SemperFi

With work taking up six days of the week I try to ride in the early evening and on Sunday mornings. Found myself a nice spot with virtually no traffic and the road as smooth as a NASCAR track.

Trsnrtr

This is pretty interesting. When I was working, I rode 150-180 miles per week. After retiring, I ride between 200 and 250 with an occasional 300 mile week. Now, all of a sudden, I agreed to return to work for a couple of small projects and my riding has gone down to about 100 miles per week. I think the return to work is tiring me (mainly mentally) and I assume I'll return to my previous full-time work mileage rates. However, right now, I'm struggling to find riding time and the mental urge to do it.

Dennis

wagathon

It's tough having to fight for a few hours on weekends and being able to get in just a little time on the trainer during the week.

ivesrw

If you are in Broomfield you could get up early and go do the classic Morgul Bismark once a week to check out your lungs.

The other mornings you have some awesome rides close to town.
The trick to geting quality road time with a job and family, especially in the summer months is to vigorously clear the early morning schedule and train yourself to get up at first light. Be ready to roll at 5 a.m. You will have an hour or hour and a half on empty roads while the family is asleep. Cool morning temps help and you have a bicycle ride to start the day. You will feel like the quality of life jumped way up.

I am self-employed and work at home, so this is easy for me. I like to get the workout done very early because the quality of rides is just better early in the day and I have access to riverside bike routes that are spectacular early in the day. However, given the alternatives available to someone who works and commutes and has all the other life demands, early workouts are still the best alternative when there is daylight and clear roads. In the winter, get a good set of rollers and train like mad at the same time of day.

By next year you will be charging out to take on the M-B three times a week.

bing181

Well, I have two young kids, and a wife who travels quite a bit for short stretches. I'm also self-employed. All of which, needless to say, leaves me almost NO flexibility. If I'm not full-time dad, I'm working full-on/all weekend on a project. Or not of course. So, i have big weeks when i ride a heap, followed by weeks when if i can get on the trainer 2 or 3 times I've done well. Overall though, I'd agree that the early morning ride is the one that works best, especially on the weekends. On Sunday i can get in my 100 k's and still be back for late breakfast.

The trickiest part is balancing the targets/goals part of the riding with the time available. No point getting down when my "this week I'll get in 10 hours" resolution goes out the window .. though equally, no point for me at least in having no targets at all.

PS Currently writing this late in the evening, having given up on my one hour trainer session today. It just didn't happen ...