I'm also pulling this topic out of the waterbottle poll thread ... regarding priorities and cycling quantities.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=478213&page=2
(
You might need to read that thread to see where this one is coming from ... background info)
Well ... like I said ... "priorities". We've all made our choices in life, and have our own priorities. If a cyclist really wanted to ride 18-30 hours a week, that cyclist could do so by making cycling his/her priority. If, however, cycling 18-30 hours a week isn't as important as another priority (such as children) then he/she won't likely cycle that much. It's our own personal choice of what's important in our lives.
My priorities vary by season because I usually focus on my education during the winter (anywhere from night classes to full-time University), and I usually return to weightlifting and snowsports as much or more than my cycling.
But come summer, my priority (outside of working so I can afford more education) is cycling. I have a relatively short comfortable cycling season (about 6-7 months) so I try to pack as much cycling in that time as I can. Socializing is done with other cyclists while riding. Travelling is done with cycling in mind. I love my summers!!
My priorities also vary by where I am in life ... 4 years ago (and for 8 years prior to that), I was working one full-time "professional" job and taking night classes ... it wasn't difficult to ride 10,000+ kms a year. The past 4 years, however, I've been in University full-time and working as much as possible to afford it (I don't want to have much of a debt when I'm done), and over the past 4 years it's been tough to ride 7000 kms a year. I have my doubts I'll even ride that much this year ... unless I dash out and do a 600K brevet one weekend coming up!!
But when I graduate next April ... cycling will move up on the priority list again ... I can hardly wait!!