colpatrick,

There have been a lot of great tips in the replies so far. I hope you can find inspiration to get back to regular cycling soon.

Here's another tip. If you have the physical space in your home, consider getting a cycling trainer. This is a device which converts your bicycle into a stationary bicycle and allows you to ride indoors. Just like you, I started bicycling last year (April 2011) after 30+ years off the bike. When the cold weather rolled around in December of last year, I decided I didn't want to lose my cycling fitness over the winter, and I read all the posts in this sub-forum and in the Road Cycling sub-forum about trainers. I eventually bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (see http://www.kurtkinetic.com/road-machine-p-198-l-en.html ), and this has been one of the single biggest boosts to my cycling fitness that I have ever experienced. It allowed me to "ride" all winter. I thought I would not like riding on the trainer, but I found just the opposite to be true. I set it up in my den, and I listen to up-tempo "ambient" music while I ride. The Kurt Kinetic Road Machine provides a very smooth, quiet, "realistic" ride, and I found I enjoyed it very much. Riding on the trainer provides a very compressed workout--I find that a ride on the trainer provides the equivalent of 1.5 - 2.0X the eqivalvent mileage workout on the road. There are a number of factors responsible for this. The first is that there is no "coasting" on the trainer--at least the way I ride on it. There's no stopping for stop signs, traffic lights, or joggers or slower cyclists that there is on the MUP or the road.

The workouts on the trainer are very precise and repeatable. By precise, I mean that with a high-quality cycling computer with cadence, you can "meter out" your workout very precisely. And it is repeatable because you don't have environmental factors like wind and temperature introducing random variation into your rides.

You stated that less than ideal weather in April and May interfered with your riding schedule. Had you a trainer, this would not have been a problem. I've been "riding" 5 days a week since last December, and have experienced incredible gains in my cycling fitness.

During the work week, I get up at 5 a.m. and hit the trainer for at least a 30-minute ride. This allows me to get my exercise in before going to work, and I don't have to worry about finding time (or motivation) at the end of a long work day to exercise. Once the warm weather hits, I vary my routine and try to ride outside on the weekends. But if we get poor weather on the weekend, I can still ride indoors. This eliminates a lot of excuses for not riding.

I ride for recreation and fitness. All the extra riding on the trainer has done wonders for my waistline. I was not overweight when I began cycling last year. However, by doing all the riding and monitoring my caloric intake so that it was just slightly below what I was burning in my exercise, I have lost 9 pounds in the last year. It was practically effortless; I do not normally weigh myself on a regular basis, but I could tell I was losing weight because my clothes were getting looser. We had an "Employee Health Day" at my company last month, and when I got my "numbers" I was ecstatic. My total cholesterol was 160, my blood pressure was 98/60, my resting heartrate was 48, and my weight was 144. If I lose 7 more pounds, I will be back to what I weighed when I ran cross-country in high school.

So, that is my tip to add to all the others. It you can fit it in to your home situation, get a cycling trainer. It will allow you to "ride" early in the morning, or late at night, or during poor weather. By doing so, you will greatly increase the miles you ride, and you will experience quicker gains in your cycling fitness. Good luck!