Originally Posted by
Kilroy1988
Hello!
Since we only live roughly twenty miles apart, I suppose I'll chime in here... I'm still young and fit, but within the past four years I got married, finished another college program and began working full time with lots of overtime hours during the summer (this year it was 320 hours over the course of 18 weeks). The time I have for cycling has dwindled seriously, and I'm mostly switched to running for year-round cardio workouts. Can't beat the fun of cycling, though, and I try to get out on weekends for a ride and during the spring and early summer when the evenings are long I get out rather frequently. I also enjoy riding alone and use it as my think time, although the company of my uncle (who got me into cycling) or a friend now and again is always pleasant.
If you'd like to ride together sometime let me know and we can make an arrangement!
From my new hub in Visalia I enjoy riding out in the area between Hanford and Corcoran especially. The roads are long and quiet, and while the larger ones are often recently paved many side roads would make excellent training for the cobble stoned classics! If you haven't been out that way much I encourage you to give it a go. Cheers!
-Gregory
This.
I like to ride my bike, but riding with friends is much more enjoyable. [MENTION=111144]Andy_K[/MENTION] is my regular riding partner, which is a great motivator, even if it's just the typical "get it in" ride we often do. I typically ride more when there's an event or a personal tour coming up. These are typically higher mileage days, and we all know that a bit of training never hurts.
This year has been tough, though, no events, no credit card tours planned. To compensate I've done a few S24O type rides with a couple of people, camping outside, easy to social distance.
Both of you guys know I grew up in the Central Valley, which isn't exactly the friendliest place for cyclists, and I understand that there is "safety in numbers". I've heard that the tule fog days are much fewer than when I lived there, so hopefully you can squeeze in some rides over the winter?
Do what you need to do to keep riding. Knowing that you have a time and a place to be on an early weekend morning when you might want to sleep in is a great motivator. There are days when I've done that and didn't really want to wake up to ride, but a few miles into it I was always happy to be spinning my pedals.