Originally Posted by
daihard
[/INDENT]Thanks for the response. I can do it every day now. What gets me down is that it has taken me a few months to get there rather than a few weeks. I used to get fatigued after riding in 3 days in a row. I believe it was the combination of hammering too hard and poor gear selection, primarily. I should just be happy to know I'm in better shape now than I was before starting cycling.
I didn't know how old you are either. As you get older, it can take longer to get in shape, but it can still be done. I always increase difficulty by 5% or 10% a week. At my age, I would go to the low end of that. So it might be a reasonable goal for me to double the distance I can ride in four or five months with little or no discomfort. A 30 year old might do the same in a couple months, and an 18 year old in a couple weeks. Of course everybody is different, and don't get discouraged if you hit plateaus from time to time.
I've noticed that when I'm climbing a hill, I tend to focus on my pedaling and the top of the hill. But if I get discouraged, I try to turn my head and look to the bottom of the hill. Then I see how far I've come, and I get more energy to get to the top of the hill. I think you can do the same thing with any goal you're trying to reach. Try to realize how far you have come, instead of focusing on how far you have yet to go.