Summer in Canada is my favourite! The sun is up early, sets late, temperatures are warm – It’s fantastic.

We have been out riding our bicycles on the amazing local trail network.  Formerly a railway line, there isn’t more than a 2% increase in elevation, and the section nearest our home is also paved. There is nothing like riding on a flat, paved vehicle-free trail!

I have a gravel bicycle, and this is the fourth season I have been riding it. The first year was a bit of a scramble. It’s a beautiful bicycle and it’s very lightweight. The tires are a bit wider, and it goes really well through sand or loose gravel.

However, that first year, we did a local 100 km (60 mile) event. We had done 100 km rides several times before with our other bicycles and figured this event would be even better because the bicycles were so much lighter and aerodynamic.

By the third section of the event, my back was killing me. I felt like I had a knife hanging out of my lower back and I could barely make the pedals move at all, much less with any kind of speed. It was completely miserable.

I tried stretching and doing exercises for my back, which helped a bit, but a ride longer than 50 km (30 miles) was agonizing.

Micro Adjustments

All the bicycle things I read suggested I should have a bike fit done. I had always thought that was silly and pointless, but my back was so messed up I thought it was worth a try.  Even though it would cost a couple of hundred dollars.

Bike fit day came. I brought my bike and my usual bicycling gear to the store, and the technician hooked up 2 pairs of sensors on my arms and legs. The sensors were also attached to his computer, and he would tell me to pedal fast or pedal slow or whatever, and I did what he said.

After his research was complete, I went home. He kept my bicycle, and the data he had obtained, and went about his work.

A week later, I picked up my newly fitted-to-me bicycle. He made two adjustments…one on the handlebars and one with the seat. He also gave me inserts to put in my shoes. All of this resulted in a difference of literally a millimetre or 2 (1/32”) from how the bicycle was when I brought it in. (For context, a millimetre is about the same thickness as a credit card.)

Those micro adjustments changed my life. I could do the 100 km event rides with no pain! It was completely mind blowing to me that a couple of millimetres made the difference between the best ride ever, and not even doable. At all.

I wonder if that is true in other areas of our lives as well. Can the tiniest modification make a difference? My friend started leaving for work 10 minutes earlier because that way she doesn’t get stuck behind a school bus. Getting stuck behind the school bus doubled her travel time to work.

Another friend of mine was driving along, and the branch of a tree blew down and hit his brand-new truck, causing thousands of dollars in damage. If he had been 30 seconds earlier, he would have missed the tree entirely.

Better Results

When we make seemingly tiny adjustments, it might not seem like much. But the results can be game changing.  Especially over time.

I love the idea of the 1% shift. If we make a 1% shift, whatever that looks like, per day, a year from now that is a difference of 365%.

How does that change show up 3 years from now? Or 5 years from now?

Even if the change seems small and insignificant, it can have tremendous value. A tiny change is possibly also easier to do than a big, ostentatious thing.

Implementing a tiny change is also a goal achieved! If we set small, manageable goals, we can actually achieve them which gives us confidence and esteem and enables us to move forward.

The humble millimetre, the tiny adjustment, can be your friend.