Why I Cycle 100 Miles a Week as a Beauty & Lifestyle Blogger

People are often surprised when I say I cycle around 100 miles a week. They picture beauty bloggers surrounded by makeup drawers, ring lights and flatlays, not sweating up a hill in the rain, covered in mud, with a Dalmatian trotting beside them. But cycling has become such a big part of my life that I honestly can’t imagine my routine without it.

I’ve always loved riding, but taking part in the world’s hardest and highest mountain bike race in Nepal completely changed me. It pushed me mentally and physically in ways I didn’t expect, and it taught me that I’m capable of far more than I ever give myself credit for. That experience still shapes how I show up in my everyday life and in my work.

And yes, all of this is happening while being nominated for a Scottish Influencer Award in Sport, which still feels surreal. I’m just a girl from the Highlands, now living in Dumfries shire, who rides her bike, tests beauty products, and talks way too much about her dogs.

So here’s why I ride so much and how it makes me a better blogger.

1. It clears my head like nothing else

I’m dyslexic, and I often have a very busy mind. Writing helps, but cycling is the one thing that completely switches everything off. When I’m on the bike, I’m focused on the trail, the climb, the weather — not deadlines, rankings or the chaos of my inbox. It’s the mental reset I don’t get anywhere else.

2. It keeps my anxiety under control

Blogging is wonderful, but let’s be real — it can be overwhelming. You’re always checking something, replying to someone, fixing something, or worrying about whatever Google has decided to do this week. Cycling gives me a break from that noise. Riding through the forests in Ae helps me manage my anxiety better than anything else I’ve tried.

3. It makes me more creative

Some of my best blog ideas happen halfway up a hill. There’s something about moving your body and being out in nature that makes creativity flow differently. I’ve planned entire collaborations, review angles and blog structures while pedalling through the Scottish countryside.

4. It’s my version of self-care

People always think self-care is bubble baths and candles (and sometimes it is!), but for me, self-care is movement. It’s feeling strong, capable and proud of myself. Cycling gives me confidence in a way no product ever could.

5. It’s the ultimate product-testing environment

Rain, wind, sweat — it’s all part of the ride. If a setting spray stays on through a climb, or a mascara survives a full descent, then it’s genuinely good. Cycling has turned me into the harshest product tester imaginable, and my readers know that if it passes a biking test, it’s worth their money.

6. It helps me handle the digital world

When something breaks on the blog, when a brand ghosts me, when an update tanks my traffic, or when I’m just having “one of those days,” getting on the bike fixes my mood. I come home lighter, calmer and ready to try again.

7. It’s part of who I am

I’m originally from the Highlands, and moving to Ae only deepened my love for the outdoors. Cycling is just woven into who I am. It’s where I feel most myself, not “Laura the blogger,” but Laura, out on the trails with Mylo and Millie, breathing in fresh air and forgetting the world for a moment.

8. It balances out my job

Blogging is digital, but life shouldn’t be. Too much screen time drains your energy. Cycling balances me. It reminds me that the world is bigger than algorithms and analytics.

9. It keeps me healthy — mentally and physically

Riding 100 miles a week isn’t about numbers or fitness goals. It’s about feeling good. It steadies my mood, keeps my joints happy, and gives me a routine I genuinely look forward to. I’m a better person when I cycle — everyone around me will confirm this!

10. It makes me a better creator

Cycling gives me clarity, inspiration, discipline and perspective. It feeds my content. It shapes my routines. It’s the reason I can write honestly and consistently, even on the hard days. And it’s the reason I stay grounded in an industry that changes every five minutes. No one can put a product to the test like a mountian biker on a bad weather day. Can Rhodes peptide lip treatment heal the most weather battered lips well will find out for you and report back. I am not sure there is any other beauty blogger who can put products to the test like me.

Final Thoughts

I don’t cycle to be fast or sporty or impressive.

I cycle because it makes my life better.

It makes me happier, clearer, stronger and more myself.

And somehow, it makes me a better blogger too.

So if you ever see me out on the trails, slightly out of breath, covered in mud, chatting to my dogs like they’re tiny humans, just know I’m out there living my best messy, outdoorsy, beauty-blogger-meets-mountain-biker life.