TrojanHorse

seems to be lacking lately. Mix in a ton of extra work (a good thing) with some extra travel and my bike has just been staring at me.

I rediscovered one of my favorite mental tricks today - just put the bike duds on and there's a 99.9% chance I'm heading out the door. I squeaked out 7 whole miles today,which reminded me that I forgot to go on a shake down ride after I replaced the chain and did a bunch of maintenance last week. Oops. I guess that means today's ride was the shakedown and I had to stop 3 or 4 times to tweak the RD.

My other problem seems to be excuse making - especially lately. Kids have commitments from 5 to 8 or so most days and work tails off around 4 so I need to figure out how to carve out an hour and a half to two hours in there without leaving the kids stranded somewhere.

Anybody else have any locked-down strategies for overcoming laziness? I actually really enjoy riding my bike once I'm physically on it, so that's not the issue.

downtube42

Let's see, in order:

1. A new bike
2. A dependable riding partner, who I know will be there waiting for me
3. A full length mirror (motivating, but brutal)


In fact... I have a new bike. I think I'll go for a ride.

Later.

Dunbar

Sounds like weekdays are the issue more than weekends. I discovered night rides last year when I still lived in the inland empire. I'd go out at 7pm when it was already completely dark out and have the roads almost to myself. It was so quiet I could even listen to music without fear of it distracting me. All you need is good lighting and some reflective clothing to be safe after dark. Not much you can do about travel though. I just try to make up the rides I miss as much as possible when I get back.

TrojanHorse

I might have to start mixing in some night riding. I've got plenty of lighting & reflective bits so that's not an issue.

Got a new frame 6 months ago, so that's not an issue... the romance is still alive.

I need a dose of HTFU, that's for sure.

tunavic

Me too (look into night riding). At this point I don't have proper lighting so any advice would be appreciated.

Edit: [MENTION=189195]TrojanHorse[/MENTION] I'm the king of excuses. LOL. I was off my bike for about 3 weeks. One day it was too hot. A few days later too cold (very early AM) and on and on.

Maybe a dominatrix on the back of a tandem

2 wheeler

It sounds more like a lot of busyness, instead of laziness, to me. Don't be too hard on yourself. But on the other hand, if you miss an opportunity to ride, you're a SLACKER!!

TrojanHorse

Oh, there's definitely some slacker going on...

Vic - Cygolite Hotshot taillight: https://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Hotsh...golite+hotshot

Fake magicshine headlight: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have the fake and the real one and they both work well. For $22 compared to $80 you can't go wrong. If you are going to do solo riding, I'd suggest two for backup purposes. Another idea that I've only half looked into is a white light for the helmet and a red light for the back of the helmet. Every time I see a cyclist with lights on their head, they stand out... in a good way. I did get one of these red helmet lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'd call it OK. The mount doesn't fit on my helmet perfectly but it's decent.

eja_ bottecchia

Sometimes you need to take a break from riding in order to really appreciate how much you love riding.

Erwin8r

TJ, those are brilliant lights (no pun intended...). We're doing some night MTB rides (Monroe, Mystic, etc) and those will fit the bill perfectly. I have one Knightrider headlight and a firefly blinkie, but I need to beef-up the lights for my commute too.

I struggle with with motivation too, but my commute commitment keeps me honest. I've committed to myself to commute at least 3 days a week (Glendora to Pomona). Sometimes I try to talk myself out of it, but like you, once on the bike, it's bliss.

tunavic

TH, that fake one seems like a steal at that price. Putting one in my basket now.

For the rear I'm good to go. I have a Planet Bike "super flash turbo". The turbo hasn't done a for the motor

TrojanHorse

so get two of the headlights... I'm serious, any time I go for a ride longer than an hour at night, I'll put both mine on, even if I never turn one on. I've run out of lights enough to know that I hate it. It's also about the only time I'd hope a car passes me.

The battery should last forever in blinky mode, compared to leaving it on steady. Another strategy is to run one in blink mode and the other in high or medium, depending on your needs & the available light. People complain about the blinky head lights but they see it! I had a pedestrian complain about it once... too bad, dude.

WonderMonkey

To help out with this issue I bought a trainer. I don't use it very often NOW but will when it gets cold. However even now when I don't want to go out I will hop on the trainer and watch a show.

IBOHUNT

I'm not much help here as I've been lacking motivation as well.
For you to get anytime between work and the 5-8 kids thing would be tough. Perhaps use that time for stretching, half hour of (oh gawd I hate to say it; running/joggin/walking) or weight work?

Enjoy the time with the kids is what I say. Next thing you know there are gone

CommuteCommando

In my nearly forgotten freshman chemistry there was one concept I remember called "activation energy". A lot of chemical reactions will not occur spontaneously. Like the fuel and oxidizer mixed together in the head of a match. To get it burning you need to input some energy from outside to get things burning.

My strategy is to get on the bike, then get as far away from home, as quickly as possible. You can gauge my motivation by whether I take the hilly route, or the flatter route. The flatter route gets me out further in less time. Once I get five miles out, the next 20 or 30 gets to be actually fun. If I leave the house motivated, I head straight for the hills.

PhotoJoe 

I've been off mine for so long my titanium is starting to rust!

Life happens. Yes, kids are my excuse, however, I've got one driving now, so she's less of an excuse. Guess it's just motivation.

indyfabz

While this kight not help you, it may help others...I try to mix in out of the oridnary rides. A week-long tour. Maybe a three-day trip. This Saturday we will be taking a break from road riding and driving up to Jim Thorpe to ride a trail, picnic and see what's left of the fall foliage.

WebFootFreak

I have the kids issue too. 1 infant, the 2 oldest girls playing soccer (mon, tue, fri, sat), and the boy has pep band (wed-fri randomly) and bowling on sat. To throw another wrench in the works, my wife and I are on opposite shifts. Thankfully she only works 3 days a week. Since our overlap time is in the early evening, and she's not home before I leave on those mornings (mom watches kiddos), I do my stuff in the early AM on the mornings she is there. the nice part is that there is almost no one on the roads at 0430, especially sunday.

jsigone

Yup!! I'm learning this FAST!! This is why I get half my weekly workouts at lunch.

My motivation......don't get dropped like a rock on club rides Saturday mornings

Mithrandir

See if you can find a bike club. Club rides are fun in my experience and help motivate me to go out and ride.


Though for the most part, the riding itself is my motivation to ride...

Null66

I upgraded my visibility lately.
First added a super flash to a cateye tl-5000 tail light.
Then added a Viz 360+.

I lit up one of those $30 3000 lumen MagicShine clone for the first time this morning and it was marvelous!

The 2 compliment each other very well indeed!

Null66

Now for cold weather gear!
I've rode mostly in the summer so I'm geared up for hot, not cold.

I've committed to commuting once a week. Between the lights and the cold weather gear, break even is around August.
I console myself with the expenditures as it is literally Doctor's orders. The prescription is "more miles".

eja_ bottecchia

Mmmmmmm...now that sounds kinky enough to make it interesting. Crack that whip...

MikeRides

I've had no motivation to ride since mid August unfortunately. Back in June and July I was out riding at least an hour every day, no reason necessary. Two rides this month, I had 2 rides (25 and 50 miles) lined up for this past weekend with a friend but backed out last minute because "it looked like rain" - It ended up not raining, as a matter of fact Saturday's weather was gorgeous with temps in the mid-70s and sunny. Maybe I shouldn't plan any rides, and just get on and ride like I did over the summer. But with below 60 degree temperatures expected this week, I don't know how much willpower I'll have to just ride.

I think the 2013 riding season is dwindling down to only a couple additional rides for me.

jsigone

haha you should see what the 3up LED version puts out Great for MTB and single tracks, WAAAAY overkill on my roadie but use it anyways w/ my lezyne in flash mode
https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Headli...eywords=3x+xml

side_FX

I will second this. As a side note, another brutal image is going for a haircut and looking at that fat face staring back at you. Something about seeing that smock straining against a fat neck always gets me to say....."I need to get some miles in TODAY! That image usually sticks with me for a few weeks of motivation.