses” | Painter 

Reg Innell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

A self-taught painter, Anna Mary Robertson Moses (also known as “Grandma Moses”) started painting in her late 70s when her arthritis hindered her from embroidering. “New York collector Louis J. Caldor chanced upon Moses’s work and helped her begin exhibiting professionally. She gained the nickname “Grandma Moses” from a reviewer at New York’s Herald Tribune. Her paintings became immensely popular and were appreciated for their nostalgic charm,” according to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She continued to exhibit her work across the world into her 90s, even painting until a few months before her death at 101 in 1961.

Kathryn Joosten | Actor 

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Kathryn Joosten, an actor best known for her roles on The West Wing and Desperate Housewives, captures the beauty and possibility of midlife transitions. The former psychiatric nurse moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of acting in her mid-50s. She got a recurring role for The West Wing in 1999, at 59, and went on to win two Emmys in her 60s for her role as Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives. She died at the age of 72 in 2012. 

Helen Mirren | Actor

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Helen Mirren has been acting since her early 20s, but it wasn’t until age 61 that she received her first Oscar nomination, for her performance in The Queen. Throughout her 60s and 70s, she has continued to act in dozens of films and TV series — from comedies to dramas to animated movies. In 2022, Mirren was presented with the SAG Life Achievement Award and shared the mantra behind her success: “Be on time and don’t be an ass.”

Wally Funk | Pilot 

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

At 82, Wally Funk — a pilot and flight instructor — became the oldest woman to ever go to space. Although Funk actually passed a test to go to space about 60 years prior in her early 20s, she was rejected because of her gender. Fortunately, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invited Funk to be an honored guest on Blue Origin’s NS-16 mission in July 2021 and she finally got to experience her long overdue dream. 

Phyllida Barlow | Sculptor

NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images

After teaching for more than 40 years, Phyllida Barlow reached new levels of success in her mid-60s for her large-scale sculptures. In 2017, at 73, she was selected to represent Britain at the Venice International Art Biennale, known as one of the largest contemporary art exhibitions in the world. And in 2021, she was awarded a damehood by Queen Elizabeth II. She died March 12 of this year at 78. Her work is described as an “inspiration to so many” with “the power to stop people in their tracks and make them gasp.”

Kittie Weston-Knauer | BMX Competitor

At 74, Kittie Weston-Knauer is the oldest female competitive BMX racer in the country. The trailblazer started riding at 39 and went on to start competing in her forties. However, she learned there wasn’t a cruiser class for women. Instead of feeling discouraged, she decided to compete alongside men. She continues to ride even after going through knee and hip replacements, and strives to encourage fellow Black women to pursue the sport. 

Roger Robinson | Runner

In February, Roger Robinson wrote for Outside magazine about his experience winning the world cross-country championship at age 83 in 2023. The lifelong runner and author of seven books about running wrote, “a lifetime of racing has taught me that you have to seize the moment.”

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