Village Idiot

Start small and work your way up. Set goals and mile markers and try no to break them. I made it up to dong 16 miles in a week on the local trails and then went for 20 on a Saturday. Then I made it 30 the next Saturday. Now I'm able to squeeze in 20 miles after work in an hour and a half. I'm going to try and get 30 done in a little over two hours.

I've had a flat since Thursday and it sucks. My new routine involves biking every day after work that it's nice and not being able to just kind of kills things. Now I kind of just sit around the house going crazy looking for a way to get out.

Kazzy

I get up in the morning and get on my bike before I have time to think about making excuses and talk myself out of it. Then I don't have to feel bad all day long because I'm not doing anything about getting some exercise. It's already done for the day! I made it a habit. I feel a lot better and I no longer think about how ridiculous I look in spandex. Most everybody else out on the trail is in work out clothes too.

If I waited for other people to ride with me I'd only be doing about 2 rides a month. I ride a touring bike and I'm slow so most all the other cyclists I see are faster than me. Most everyone I see on my rides is out getting exercise and no one gives me a hard time, not even the teenagers at the local high school I pass. I figure if people, especially heavier young women, see a big woman out getting regular exercise it will challenge some stereotypes and maybe someone will figure if I can do it so can they.

A few cyclists have been encouraging and give me tips on riding which always makes my day. I try to be friendly to everyone I pass and mostly people are friendly back. Get out and ride for a few months. If it turns out to be a bad experience for you you don't have to keep doing it. There are other forms of exercise. I'm betting that you will find yourself looking forward to it before long though.

donalson

honestly you can think of a MILLION reasons to not ride if you don't want to... it's to hot is always a good one in FL (where I'm at)... but I find that the days I'm looking for a reason to not ride are the days I need to ride the most...

on a side note... I don't know where you are... but in a number of places that I've lived there are nice rails to trails type trails... they typicaly run though nice wooded areas which make for some nice cruising rides... if you've got something like that then all the better

as for a riding partner... being a woman I can understand it being harder for you finding someone... perhaps talk to your LBS?... while I know some LBS guys are elitist A-holes I've found that most of the guys who are higher up the food chain in the store (management or people who've been there a long time) tend to just love bikes and will do anything to help get someone riding (wanting to share their passion type thing) and they may know someone... or keep you in mind when talking to someone else

so as the nike ad says... "just do it"... get out the door, hop on the bike and ride... explore... see a street that you've never been down before? ride down there...

good luck
mark

Village Idiot

This thread motivated me to go purchase a new tube after work so I could go ride.

Kazzy

Buy more than one so that when you flat next time you don't have that excuse!

Sinister1

man...you sound like me! I do daily rides of 17+ miles after work on weekdays (usually about 1 hour and 15mins) then go longer on the weekends. My goal right now is to do 20-25 miles in about 1.5hrs. Too bad you don't live near..you'd be a great riding partner lol

To the OP, like others have said, just go out and ride. You don't have to go the distance. Just go out for a ride as far as you can or as long as you can and go from there. Once you start having fun, you'll ride alot more. I ride by myself all the time just because my wife and family don't ride. I would go on group rides but I'm not that fit or fast enough to keep up so I'm fine being alone. Its actually a nice time for me to be alone for a little bit.

mnotlyon

The most common advice you're gonna get here is to visit your LBS (local bike store). When I bought my bike last year, my LBS told me that they sponser a ride every week in order to incourage beginners to keep pedaling. If your LBS isn't doing something like that, talk them into it. All they really need to do is to plan a route, and maybe send a mechanic with the riders to help with problems. They get instant sales, and you get a group of people to help incourage you on your ride. Everybody wins.

Kel15233

I keep telling myself that I'm going to get up early and ride but then I just can't wake up (or more often wake up with a headache) and I just don't have the ambition to carry the bike down the steps (third floor walkup). It's very hard for me to function in the mornings as I don't get home from work til around midnight and just can't fall asleep until 4am... then it takes me a looooooooong time to even be remotely functional after I get up.

Oh there are rides but they happen while I'm at work. :-(

Tom Stormcrowe

kel, the only way you're gonna do it is to do it. Once you get out the door and downstairs, and get riding, you'll feel better. Exercise is a great mood elevator, and your energy levels and AM alertness will increase. Next thing you know, you'll be up at the crack of dawn, raring to go. Just establish the habit.

Wogster

There are at least 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 excuses not to do something, and you can rhyme them off until you get to one that's suitable for the purpose. If you don't want to carry your bike down 3 flights of stairs, then see if the landlord will let you park it somewhere else, like in a garage or shed.

gotls1

Hey Kel (YAY Pens! ). Like Tom said, the only way you're going to do it is if you do it. I can relate to not wanting to get up in the morning. I am in no way a morning person, but I decided that I wanted to try commuting to work on my bike. To do this meant getting up 30-45 minutes earlier than I do when I drive. It was tough to get started, so what I did was tell myself that I couldn't get the new shorts that I wanted until I had ridden to work 3 times a week for two weeks straight. Once I had that carrot, it wasn't long until I was riding to work regularly. Now riding to work is such a habit, that it's just become "how I get to work" and those rare occasions that I drive feel strange. Getting up early still isn't fun, but 5 minutes after I'm out the door, it's totally worth it.

Maybe set a goal for yourself and a reward for when you reach that goal. Doesn't have to be cycling gear (I'm such a gear nut that's what worked for me) - it can be whatever you like. Maybe avoid a food reward given what you're trying to acomplish, but if that's the only thing that will get you out the door, at least you'll have gotten the exercise to offset that hot fudge sundae or whatever. It won't be long until cycling (or whatever exercise you eventually decide is right for you) becomes its own reward.

Rhodabike

If you are waking up with headaches, you could be dehydrated. That would make you tired and listless as well. Try to drink more water and avoid salty foods and caffeine after 2:00 p.m..
Instead of making vague non-specific goals like "I'm going to start getting up early to ride", make a very specific one, such as "I'm going to ride on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m." Starting with small specific goals makes it easier to ease into bigger ones.

StephenH

Something else I've noticed is that sometimes I feel kind of blah, and don't really feel like riding. But if I go climb on the bike anyway, by the time I get to the end of the block, the wind is blowing through my hair, I've got a big smile on my face, and I'm glad I went ahead and rode.

willmw

Are you, by chance, diabetic, borderline or at risk for it? Read up on the negative effects that can have on your body...that was all the motivation I needed. Of course I had other related problems, including high blood pressure and lousy cholesterol numbers. I can see that I'm helping the bp and blood sugar and hopefully the next visit to my bro-in-law doctor will reveal an improved cholesterol profile as well.