Making it fun again...

[oldguy00]

OK.....my training buddy and I are both having some motivational issues with regards to biking. We're your typical Cat3/4 road race hacks, late 30's, 8-5 jobs, etc., and we find we are getting less and less motivated to go out to train. It's to the point where we are probably getting 5 hours a week of training. Beyond that we just aren't motivated. We were discussing it tonight, and pretty much determined that we are both a little burnt out on worrying about racing, diet, body weight, etc etc, and it all seems like all of it is kind of like a vicious mental circle, resulting in us not wanting to ride...

SO, when you guys/gals are feeling mentally burned out, what do you do to make the sport fun again? Neither of us want to take a complete break from the bike as we figure that'll make us pack on even more pounds...

[A.L.Breguet]

Hire a coach

[jbl]

I went/am going through this same thing with my running, though trouble and stress at work also contributed. Ultimately, I decided to take some time from structured training to try and give myself some room to focus no work for a while. This started back in October.

I didn't completely stop training, but I did radically cut back on volume (I'm doing 40-50% of what I used to do). In addition, I've made it point to keep the training that I do unstructured. I'll occasionally still do some threshold work, maybe some impromptu intervals, but this is only when I have an urge. For the first few months I also stopped logging my workouts.

Doing something else can also be refreshing. While my run volume, my cycling volume is up. It's been six or seven months and I'm starting to get the urge to train again. I've certainly gained some weight (lots of comfort food to get through work) --- but it's starting to come off now that I'm starting to run more consistently again.

Taking time off is good. Your body will tell you when it's ready for hard, structured training again. It's hard to really describe. Over the last few weeks I've been getting an inner itch to train. I'm being cautious about my comeback, but I'm working up to it. Time off doesn't have to mean sitting around on your duff. There are other sports out there.

[Ti Designs]

Fun group rides always do it for me. There are a number of rides where the fast guys show up, it's all the intensity of a race without any of the pressure. There are two kinds of group rides, what I like to call the shark ride where there are maybe a half dozen riders with enough horsepower to make it hurt and the rest is pack fill. Then there are the hack group rides where a bunch of guys get together to beat on anyone they can. The shark rides are good for tactics work as well as a good workout. On some level you can treat it like a training race and push the pace, but you have to keep tabs on the sharks. When you see the real power move to the front it's time to ride smart. The hack group rides are kinda funny, most of 'em have never raced with mutants, so they never take the time to observe who's behind them. It's all too easy to sit in and look like superman on the climbs, but it is fun and it takes both timing and strength to make the move that sticks, knowing you have 20 guys trying to chase you down.

[J.Greene]

my favorite thing to do on a bike is to do an overnight trip. Ride somewhere you've never been, on roads that you've never ridden. Eat at places you've never eaten etc....I'm waiting for the season to end myself. We're loading our bikes on Amtrak and riding the train as far north as we can stand to ride home. Last fall we decided to ride to the gulf of mexico. that was fun. btw, this has to be unsupported to be really fun.

Grant Peterson wrote about this in a reader a few years ago. His version was about overnight camping trips by bike. I prefer a motel or hotel close and good places to eat.

JG



OK.....my training buddy and I are both having some motivational issues with regards to biking. We're your typical Cat3/4 road race hacks, late 30's, 8-5 jobs, etc., and we find we are getting less and less motivated to go out to train. It's to the point where we are probably getting 5 hours a week of training. Beyond that we just aren't motivated. We were discussing it tonight, and pretty much determined that we are both a little burnt out on worrying about racing, diet, body weight, etc etc, and it all seems like all of it is kind of like a vicious mental circle, resulting in us not wanting to ride...

SO, when you guys/gals are feeling mentally burned out, what do you do to make the sport fun again? Neither of us want to take a complete break from the bike as we figure that'll make us pack on even more pounds...

[David Kirk]

So.........in my opinion you might want to consider stopping "training" and start "riding".

Pull the computer off the bike, get a map for area outside your normal roads and load the things in the car and go ride those roads. Don't check your heart rate or average speed or even distance. Go ride.

Remember when you were a kid first exploring new areas on your bike and there was a surprise around every corner? You didn't care what time it was or how far you'd gone........you only cared about the adventure. Have you EVER had more fun than that?

Be a kid again. Just ride the bike and enjoy yourself.

Dave

[gasman]

So.........in my opinion you might want to consider stopping "training" and start "riding".



Be a kid again. Just ride the bike and enjoy yourself.

Dave


That's exactly when I have the most fun on my bike.

[Ozz]

OK.....my training buddy and I are both having some motivational issues with regards to biking. ...
Get married and have a couple kids.

From that point on, any time you get to ride is a treat! :beer:

[fiamme red]

So.........in my opinion you might want to consider stopping "training" and start "riding".

Pull the computer off the bike, get a map for area outside your normal roads and load the things in the car and go ride those roads. Don't check your heart rate or average speed or even distance. Go ride.

Remember when you were a kid first exploring new areas on your bike and there was a surprise around every corner? You didn't care what time it was or how far you'd gone........you only cared about the adventure. Have you EVER had more fun than that?

Be a kid again. Just ride the bike and enjoy yourself.

DaveGreat advice. I can't understand how so many people who race can be happy riding the same loop and doing the same training ride week after week, year after year. If I did that, I'd give up cycling (as recreation) pretty soon.

My goal since last year has been to discover new areas that I've never ridden in. I always bring a map with me on my weekend trips, sometimes several maps at a time, and often just improvise as I go along. By not sticking to rigid routes, I've discovered some fantastic back roads off the beaten path that have provided me with some of my happiest memories on the bicycle.

[Ken Robb]

Grant Petersen has written some good stuff on the Riv web site about having fun on a bike and they work for me.

If you have some unpaved or gravel roads in your area they can be a very refreshing ride, especially if you have a bike than can take tires of 27mm or more.

Hang a biggish saddle bag and pack a picnic, use your bike to run some errands, etc.

[Frog Hair]

Pop-a-wheelie.

[weisan]

don't fall into the stereotype mold of what someone else's idea of what a bike should look like, how, where and when you should ride it, what you can or cannot do with it...

there are no set rules.

Like Ken-pal said, find a bike like Surly Cross Check that can handle ANYTHING you throw at it -- big O' tires, rocky roads, commuting, fixed-gear, just whatever you want to do to it, it will respond back with a "Why the heck NO??" answer.

I just came back from what I would personally call "the perfect ride" -- 4 hours of no-time-constraint, at my own pace, stop whenever I want to take pictures, big O' 32mm tires pumped up to 60 PSI to give me that cusy ride, easy gears, eat fried chicken along the way .....whatever! :D

Agree on the comments about throwing away the grain-counter (computer) and having kids...every ride is a privilege, including the one I just had.

[merckx]

Get married and have a couple kids.

From that point on, any time you get to ride is a treat! :beer:

the above advice is justified. if no kids are in the works, the next best thing is to skip your cycle computer across the nearest pond. it works.

[William]

the above advice is justified. if no kids are in the works, the next best thing is to skip your cycle computer across the nearest pond. it works.

CAN I GET A HEARTY "AMEN BROTHER"?!?!?!?!

Been loving it ever since I ditched it.

http://whatdoiknow.typepad.com/photos/the_highland/dscn7918.jpg

William :banana:

[Ray]

...get a mountain bike and go beat yourself up on some single track. Talk about making you feel like a kid again. Fall off, get a little bloody, scream and yell when you clear something tough or when you're flying down a hill. It's almost like a completely different activity, but it still requires your legs to go round and round like on a road bike. Intervals are practically inevitable, if not structured. Downhills aren't all that much of a break - they require their own kind of work.

Or else go to the nearest city and ride a fixed gear in urban traffic. Also a totally different activity that requires the same basic leg movements.

Or lay on the couch for a while and don't worry about it. I took this winter almost completely off of riding - not on purpose, it just worked out that way. It took me a few more rides in the spring to start feeling like myself and myself is probably even slower than it used to be, but I'm having a blast again. You're probably not gonna win the Tour 'de France this year anyway, so don't worry about slightly lower placings in your Cat 3-4 races too much. Time off isn't a bad thing.

Just mix it up.

-Ray

[stevep]

...get a mountain bike and go beat yourself up on some single track. Talk about making you feel like a kid again. Fall off, get a little bloody, scream and yell when you clear something tough or when you're flying down a hill. It's almost like a completely different activity, but it still requires your legs to go round and round like on a road bike. Intervals are practically inevitable, if not structured. Downhills aren't all that much of a break - they require their own kind of work.

Or else go to the nearest city and ride a fixed gear in urban traffic. Also a totally different activity that requires the same basic leg movements.

Or lay on the couch for a while and don't worry about it. I took this winter almost completely off of riding - not on purpose, it just worked out that way. It took me a few more rides in the spring to start feeling like myself and myself is probably even slower than it used to be, but I'm having a blast again. You're probably not gonna win the Tour 'de France this year anyway, so don't worry about slightly lower placings in your Cat 3-4 races too much. Time off isn't a bad thing.

Just mix it up.

-Ray

rays right. some variety.
or a cross bike and some dirt roads. no race bike for awhile might help.
s