wphamilton

I know what you mean - it always feels good after the ride but sometimes you just don't get to it without the essential purpose of getting to work. I haven't been in your shoes but weekends in winter I let it slide, and then wonder why I didn't ride.

I would do it in the morning before work, every workday, just to get in the habit and routine. I don't know about you, but telecommuting from home I have to set up a routine anyway just to get into the zone. Dress right, get shaved and clean up, adhere to a strict schedule, get off BikeForums , get at a clean desk with my coffee, everything to put my mind at the office instead of at home. I think I'd add the bike ride into that.

You have a couple of advantages in that you can skip packing a change of clothes, and can shorten the ride if you're running late or the weather isn't cooperating.

Hypno Toad

I made the transition from daily, year-round bike commuter to a home office last year. It has been an interesting challenge. I miss my daily commutes, funny as it will sound to many, I miss the rainy rides, the dark sub-zero mornings, and all the challenges that come with bike commuting.

I have used tools like Strava and VeloViewer to keep me motivated by the number (segments, miles, elevation, etc). I was able to keep my milage up, in fact I ended the 2015 with my highest number of miles.

I have made a point of signing up for a number of races/events too, this has a motivating effect... "I NEED to be in shape for that ride next month." Make sure the events are a challenge too, over the fall I signed up for beer-league CX (first time I've done CX), next month I will do the Frozen 40 (first fat bike race).

I ride to a coffee shop with my laptop once a week, the coffee shop is next to my LBS, so it's a double bonus to get some work done on a bike while I get some work done. And as other mentioned, all errands are by bike. If I need to get to the bank, to the grocery store, to office supply story, ... I always ride a bike.

I have noticed that the commute, riding AM and PM, keeps me in better condition that one ride of the same distance. Also, I found out that my commute route was very hilly and my elevation gain has suffered since changing to the home office.

Jim from Boston

Nicely said; spoken like a true cycle-commuter.

Left unstated is that my 10-week Century mileage training schedule is usually for an event. My results are a simple graph on a spreadsheet, but even that is very motivating.

no motor?

I'm missing those not so fun times too during the times when it's too slippery/messy out to ride, even the parts where I'm remembering wondering just how long it would take before they seemed like something I'd like to do again.

joeyduck

I can imagine what it must feel like to have the impending change leading to no commute.

I am not looking forward to a prospective move that will completely remove the option of cycling for me for a while; due both to location and recent history. It is a scary prospect and I think like others have said it is good to set goal (miles or events) that you can strive to. Routine is important also.

Is there anyone you can coax into cycle-commuting and help them by being there every morning to shadow and ride along with?

RubeRad

+1

Solo road biking is boring. I would never do it without a pile of podcasts to listen to, or friends to ride with. Trails are a lot more fun.

GAPavedTrailRdr

I have been working remotely for 8 years now, the first 3 of which I worked from home office. I thought I had hit the lottery when I started working from home, but it has unique challenges that I think you will eventually find your bike will help with. Though I have come to build relationships with people at headquarters by traveling with them, I find that people don't really continue to open up on email or phone when I am back offsite. You may send a lot of emails and make calls throughout your day, but it's not the same as joining the lunch crowd or chatting in a cubicle. You are the last to find out why a person has been acting withdrawn or hear the rumors about a possible acquisition, etc. And while that may sound like gossip, it serves as critical feedback for you and how you go about your job. You can feel pretty isolated after a while and that's why the coffee shop may become a pretty important place for you to hang out and work in the future.

Another thing I learned was how I had always used the commute home as a pressure valve. When you work away from home and there is a crisis at the end of the day, the commute home gives you time to transition away from it and begin thinking about how you are going to spend your night. When I realized that I sometimes felt invaded because my family simply had the nerve to return home and I hadn't come to a stopping point for the day, I started riding to disconnect from work. I found that I personally need some kind of commute home, even if I was already there.

And while those are some of the challenges, there are a lot of advantages to having the flexibility to work from home, as I'm sure you have already thought of many. I am better at cooking at home (instead of eating out) since I don't have to remember to thaw things out or I can run to the grocery store for missing items at lunch time. You might even be able to read reports and answer emails on your trainer, if you have one. Anyway, best of luck in your new position!

GaPavedTrailRdr

rumrunn6

takenreasy

This is a good set up. Two weeks from today I'll go from teleworking two days per week to full time. I too use a standing desk and don't really enjoy bicycling to continue outside of commuting. This might be my answer.

Drew Eckhardt 

I moved close enough to work commuting (formerly 13 miles one-way) no longer counts as exercise, increased my mileage to 800 a month riding 6 days a week, and enjoy it more although my 25-30 mile weekday rides involve suburban traffic light hell getting to and from an uninterrupted 14 mile stretch.

Note that you feel better because of riding. I'm usually about as relaxed as I'd be after two beers as a more sessile person, weigh 70 pounds less, stopped snoring, sleep better so I need less, and sweat 1/3-1/2 as much.

Enjoy the meditative experience of riding, using the mental white space for creativity.

Have a real hard day each week. Get close enough to VO2max and your brain won't have enough oxygen to get bored. I like 3x10 or 4x10 minute intervals as hard as possible.

Use the opportunity to get in good enough shape to really enjoy longer weekend rides. My maximum pace is now the same from 3-8+ hours which is enough to start at my house, ride over the Santa Cruz mountains to the Pacific Ocean, return, and ride more. Now that I'm in decent shape (it was a much more affordable mid-life crisis than auto racing) I'm excited to try a 200km ride in February the second month (240k/150 miles with extra tacked on), and 300km ride in March the third month (360k/225 miles rounded up to a double century plus bonus miles).

Make it a habit to ride early in the morning 6 days a week since it's much easier to stay motivated that way and hard to be distracted by work. I wake up before sunrise every day and ride six days a week (no alarm clock, because I want to go to bed early enough I can wake up to do the same the next day).

I use a trainer, huge fan, and TV + Roku box on days when it's already raining when I'm ready to leave for a ride.

CrankyOne

I've worked from home for almost 2 decades. As @wphamilton said, getting in to a routine is critical or a few months down the road you'll see your production skid. For me that's riding to a café every morning for a cappuccino and sometimes oatmeal (instead of making it at home). I typically work for an hour or two at home, shower, ride to a café, maybe ride somewhere for lunch one or two days per week, then back home to work for the afternoon.

For basic fitness you really only need about 30-60 minutes of moderate activity per day. Riding 6 - 10 miles @ 11 to 13 mph will do it. Congrats, you're in the top 10% of fittest people in the U.S. (or the top 90% of fittest in The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, ...).

I do layer some other stuff on top of that. I do a fitness ride on my road bike once or twice per week if weather's OK. This could be anything from a quick 15 mile ride to a 40 mile group ride. I do a fair bit of nordic skiing in winter (sucky snow year this one though). I often do some pushups at some point a few mornings each week like maybe 3 reps of 10. I waterski when I can, go for hikes, etc.

I'm not in any way regimented and may go a few weeks without the layering stuff (but rarely go more than a day or two without riding for a cappuccino, lunch, dinner, grocery, etc.). This and some moderate attention to what I eat (or don't eat) has kept me quite healthy.

hyhuu

For this to count as riding, the bikeforums page should be on that screen.

jfowler85

That is quote-tastic. I think I got lost at one point...

Kertrek

I haven't had much trouble motivating myself. I hadn't been riding as often, but I make up for it by doing longer more intense rides on mountain highways. And I just got a gym membership and cycle to the gym: I wanna get my money's worth so I've been going to the gym 5 days a week.