Been out of the country for 2 months, in Aruba. My wife would not let me ride there, roads too narrow, they drive crazy etc. Threatened to go home if I rented a bike. So no riding in the 80 degree climate!! In fact haven't ridden since last November.

Took the bike to pick up the mail this afternoon, just a mile or so round trip, but I can tel it is going to be a long road back to doing 20-30 miles at a whack. Did 1,000 miles last year and would like to at least double that this season. We shall see.

Had a winter off with not much riding but I can now get back to training and enjoying life. I set myself a target and that is a couple of rides at the end of May. So I have a month to get fitness back for a couple of 50 milers. Distance is coming up with every ride and steeper slopes are being tackled on every ride. I could do those two rides tomorrow but speed is my problem right now. Hopefully that will come back.

The problem I found was going for that first training ride of 20 miles. Kept putting it off but decided I had to get out and changed into the cycling clothing in the morning- went down the shed and got the bike out. Had breakfast at my favourite cafe 10 miles away--Then had to get home-----It hurt.

Did 40 minutes on the eliptical before the short ride. I will sleep well tonight. And will feel the soreness tomorrow. Will do some sort of exercise tomorrow though, maybe a little longer on the bike.

It can be done. And you will do it.

The first time out is always the worst. I'd been off the bike since November and got in very little xc-skiing this season (no snow) so I wound up gaining about 10 pounds. I had the bike on a trainer too but the time gods handed me the wrong cards this winter which means I had time to use it for a grand total of 4 sessions from December to the first week of March.

I started around mid-March and I've limited myself to 45 minutes to an hour for the first couple of weeks. Nothing too fast, averaging about 12-14 mph, working on getting my cadence up from low 70's to mid 90's and keeping the distance down to about 10 miles. Last week I ramped it up to 15 miles and then 27 miles on the weekend. The speed is slowly coming back. Looking at my split times from my last outing I managed to maintain 16.5 mph for almost 30 minutes which is a lot better than I thought.

I can't complain because when I look at my numbers from last year I'm about a month ahead right now and I'm in much better shape this year. The 1800 miles I logged in last year have paid off and I'd like to get in about 3000 this year, time permitting. Last year I set a goal of 2500 but I had other time commitments and my wife always likes to remind me that I'd been off a road bike bike for over 35 years and off a bike period for over 30.

I'm sure you won't have any problems coming back. It just takes patience and a little bit of persistence.

Tim, I noticed where you are and your avatar/name. You might consider jumping on the CCRT from Dennis. It's a nice way to get started and rack up some easy miles. I haven't been out there yet this spring but I intend to go soon.

I feel your pain. Except for a couple of 5-mile commutes in January and February, I hadn't been on the bike since last October. I attended spin classes at the gym through the winter, but not with any consistency. And when I got out for my first real leg-stretcher of the year a few weeks ago, I thought there'd be no problem with a fast (for me) 25+ mile ride. It turned into 27-point-something, and I was dragging by the last 2 or 3 miles. And that's with only a couple hundred feet of climbing. So I scaled back to some 20s the last couple of times out and felt better. This weekend, though, I think I'll try for 30. I'm looking forward to getting again to the point where 40 or 50 is nothing more than a nice morning on the road.

The sole saving grace is that even at these puny miles, I'm ahead of where I was this time last year, so I don't think another 1000 mile season will be a problem.

The cycling gods are angry that you have ignored them and demand a sacrifice of pain and suffering.

Just be glad it's not a blood sacrifice they demand.

I guess I am fortunate in that there is no real off season for cycling where I live. We may have a rain out now and then but in a day or two we can be back out doing another 30 or 40 mile ride. However there are times when I go on vacation and my riding drops significantly. When I get home it takes a few weeks to keep from falling off of the back of the group. Talking to my doctor he put it in perspective. When we are in our teens and twenties if we have to spend a day or two in the hospital normally we can go back to work of school a day or two after we get home. When we are past 50 that recovery rate may be weeks. I may not have liked hearing that but on the bright side if we are active past 50 then our recovery rate is at least faster than those who are couch potatoes.

I am headed to Truro this morning. Have the bike rack on the car and am planning on a couple of rides on the CCRT this week. Have exercised 5 of the last 7 days indoors. Looking forward to some outdoor activity. I have a Nordic track in Truro and will use that if the weather is too bad to be outdoors. Thanks!