Time
 

This season promises to be great and I am really looking forward to it. Here in Israel we have some new and exciting races lined up as well as a 600 km 3-day cross country ride that will traverse from the North to the South and will have some challenging hills as well. From the posts I've been reading many of you are also racking up the miles and enjoying the various rewards of your efforts including Irma's pie and hot java on a cold morning ride. However as I slowly awake from winter's hibernation and begin to feel the fingers of spring's calling, I begin to wonder where will I find the time for this "hobby" of mine which is encroaching upon my life. Since we have a one-day weekend only, it is hard to divide time between my better half and the bike. How do you manage your time????

I ride with my better half. She doesn't ride as hard as I generally like to, but the pleasure of getting out on our bikes together substantially outweighs any downside.

Bicycle commuting to/from work is a time-effective option for many of us. I start my recreational riding at daybreak on weekend mornings, returning in time for a full day's activities with the rest of the family.

+1

I'm going a bit green- thinking about the warmth you will have in Israel. Don't know about the racing though- too many youngsters about in that side of the sport for my liking. Only thing I find with heat is water intake and carbo loading. Water intake is easy with a camelback, but any form of alcohol is out for me, except when the ride is over. As to the carbo loading- nothing better than a 20 to 30 mile ride before breakfast at your favourite cafe. Or What do you substitute for Irma's Pies?

I only really get time to ride on sundays. I make extra time in the week though. We have recently started night riding and it did take a bit of time to get used to. Riding in artificial light makes you see things -like the turning being a bit late, so you attempt the corner only to find a tree or a ditch. You should have slowed down to the capability of your lights and turned when you saw the corner and not when you thought you did. Or you don't see things like logs and rocks on the trail, so it does get a bit rough on the front wheel. Before this year though- I went to a gymnasium twice a week. You do need a bit more than once a week outings to get the fitness to do 200kms a day. Just worked that out- Its more than my 100 miles in a day that I have planned so get some lights or get down the gym--QUICK.

As to the better half. My wife enjoys her morning or evening of peace. If your better half is interested in riding, then see if she would like to come with you, Mine won't. She keeps hearing about the hills we go up, or the tricky descents at speed or how many times we fell off through the slippery trails through the woods and won't come anywhere near the bike shed- let alone a bike.
Mind you, if yours is anything like my wife, I would have trouble trying to keep up with her on a training ride. If you have the situation where your better half would like to try riding, then hire a tandem for a couple of hours. Great fun, and will soon give you a workout up the hills.

I ride at different times of the day and add significant mileage on the weekends and holidays

Berts,

I hear ya brother! I'm fortunate like Raketmensch, my wife likes to ride as much (or more) than I. If there's any way you could get yours involved, perhaps by purchasing her some spiffy cycling clothes, that might help your situation greatly. Another thing that has helped, we own a tandem and use that for perhaps 75% of our riding. It's a great thing for our relationship and has honestly helped us feel a stronger sense of compassion for eachother. Couples that sweat together, stay together. If you can't convince your wife to join you, you'll just have to steal an hour here or there, as suggested. That commuting idea is a great one, too.

One thing I have always said about exercise, it really doesn't take time away from life, it adds to it. Why? First, I find when I'm physically active, I have more endurance, require less sleep, and have more energy for everything. So, I'm there for my family when I'm feeling fit, and I'm a happier person to be around. Second, I honestly believe that (in most cases) exercise can add years to your life. But, you all know that... OHB

I'm with you on that one. I got myself a very heavy bike, just for the slow rides with my wife, but more often, we ride our tandem. The last half of 2005, I had more tandem miles than anything else. Some of those days, I'd rather have ridden my faster highracer, but hey, anytime she wants to ride, I ride with her.

Shalom berts. I ride for an 1 to 1 1/2 hours before dinner and I have Thursday afternoons off for my long ride. My wife is in graduate school so I can also take long rides on the weekends too as she spends most of her time doing school work. I think the best way to find time is to explain to your better half what you training needs are and ask for help in finding the time for it.

Al

Thanks for all your input.

I would love to go together with my wife - I'll have to work on that a bit more. We would need a tandem since she has almost zero experience on a bike and at this stage she would not be able to manuever curves, go up hills or manage in a traffic situation.
We did go on an old one speed 2-ton schwinn tandem for a spin around the block and she seemed to get a kick out of it. She is pretty set against my bike because she relates to it as her competition.

I do commute 1-2 times a week - it is a 35 miler through varied terrain some points very dangerous (traffic wise) and other times a dream. This is another aspect I'll have to try to improve, 3 times a week sounds like a reasonable goal. For that I'll have to get a compact backpack to hold a change of clothes and shoes.

Riding at night is theoretically a solution, here in the land of crazy drivers, it is suicide. I count my stars every time I get off my commute alive.

It hasn't been much of a winter and we are already looking at spring. No need to envy us (Stapfam) because instead of snow flurries and rainstorms we get hot east winds (hamsin) with lots of dust in the spring months. Summers are hot and going out during the noon hours is prohibitive. I race with the oldsters, but we do have some hot competition. In fact when we have a joint start with the Juniors we usually leave them in the dust.

Sending her off to graduate school is a novel approach. We'll have to discuss the matter.