Road Bike Racing - Getting Burnt Out

Anyone reach the point where they dont want to see their bicycle ?


I hit that, then after a few weeks totally off, I rode my fixed gear a few times.. then removed my powermeter from my bike and have been riding w/ no structure at all for a few weeks... I think I might sell my powertap... maybe... it stole the fun from my cycling.

Going through the same thing right now. I was riding so much with so much structure that it is just not fun anymore. The sad thing is that I just bought a brand new Orca and I have only rode it like 3 times, my wife is not too happy about that!

I have stopped with all the structure and now I am just riding with buddies having a good time like I used to, I hope that works. . . .

you guys are riding too much and maybe started your season too early.

it sucks to burn out in July. i rode what i thought was a lot, 10,000 miles in 12 consecutive months and then burned out hard... 6 months off the bike (October-March).

take a break.:eek:

Anyone reach the point where they dont want to see their bicycle ?


Yea. In 1991 I hated it so much that I quit riding entirely and switched to chasing goth girls and racing motorcycles. It took eight years and gaining 35 lbs before I could face riding again.

I would suggest doing something different now, rather than continuing to push yourself like I did and getting really sick of it.

Here's my solution for structure without making riding tedious:

Ride out to a group ride with the power meter on. If it's 15mi away, warm up for a while, then do a 20min effort. HARD. Cool down for a couple of minutes before the group ride starts. Then either turn your computer sideways on your stem or rotate it forward on your bars. Or, remove it completely if you must.

Commence said group ride. Ride in the group, finish off the ride. On the ride home, if you feel you need to get another interval in, replace the computer, and give 'er hell for another interval.

Some people on the group ride have said "Ye Gods! How do you keep track of SST and PCP and HTFU?"

My answer, "I don't."

Riding should be fun; improvement will come if you are able to keep yourself motivated. Ride hard, but don't make it a chore. Reward your efforts with a group ride (a lot of powermeter users seem to avoid group rides once they start using them) and remember what riding was like when you first started.

Reward your efforts with a group ride (a lot of powermeter users seem to avoid group rides once they start using them)

Good point. Too many people are starting to think of group rides as poor training.

If all I did were excruciating intervals and solo long rides I would get sick of myself, and the bike, rather quick.

Instead I do a lot of group rides; where friendly competition makes my intervals harder, and the conversation makes long rides pass quickly.

3-4 weeks, unstructured long miles. Set new goals. At this time of the year, I'm guessing Idaho's road racing season will be all but over after that. You could roll into cyclocross or just keep doing the unstructured long miles right into the base time o' year.

One problem with riding in Texas is that it is almost always racing season!!!!

For the last month or so all I have been working is sprints and short (1 minute) intervals. While it has been successful in getting my sprint stronger it has really burned me out. I used to love doing 2x20's and a couple of days ago I tried to do a set and my body just would not cooperate!

I'm thinking that I need to get into base mode for a while and get the joy of riding back in my life.

i really think this was one of the greatest posts on bf.net. simply awesome:


My January-February self would kick my July self in the balls if I were to tell him "Oh, I am le tired of bike racing."

F*** that. I killed myself in 10-15 degree temps riding an early 1990s, fully rigid MTB on snow covered trails for two hours a night, with no one for company but the moon, the trees, an owl or two, the odd deer and my damn iPod. One week, I saw exactly one other person in 14hrs of riding, 10hrs outside. I wanted to stop and turn around so many times, every night, but I didn't.

I didn't do that crap to throw it all away in July.

You are done . Send me your bikes.

I hate fun. sell me your powertap for $100.00 and your life will be 30x better

Anyone reach the point where they dont want to see their bicycle ?


I hit that, then after a few weeks totally off, I rode my fixed gear a few times.. then removed my powermeter from my bike and have been riding w/ no structure at all for a few weeks... I think I might sell my powertap... maybe... it stole the fun from my cycling.

I just ride more.

I'd agree that Power Meter can suck the fun right out of cycling. Don't sell it, just put it away for a while. You'll be glad you kept it. Valuable gizmo in my view, and I'm not crazy about training with it. But PMs are good. Hold onto it.

You rode too much and too hard. You should know when that feeling is coming and take time of BEFORE you reach it. Me, I took 5 days off last week. I came back and raced last night, became a Cat4 this morning, and guess what. I'm stoked to race tomorrow.
I knew burnout was coming and I avioded it before it began.

You probably have a mountain bike, go ride some trails for a bit and just do some joy rides on the roadie.

You'll feel better once you hit the trails for a bit. There's something fun about getting caked in mud :)

I'm still good but getting near that point nevertheless. I'm only doing two races in August and I've got the motivation but I must consciously make decisions to maintain it. After this Sunday I'm going to do one week of base miles but still do the two group rides for the edge and intensity, also they're fun.

They key is different bikes. I own;

1.Singlespeed MTB
2.Cyclocross bike
3.Road bike
4.Freeride MTB
5.XC race MTB.

When the road bike gets boring I get on the freeride bike and carve some turns and hit some jumps. Intervals getting old, I hit the Singlespeed and do intervals up dirt climbs. Some days I'll hope on the Cyclocross bike and go dirt road exploring, no agenda, just look for new places to go. I honestly don't see how people can do the same thing year after year on the same type of bike, I'd go fricken crazy.

I haven't been riding much (any) for the last few weeks - but I'm starting to slowly get back at it.
I took my HRM off, that helped out so much that I took my computer off - and I'm really loving it when I ride now.
As has been said previously - I'd vote for long unstructured miles.

I have also been riding my fixed bike a lot - and I started building up a new fixed gear last night.
Don't keep pushing to the point where you won't want to come back.

you guys are riding too much and maybe started your season too early.

it sucks to burn out in July. i rode what i thought was a lot, 10,000 miles in 12 consecutive months and then burned out hard... 6 months off the bike (October-March).

take a break.:eek:

If you race and add up training miles youre doing it wrong

If you 100% of the time follow a structured plan (that never bends to your needs) than youre doing it wrong

Please contact me about selling that Powertap, I'm serious...

Sometimes all the numbers and structuring can sap the fun from a hobby. Maybe you just need to ride for a while.

Hell, that's all I do.

Thank God I bought a MTB a month ago, because without it, I'd be burnt out and without anything physical to do.
I'm so into mountain biking right now, that I couldn't care less about road riding.

I change it up now and again. In the winter I ride trails and do night rides. Does wonders to your bike handling skills riding around on trails in pitch black.

Since you are in Texas, you basically have to create a winter and take a break now and again.

Thank God I bought a MTB a month ago, because without it, I'd be burnt out and without anything physical to do.
I'm so into mountain biking right now, that I couldn't care less about road riding.

I wish I had a better mountain bike. The one I have is more something that's designed to be a bike that can handle dirt and gravel roads and 'trails'. The cranks are so flexy that I get FD rub no matter what gear I'm in.
And I can't dial in the RD for the life of me even though I do just fine working on my road bikes.

I'll get around to it. I think I'd like to start riding more mountain, even with this clunker. Maybe I'll sell it to someone as a campus bike and get a new mountain bike... Who knows...

Spend a week hiking in those hills of Idaho. You'll come back refreshed and ready to ride.

Hey there Dmotoguy. I was feeling similarly earlier this year for various reasons, and posted this. Replies from the BF RBR forum really helped me, if for no other reason than to let me know that others face the same. Good luck, lots of guys feeling a little crispy this time of year.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=425340&highlight=passion

I wish I had a better mountain bike. The one I have is more something that's designed to be a bike that can handle dirt and gravel roads and 'trails'. The cranks are so flexy that I get FD rub no matter what gear I'm in.
And I can't dial in the RD for the life of me even though I do just fine working on my road bikes.

I'll get around to it. I think I'd like to start riding more mountain, even with this clunker. Maybe I'll sell it to someone as a campus bike and get a new mountain bike... Who knows...
Definetely invest in a nice mountain bike, I didn't have one for about 10 months after I had to return my [somewhat nice... for 1999] team bike. I spent $400 on my buddy's Giant Trance with Deore LX/XT, Maestro FS, and Hayes hydraulics, all this with less than 70 miles.
Keep your eyes open and you'll find deals; not to mention that mTB'ing is so much fun, very demanding, a good remedy for getting burnt out, and the people are usually friendlier.

Anyone reach the point where they dont want to see their bicycle ?


I hit that, then after a few weeks totally off, I rode my fixed gear a few times.. then removed my powermeter from my bike and have been riding w/ no structure at all for a few weeks... I think I might sell my powertap... maybe... it stole the fun from my cycling.


Yep, me too. I haven't felt good since Elkhorn. If you're road racing in the Northwest, then now is the time when you're done with the season. I'm taking a 6-8 weeks off of going hard, then will start building up for 'cross in September.

From probably the best racing blog out there: http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/2008/04/program.html