schedule advice
 

Work on Saturdays is always extra boring so I need something to talk about.

I currently work Thursday through Saturday and every other Wednesday from 6am to 6pm. I have at least an hour commute each way.

I have the chance to move to a m-f shift working something like 11-8 with the chance of moving to something like 6-3 a few months down the road.

Its a pretty tough decision to make because its such a big difference.

These pros of my current shift are that I have 3-4 days a week off with 2-3 of those days being weekdays where I have the day all to myself so there is nothing in the way of training and resting.

The cons of the shift are on my workdays I have very little time to train. 1-1.5 hours. I also get very run down by the early morning and long hours. I feel like I dont have any down time between work and the bike. I wake up, go to work, come home, get on bike, go to bed. Since I work on Saturdays I miss out on lots of good group riding and have to take vacation to race the good saturday events.

The pros of the m-f shift are I would have a more normal schedule where I should easily be able to accomodate 2 hours of training on work days. I shouldnt feel as run down since I would be at work a lot less and would either get home a lot earlier or go in a lot later then I currently do. I could attend all the typical group rides and races that I currently miss out on.

The cons would be only having two days off, both of which are on the weekend which give me very little alone time compared to what I have now. I would also have to start training in the morning before work instead of after and I am not a morning person so this would hurt.

So what would you do if you have the same choice?

Whatever is the least stressful for YOU, and allows you the maximal time to sleep and recover.

You don't need much time to train hard and do well as a CAT4. What you do need to do is minimize non-bike stress so you're rebuilding and getting stronger. Ride hard, but not that much, rest a lot, and you'll reap the rewards.

remember, you arnt being paid to bike. at least not that i know of.

That's a given. But if he's given the -option- to switch schedules, this is a very valid question.

I worked a similiar shift for 6 years. It really wore on me by the end and I was happy to move on to a more convential shift. I think if you can score a 11-8 schedule, that could work nicely. #1, the commute time might be a bit shorter due to off-peak times. #2, you can get a nice 2-3 hour ride in before work and still have the weekend for longer rides.

This is America.
Races are on weekends.
Time to alter your shifts.

I had a similar position where I worked either M-W or Th-Sa, 7-7. Then one Sunday a month I worked 7-7. In addition, we swapped days with another team. So one month, at the end of the month, I'd work M-W and Th-Sa (in other words, 6 days in a row). The next month, at the end of the month, I'd work Th-Sa, (sunday possible), skip M-W, skip Th-Sa, (sunday possible), then work M-W.

In other words I'd have a week off every other month.

I was paid about the same as when I commuted into the city and spent 13 hours a day away from home, M-F. Difference with the 12 hour shifts were that I could ride my bike there/back and be away from the house the same 13 hours a day. Hours also meant when I drove there was no traffic. My commute took me less than 20 minutes.

I had 4 days a week off, and due to my performance at work, I never worked a Sunday during the swap week. So I always had 9 days off in a row every other month.

This was in addition to the 20 total personal/vacation/sick days we got (which were cut down to 14 because we really worked 1.5 days per day). I never had to take a day off.

I spent the extra days helping out at my friend's high end garage (for free - but got to work on Ferarris, Maseratis, Lotus (Loti?), old BMW, and then our own cars (Saab, VW). Tons of fun. And I trained and blah blah blah.

When my city job called me to get me back, I said "Hey, I work 3 days a week, same hours as if I went into the City. If I go into the City, that's like working 2 more days - 66% more hours I have to work each week. Plus the train fare ($6k pre taxes or something). Plus I wouldn't quit unless I got at least a 20% raise." i.e. I would leave if they paid me for each day of work (5 days/wk) what I was getting for 3 days/wk.

I was asking for 66% more money, plus $6k, plus 20% more as a raise. They came within 1% of that number without asking me what that number was.

So I took the stinkin job like a money lovin' fool.

And regretted it within a month (I happened to start just before spring hit). 80-90 minutes each way, parking garage for car, train, walk to office (later a subway ride to office), get back without easily being able to ride right away (not going to leave bike and gear in car at parking garage).

I like days off and working long hours better than working 'regular' hours and not having as many days off.

So I'd stay with your current schedule.

This is only taking into account your hours. It doesn't take into account political or other work related things when thinking about hours. If you sacrifice some long term work stuff it may not be worth it.

hope this helps,
cdr

Don't discount the social aspect. Not only for group rides, but for non-cycling-related activities. It's a lot easier to date or spend time with your SO when you're on the same time schedule.

+1, /thread.

During the prime season (IE right now) I work 55-60hrs a week, 6 days a week every other week, 5 days normal. My off the bike day is normally monday so thats my long work day, 12 hrs. The rest of the week 10-11 hrs. I start at 7:30 and work until 5:30 to 6:30. I get home, jump on the rollers and do my prescribed workouts. Never more than 90 mins. Done by 8:30 pm. I eat a light supper (since im on a wieght loss cycle) and watch TV and get to bed by 11pm. I get my long rides in on the weekends. When i have to work on Saturday, I go in after the group ride. Time management and motivation are my friends. Now that the days are getting longer, I will be keeping a bike at the office and train from here in stead of rollers at home, or i will commute a couple days a week too when the morning temps increase.

My advice is to take the longer work week with less hours per day.