Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - It has been 13 days since I have rode my bike....What keeps you motivated long term?

I just had to make that confession. I am making myself get back on it tonight as soon as I get home from work. No matter how I feel. I was doing so good for awhile there to.

I could make an excuse about how I took a vacation out of town - but that only took up 5 days. It does not excuse 13.

I see myself slipping once again like I have always done - like so many in the Clyde section probably have done.

Not beating myself up over it - I am just posting here to give myself the kick in the pants I need.

So obviously weight loss is a great motivator to a point. But what keeps some of you guys/gals moving who have lost 10+ 25+ 50+ 100 lbs or more?

Can you commute by bike... if you can you are guaranteed 2 rides a day......and in the afternoon if you aren't motivated.....well your choices are limited :)

Basically I just like riding..... and i have 2 bikes one to keep out and use for errands, commuting etc so that it is easy to make the choice to ride not drive and my road bike for longer weekend rides. I try to get the weekend rides in before other stuff gets in the way. try scheduling the ride. Also try to schedule rides with friends, so it is not just you who is involved.

I have two young kids, and before I was trying to get my exercise in after I got them down, at 10PM or later. After cleanup etc. I was hitting the sack at midnight or so which left me tired all the time and sometimes unmotivated to keep going. As it warmed up I wanted to switch from the treadmill to my bike, but was often frustrated b/c I didn't want to take long rides at night and the only realistic time of the week to ride was the weekend, which as a family man, is often booked up leaving no time for long rides.

Anyway, like Squirtdad, in mid May I began commuting - to increase my frequency of riding, the number of miles that I ride and (Most important) to get it all in during a time of the day that allows me to tuck my kids to bed and then go to sleep myself. Commuting provides me with a routine, gives me some excellent alone time (I'm an introvert) and another nice thing about commuting is that my co-workers are unwittingly employed as accountability partners - When I drive in I need to be ready to explain why I skipped my ride that day!

BTW - Since this is a weight loss question related to motivation, another thing that helps motivate me (in the realm of eating, not riding) is to use the nutritional widget at mapmyride.com - I play it like a game, to see if I can keep my calories fats and carbs from going over 100%. I don't expect that it is 100% accurate but I use it as a rule of thumb and it has helped me to discipline myself in my portions as well as cutting back on snacks.

Anyway take or leave anything I wrote for what it's worth - some of this may help you, I know it's helped me. I've lost 33# since mid February. It's coming off slow but I mean for it to stay off this time.

Good luck on your journey, man! :thumb:

Lack of having a car. That's a pretty big motivation right there.

I like to Ride......I ride in the dark, rain, heat, fog, tropical storms, hurricanes, with a sore butt, tired legs.

If you look for reasons NOT to Ride you won't ride.

It's always too hot this time of year to ride where I'm at, so I plan on doing a bike-related project or two so I have something I really want to ride when the temperatures are more reasonable. Right now I'm fixing up a hybrid a friend found in a dumpster and I'm waiting on a freewheel for a vintage build I'm doing. I still walk in the mornings to try and keep some exercise going.

Now that I'm at a healthy weight, I'm not sure if I want to go ahead and drop a few more pounds to get a six-pack. (That's why we're doing this, right? :) However, I still have riding and exercise goals, so I find I'm still losing a little weight, just not at the rate I was when I was really concentrating on it.

The most important thing to remember is that stopping doesn't mean you've failed. Not riding for thirteen days doesn't keep you from riding today.

Not dying from stroke/heart attack/diabetes is a great motivator for me.

Besides I'm kind of addicted...I didn't ride today, cause I woke up late, and kid is sick so didn't go into work until 11am. And I hate it, cause I'm missing out on this great weather.

Like 10 wheels said, if you look for reasons not to ride, you won't ride. I look for reasons to ride all the time...So during my free time I'm out on the road somewhere. Commuting is a great way to accrue some miles as well.

Just got done with my ride. Pretty rough going - but I loved every second of it. First ride where I ditched the gell fatty seat. The stock seat is going to take some getting used to - but I like it better I think then the extra wide seat.

squirtdad - I wish I could commute via bike. I would do it in a second. But one way is 36 miles on Houston highways. Not something I can accomplish right now.

Thanks for letting me vent guys. I posted this thread because I was talking myself out of biking while at work when I was feeling worn out and tired just sitting in front of a computer. Having this thread sorta of made me go out and as soon as I did I was glad. No matter how hot it was.

Thanks all. I think even after 1 ride I am back on track. Riding is just so much fun!

I think about how I am less tired now that I exercise. I go for a day or two off and it just feels wrong. Right now I am more or less out with an injury and I can't hardly stand it.

It took a couple of months to get addicted.

This is one of the reasons I suggest holding oneself back in the beginning. If you get off the bike knowing you could have done more, you'll look foward to next time. Later, you'll be able to leave it all out there and maybe have to force yourself to take a day off to recover.

A riding partner may be a good idea? Sometimes knowing you made a commitment to someone else is a great motivator.

Glad you got out there! For me, all the reasons stated above and I posted in the 300 mile/month thread. During the week the only time I know I can ride is at 5:30 in the morning. When the alarm went off this morning, the bed was exerting a tremendous force on me and almost won. But I decided I was not going to fail at 300 miles and actually want to see how far over that I can go.

The other thing is it takes a while for habits to form and in the beginning it is easy to get off track. But once it does become a habit, I find I start feeling like crud, physically, if I go 3 or more of days without some kind of exercise.

My motivators:

1. I look in the mirror.
2. I watch the digital picture frame in the living room and see very few pictures of me over the past 3 years because I feel as though I am too large to be in a photo.
3. I lay out my biking clothes the night before in the middle of the living room floor.
4. I watch every stage of the TDF.
5. On my commute I only listen to cycling podcasts.
6. I step on the scale.
7. Did I mention that I look in the mirror?

I got rid of my car, so I dont have much choice in it.

Right now I'm suffering from kidney stones so I only bike to the grocery store. I miss biking longer distances and that is a big motivator to me. My hubby and I planned a big bike tour next month and I was in the middle of training for it when I got side tracked by these kidney stones. So I suggest setting up some kind of goal that ISN'T weight loss and is fun. Make a goal for a half century, or a century or a special bike vacation tour.

When you make riding a chore, it becomes a chore.

Dan - sometimes its ok to take a little break. Maybe 13 days was too much, but when your body says take a break go ahead and do it. Just make sure you have a plan to get back in the saddle.

Set goals to accomplish....and tell people about them -- your wife or kids if you're married with a family, or friends. Not only will it motivate you to achieve those goals, it might motivate them to set some and be more active also.

And then, just ride in way that you enjoy, because that will be the biggest motivator of all. If you try to ride in some way that you don't enjoy, because you think there's a right or wrong way or a better or worse way, then you won't stick with it.

Scheduling charity rides that I have to train for.

It took awhile, but the ride itself is my motivation. I just feel better on days I get a ride in versus those I don't. My rides are short (~ 10miles and less than a hour), and they are the first thing I do each day, no matter how early I have to get up.

It took awhile, but the ride itself is my motivation. I just feel better on days I get a ride in versus those I don't. My rides are short (~ 10miles and less than a hour), and they are the first thing I do each day, no matter how early I have to get up.

Perhaps I need to start doing this. Wife gets up around 530 to work out - maybe I need to stop hitting the snooze and getting a ride in first thing.

I enjoy riding the bike, and feel like I'm missing something when I can't do it. I look forward to riding, it makes me happy, and it melts my stress away as an added bonus. I don't need to find the motivation to get on the bike; if anything, I sometimes have problems getting out of other obligations. But, frankly, I'm greedy about this, so if my GF wants to watch a movie or hang out with friends, I tend to meet her after we're both done doing our own things.

If you don't feel this way about cycling, perhaps there's something else that will get you outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, and pumping blood...?

I seem to have more problems fitting my life around my bike ridding than
vicie versie.....

It's too hot to mow, think I'll take a bike ride. We are down to half a loaf of
bread, better jump on my bike and run to the store. Think I'll ride down to
the corner and check the price of gas..

Perhaps I need to start doing this. Wife gets up around 530 to work out - maybe I need to stop hitting the snooze and getting a ride in first thing.

Perhaps this is your issue. Dont beat yourself up because your not jumping for joy at getting up at 5:30 to ride a bike. Biking is fun but there is a fine line where it jumps to being "work". I have been riding at least 3x a week since March 2010. My "secret" is 2-3 per week local 7 mile rides after work. They only take 30 mins or so are just enough to keep my legs going and keep my interest in the bike fresh. They are also short enough that its hard to talk myself out of the ride. Its also a great de-stresser after 8 hours sitting in a cube. Then at weekend I "usually" ride 20+ miles. More if Im training for a long sponsored ride or schedule allows.

This formula has allowed me to slowly lose 30+ lbs in weight (plenty more to go) and ride the 2010 and 2011 Seattle to Portland, 2 day events (204 miles each - back to back century days).

Myself and 3 other family members bought bikes in March 2010 to lose weight and get fit. I was goofed on for my "short" local rides as being a waste of time as the others blazed away at 20 mile rides everyday. 14 months later, Im the only one of the four still riding, the only one still losing weight and the only one whose bike isnt gathering dust in the garage.... ;)

Dont ride too far, too often and dont lose weight too much, too soon - it took us years to get how we are and it will be possibly years to reverse it.

This all works for me - YMMV :)

Hmm. I sense "magic pill" syndrome here. Are you feeling lack of motivation about riding a bike, or about weight loss? They aren't the same.

I was motivated to lose weight because of my health and because once I started I felt good about it.

I was motivated to ride a bike because I didn't know how and it looked like fun. Weight loss, thank God, was never a motivation for me. (I'd lost 125 pounds before I learned to ride.)

Perhaps I need to start doing this. Wife gets up around 530 to work out - maybe I need to stop hitting the snooze and getting a ride in first thing.

It also has the advantage in Texas of being the coolest part of the day.

Perhaps I need to start doing this. Wife gets up around 530 to work out - maybe I need to stop hitting the snooze and getting a ride in first thing.

If you schedule your ride to finish about when your wife finishes her workout you two can then have some time for your "reward!"

Back when I was able to avail myself of a wonderful daily reward like this, I was so motivated to get out and run that I found myself getting up even earlier in the mornings so I could have more time for the reward. :D

Perhaps I need to start doing this. Wife gets up around 530 to work out - maybe I need to stop hitting the snooze and getting a ride in first thing.

Alternately, ride late at night. That's what I've been doing lately. I started riding again in 2008 after 20 years away from cycling, when my job location changed and was much closer to home (7 miles each way). A year and a half ago, it changed again and now it's 17 miles. I continued to commute when I could but the distance is just kind of too far- it takes too much time out of my prime afternoon hours. With the heat, I've pretty much given up on commuting altogether for the time being. Instead, I go for a ride in the evening, after dinner, after dark. I'm trying to get into the habit of doing it every day, maybe an hour or so.

Primary motivation: it's fun.
Secondary motivation: I'm so close to hitting my 100 pound milestone, I need to keep it going to reach the goal


Since today it's almost 100 degrees out with 60% humidity... the secondary motivation is definitely going to overtake the first... ugh.

If the sheer fun of riding doesn't motivate me sufficiently, the fear of losing hard-won gains does.

I have made a commitment to myself not to drive for local errands -- so running out of milk, having books to return, or wanting a new pair of shoes are good motivators to get on the bike. And I find that if I can ride at least twice a week, that's enough to remind me that it's fun and keep me motivated. Longer than that, and I stop being "a person who rides a bike" and getting the bike out seems like a hassle.

I was like you.

Then I stopped setting distance goals. Now I just ride what I feel I'm capable of at the speed I'm cruising.

I was like you.

Then I stopped setting distance goals. Now I just ride what I feel I'm capable of at the speed I'm cruising.

My wife commented the other day she thinks buying the bike computer was the biggest mistake I ever did.

I just had to make that confession. I am making myself get back on it tonight as soon as I get home from work. No matter how I feel. I was doing so good for awhile there to.

I could make an excuse about how I took a vacation out of town - but that only took up 5 days. It does not excuse 13.

I see myself slipping once again like I have always done - like so many in the Clyde section probably have done.

Not beating myself up over it - I am just posting here to give myself the kick in the pants I need.

So obviously weight loss is a great motivator to a point. But what keeps some of you guys/gals moving who have lost 10+ 25+ 50+ 100 lbs or more?

What keeps me motivated long-term? The fact that I had my first knee surgery in 1978, and four moths later I had to sell my $900 (in 1977 dollars) 10-speed, and I was unable to ride anything until I had my eighth knee surgery (TKR) in 11-2009. So my reward with a bicycle with which I rode bout 650+ miles in 2010.

Since 2009 I have had a torn rotator cup surgery, and on 06-07-2011 I had my right hip replaced. So I bought a Terratrike 'Rover' - and while it's not for racing, it is super-fun to ride, and has even been part of my hip rehab - some 120+ miles in the last 6 weeks.

http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g475/Peter_CC/Peter_C%20Trike%20Album/015a802f.jpg

PS - my heart DR will also beat me up if I do not ride most every day - so I have lots of motivation :)

Peter_C: Is that a cattle prod mounted on the seat ?

Yes - he uses it to get people out of his way when he rides.

;)

I just had to make that confession. I am making myself get back on it tonight as soon as I get home from work. No matter how I feel. I was doing so good for awhile there to.

I could make an excuse about how I took a vacation out of town - but that only took up 5 days. It does not excuse 13.

I see myself slipping once again like I have always done - like so many in the Clyde section probably have done.

Not beating myself up over it - I am just posting here to give myself the kick in the pants I need.

So obviously weight loss is a great motivator to a point. But what keeps some of you guys/gals moving who have lost 10+ 25+ 50+ 100 lbs or more?


I combined cycling with geocaching, and the hunt for geocaches took me further and further from home so I built up my mileage without even thinking about it. Then I realised how much fun it was to ride so whether I go out hunting for tupperware or just riding for the sake of it I have a good time.

Some days I mount the GPS on the bike and just keep going in the same general direction to see how far I get before I decide it's time to go back home, then go home in a roundabout way just for the sake of it.

I ride for all the reasons that most people have put here but I have one of my own reason. When I am on my bike I feel young again and that is a feeling I really enjoy. Just the other day was riding with my wife and I rode up to her tagged her and said your it, then I took off like I would when I was a teenager, she tried to catch me but she couldn't. I then slowed my pace down and figured she had given up, she rode next to and didn't tag me, figured ok she thinking I am immature and left it at that. We rode in to the next trail head took a short break and I was talking to a guy and next thing I know she tags me your it and she goes speed off down the trail leaving me in the dust. I had to finish the conversation get my helmet on, gloves on and try to catch up needless to say after a 18.5MPH pump up and a 1/2 mile chase I caught her, but didn't tag her that's for this weekend as she will be it on Sat. morning once again. This is why I ride for the fun of it, cause I can, and to get healthy. What other reasons are there? Get out ride and enjoy it and when you don't ride don't feel guilt just do it another day. :)

I ride for all the reasons that most people have put here but I have one of my own reason. When I am on my bike I feel young again and that is a feeling I really enjoy. Just the other day was riding with my wife and I rode up to her tagged her and said your it, then I took off like I would when I was a teenager, she tried to catch me but she couldn't. I then slowed my pace down and figured she had given up, she rode next to and didn't tag me, figured ok she thinking I am immature and left it at that. We rode in to the next trail head took a short break and I was talking to a guy and next thing I know she tags me your it and she goes speed off down the trail leaving me in the dust. I had to finish the conversation get my helmet on, gloves on and try to catch up needless to say after a 18.5MPH pump up and a 1/2 mile chase I caught her, but didn't tag her that's for this weekend as she will be it on Sat. morning once again. This is why I ride for the fun of it, cause I can, and to get healthy. What other reasons are there? Get out ride and enjoy it and when you don't ride don't feel guilt just do it another day. :)

I've occasionally made motorcycle noises when riding. Usually when I'm going through bollards...... :-)

I have only been riding about 6 weeks, so not long at all but i have found i truly enjoy riding. It is very relaxing, and for me, it rids me of a lot of stress. My biggest motivator so far is the 150 and 200 mile challenges that i entered this month. Now that I've done those getting 300 miles for the month of July is my motivator. There is a lot of motivation right here in the clyde/athena section that really helps me get out and riding.

I can feel kind of blah and when I get out on the bike, after a while, I have a big smile on my face.

I ride to get in better shape for riding. On the weekends, I've been doing rando rides with other people, and that's been lots of fun. Looking forward to this Saturday, for example.

Right now, it's too hot to ride. And will be until October. Then it'll be too cold, too dark, too windy, too rainy, or something else. The point is, you can find 1,001 excuses why you can't exercise, and if you're ever going to do anything, you just have to get out and do it anyway.

My wife commented the other day she thinks buying the bike computer was the biggest mistake I ever did.

I love data! I can't get enough. I get into motivation trouble when I set goals for a weekend, I just stop riding. I get all, uh I have to go atleast this far today as I didn't do x yesterday and where the heck am I going to make up that distance....so I would just stop riding on weekend.

I prefer just going out and seeing how I feel and setting a mark to shot for at that point, which is typically a few km into a ride. I'm also sure to setup, mentally, bailout points if backpain flares up.

Its funny, try being bikeless for a month. From March-Most of June this year I got up and rode every morning of evening 15 miles mon-friday 25 on saturday, and whatever made me happy on sunday if at all. It got to the point where I didn't exactly want to ride but I would do it anyway. Then a simple wreck and dealt much more damage to my cheapy started bike then one would think and I was bike less. The first week was alright, but by the second week I missed it, and by the third week (see thread blahblahblah) I was a huge blubbering baby, I missed the bike, as luck would have it im back out there on a beautiful bike, and I don't think I'll want to miss another ride ever again.

I bike commute a couple times a week, but what has invigorated my riding this past year was getting a close friend in on the game, the year before it was by starting to pack ride with a group. We generally have diffrent preferences for riding and such (I'm very much a utilitarian rider...lets get groceries, lets run errands, etc while my friend is much more interested in greenways and touring the old neighborhoods, etc.) Also, adding in different things. I started mountain biking recently, and that has really sparked a completly different love of riding. Also, for me, all the time on the road has improved a core skill set that helps in the mountain biking and I have a tone of other skills I need to develop, so mountain biking encourages me to keep road biking to improve core fitness while the mountain biking reinforces the fun, always learning something new aspect.

I find that setting things up so that it is easier to get the bike and go than it is to get the car out is very helpful. To that end, my bike sits in a rack in a shed in the yard right next to the gate, always ready. I don't even remove my panniers. I have a bike rack on my car at all times, so if a friends calls up and says 'lets go to the Tobacco trail and do a couple miles' I can go right away. If I had kids, I'd invest in accessories that let me take them with me.

A friend bikes greenways with a dog attachment. Her dog motivates her by begging for the ride and/or being a PITA without it's run.

My wife commented the other day she thinks buying the bike computer was the biggest mistake I ever did.

Depends on how much of a slave you become to it. I have the display set on mine to show only cadence and time. That way I am not focused on speed or distance while on the ride, only maintaining the cadence I am after. Then I put the time, mileage, and avg. speed in a spreadsheet at home. It works great for me. This morning I felt tired and I went out feeling like I would just do a nice easy ride. Just focusing on keeping my cadence up at the end of the ride when I was getting the rest of the data I saw that I set my highest avg. speed for that route. It felt like a reward after the ride.

the mirror

Depends on how much of a slave you become to it. I have the display set on mine to show only cadence and time. That way I am not focused on speed or distance while on the ride, only maintaining the cadence I am after. Then I put the time, mileage, and avg. speed in a spreadsheet at home. It works great for me. This morning I felt tired and I went out feeling like I would just do a nice easy ride. Just focusing on keeping my cadence up at the end of the ride when I was getting the rest of the data I saw that I set my highest avg. speed for that route. It felt like a reward after the ride.

Interesting you should say that, I usually have mine showing speed and don't even have a cadence sensor. Every once in a while I shift to a trip meter so I can see how far I've been but usually only when I'm either thinking about heading back for home or wondering just how far out I am (I use a GPS so I can see how far I rode as well as how far it is back home). If I'm having a good day I'll push myself to maintain a better than normal average speed, if it's not such a good day maybe I'll try and hold a speed up one of the local hills or similar.

I've still got a fair bit of improvement to do where climbing is concerned, so for a couple of local hills I was very pleased when on the way back from a ride I managed to get to the top without dropping below about 12mph.

Interesting you should say that, I usually have mine showing speed and don't even have a cadence sensor. Every once in a while I shift to a trip meter so I can see how far I've been but usually only when I'm either thinking about heading back for home or wondering just how far out I am (I use a GPS so I can see how far I rode as well as how far it is back home). If I'm having a good day I'll push myself to maintain a better than normal average speed, if it's not such a good day maybe I'll try and hold a speed up one of the local hills or similar.

I've still got a fair bit of improvement to do where climbing is concerned, so for a couple of local hills I was very pleased when on the way back from a ride I managed to get to the top without dropping below about 12mph.

That's cool, everybody needs to figure out what works for them. The reason I stopped looking at speed was if I saw it was dipping, I tended to try and push a higher gear to gain it back and would wear myself out fast. By looking at my cadence I have been able to increase it by 10rpm (higher 80's now) and am going further and faster than before.

But the main point was about not becoming a slave to the computer. For a lot of folks, it leads to analysis paralysis and can be discouraging if they don't see the numbers increasing each time. It also leads to every ride being a "workout" and that easily sucks the fun out of riding and causes folks to quit riding. I put the numbers in a spreadsheet, but try to only look at the data maybe once a month so I can see the trend.

Not wanting to be fat is all the motivation I need.

Peter_C: Is that a cattle prod mounted on the seat ?

Actually it is useful for mean people or mean dogs...

Hey, I have been off the bike for around 7 days myself, due to a tweaked back from lifting something wrong. I was still tinkering with my bicycles, but for the most part, my back was screaming at me when i did anything other than walking short distances. Since I have re-started riding, my back has gotten much stronger.....I have a notorious bad back, but this time, I was originally lifting something correctly when the load shifted and I tried to save it, and something went "twing" in my back. So I have been out of commission bike-wise for a few days.

Imo, the best way to look at a hiatus, planned or not, from exercise and bike riding......is just look at it as a temporary setback, and NOT a defeat. Get yourself just slightly motivated, take some baby steps, get on the bike and ride a mile or two.....and then another mile or two the next night, and then some more, and some more, and some more, and some more.

Whatever you do, DON'T spend the majority of your time beating yourself up about it all......just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start over again. No disgrace in that.....none at all. Just keep trying......that is the most important thing.....at least it is for me.

You DON'T have to do major miles every day......just get on the bike and roam around the neighborhood.....just get on it and pedal some. If you keep doing that, imo, everything else will fall into place.......:thumb:

That's cool, everybody needs to figure out what works for them. The reason I stopped looking at speed was if I saw it was dipping, I tended to try and push a higher gear to gain it back and would wear myself out fast. By looking at my cadence I have been able to increase it by 10rpm (higher 80's now) and am going further and faster than before.

But the main point was about not becoming a slave to the computer. For a lot of folks, it leads to analysis paralysis and can be discouraging if they don't see the numbers increasing each time. It also leads to every ride being a "workout" and that easily sucks the fun out of riding and causes folks to quit riding. I put the numbers in a spreadsheet, but try to only look at the data maybe once a month so I can see the trend.

When it comes to my bike computer, I make sure I put it on 'elapsed time' for the ride, and not mileage or avg speed. Yea, I have a speed indicator, and that does influence me a tad, but I try to ignore that as best I can and just concentrate on the elapsed time for that ride. Before my back went bleh for the last few days, I have been trying to do 40-60 minutes of riding a day....one day went 90 minutes. And then at the end of the ride I check miles, avg speed, etc.......

My back is starting to feel good again, and I can't wait to get on one of my bikes, even if it's the mountain bike with the road tires and do about 40-50 minutes worth tomorrow evening.

You mean the scorn of BF members telling you to HTFU isn't enough? Jeez. ;)

Anyway, for me, I am a software engineer. I was barely ever a clyde but I kept seeing people biking while I was driving in to work and felt like I identified with them more than motorists. Sitting in my car was killing me (and the planet where we all live) and I knew it.

I was a casual cyclist. After a friend of mine was killed on his bike I researched bike fatalities and discovered that bike fatalities are inversely correlated to the number of bikers in a given city. I decided to start commuting and after my first day I've never looked back. I haven't driven my car to work since (almost 2 years ago) and I've ridden through some rough conditions (snow where it was like a slip'n'slide all the way to work on my road bike, hail where I got pegged in the eye because I was a moron and not wearing eye protection, etc.).

My advice is: come up with a long-term strategy that allows you to commute via bike. It is one of the most rewarding, amazing things that has ever happened to me. I hope you can someday commute via bike as well. Just keep in mind: this is your life and your health at stake. Would you move to a different job/house/city/whatever for your health? Bike commuting full-time in 2 years might be better than trying to force yourself to ride every 13 days today.