Hello Everyone,

I am new to riding, and trying to get into it. Part of this is trying to tackle local errands, and blow free time riding, but really, I'm having a hard time finding the time to ride.

So I was wondering, what excuses do you come up with to ride? what have you changed in your life to make riding and staying in shape?

Thanks.

-- James

You need an excuse to ride? Seriously, I'm blessed with a flexible schedule, but even if I wasn't a student and a freelancer, and had a typical nine to five job (of which I've had many), I'd just get up at that crack of dawn to ride (wait, I do this anyway).

Though, if you are new this approach might be discouraging. So, ride to work, ride during lunch, ride on weekends, and don't worry, summer's coming, it'll be lighter out later, so ride at night (bring blinkies).

There are NO EXCUSES!

Actually, depending on how I feel for the day, it varies.

Both my husband and I work graveyard, and we work at the same place. So, I have a bike in the back of the car, and he'll drop me off at the bottom of the hill. I ride home, and depending on my mood, ride just the eight odd miles home, or make a virtual day of it, with a 40 some mile roadfest.

Other days, I go home, decide that it's too boring to sit at home, and check out the local Multiple Use Path. There's always something new going on down there, and I can check up on the local regular users of the trail, including the infamous Big Soos Creek shameless hussy and her coterie.

You don't need an excuse, you need a REASON. There's always a good reason to go for a ride... .

East Hill

I have very limited time to ride also.

during the week I'm up at 5:00am and at the gym by 5:30 (it's way to close to even other riding the 3 miles), then back home around 6:30. shower, eat again, get ready for work and leave around 7:30-7:45. drive the fun 90 minutes into Miami where I stay until 6:00pm. I get home around 7:30pm and now with daylight savings I try to get out for at least a quick, 12 mile, 45 minute ride. that typically only happens m-w-f. then I get back home, eat, shower again and head to bed. the weekends are a bit easier and I usually have no problem getting in a 25-30 mile ride on either Sat or Sun. that's all I'm up to right now.

So I don't need an EXCUSE to ride. I just kick myself in the a$$ and get out there. I need to work on the excuses I make for myself not to ride. there is the bigger problem.

Bummer, living in a city I underestimated the commuting to work factor - forgot that people actually have to spend and hour and a half in a car to get to work. I guess you could spend your 5:00am - 6:30am time riding instead of at the gym, but you'd probably have to plunk down a couple of bills to get a lighting system so you could actually see.

+1, unless I make myself get up early (which I'm usually pretty good about), I end up procrastinating and spending too much time on places like BikeForums - then I don't get out until the afternoon. Still, I guess I'll count myself lucky I can ride in the afternoon instead of being stuck at a desk.

Make it part of your daily routine, not an exception or something you go out of your way to do. Do your shopping, make standard errands, commute, whatever. Make it enjoyable and find a way.

Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.

RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!

Kill two birds with one stone. Run the local errands with the bike.

When, in history have we ever had too many birds, and not enough stones?

Seriously though: ride EVERYWHERE! When you start getting around by bike instead of by car, you'll find that your whole routine changes, for the better. You'll end up in swankier pubs, spend time at places like libraries and coffee shops, and enjoy the more historic part of your town, away from the strip.

sorry but if you need to find an excuse to get you arse out on a bike its time for you to advertise it on ebay or find someone who will appreciate riding without whinging about free time

It's fairly straightforward to use commuting as a way to get saddle time in. It takes me 45 minutes to 1 hour to drive to work, but only 15 minutes longer to ride the bike. So, I can get close to 3 hours of riding in the same amount of time it would take me to drive to work and exercise for only 30 minutes a day.....so it's a no-brainer. I don't have to drive to the gym or find parking at work, it's waiting in the garage, ready for me to jump on.

+100


Aaron

Night time. When the wife and kiddies are sleepin', I escape and grab a quick 20 mile ride on my fixed gear. Weeknights after eleven are really nice because I've pretty much got the roads to myself. Of course it helps if you keep odd hours, and I certainly do keep odd hours.

My four most used excuses to go for a ride are "I have to get to work", "I have to get home from work", "The pantry is almost empty i have to go to the grocery store", "I have to get these groceries home".

Then there's all those other excuses like "We're going to my parent's place for dinner" or "We're going to a friend's place for a barbecue" and "It's Thomas's birthday, let's take the kids over to visit"

But my two all-time favorites are "let's go on a picnic" and "lets go for PIZZA!!!!"

It's called life, and its full of excuses to ride.

I like that middle picture...the epitome of a ROAD TRAIN

Aaron

By asking that question, you may have begun your first step towards becoming a commuter.

I know, I know...it's a strange mental adjustment at first...but if you just give in and embrace your inner commuter, you'll find that it doesn't hurt at all. In fact...it's incredibly rewarding.

Pop on over to the commuting forum and check out the pinned threads. You're almost there.

Yeah, that's the one except in my case the prime mover could use some more horsepower so I'm keeping my eyes open for a used tandem for the wife and I to share the load

At the moment its like smokey and the bandit with me doing the heavy haulin' while she zips circles around us on her sports car (mountain bike) and offering me words of encouragement like "c'mon granpa, is that all you got?" .....she never seems interested in my offers to swap

You need to come over my house. There are way too many birds and not a single stone.

So true. I don't commute to work, but I do ride to the grocery store or the in laws house for Sunday dinner or to the local pool & lake club in the summer, or the pharmacy.... Nothing quite like riding 20 miles in the intense heat then getting to jump into a cool lake and float on a tube for hours.

my commute starts at 6am if I drive. If I decide to ride my bicycle to the train, I'd need to arive at the train station at 05:30. hrm... maybe I should invest in lights and a good jacket.

-- James

that's early. I remember my days in UK I was up at 4:30am, and I drove and it was 30 miles.

Do you go far, do you have strange shift times? Either way, I can sort of empathise that getting up to commute that early takes some gusto.

Thing is, it does make you feel alive to tackle that challenge.

Even if commuting proves too much, you can always find time to ride other ways - if you love it then you'll be looking for things to do as an excuse to ride the bike

Find the riding life that you fall in love with, and it'll become a part of you.

I commute to work, which is pretty much the only riding I do.

Nicodemus is spot on here.

Recommend you not try to "shoehorn in" time for cycling. Rather, start restructuring your life in ways that includes physical activity. "Bake it in" your life, dont "spoon it on". Make all that other stuff compete on equal terms with cycling [or whatever].

Easier said than done? Absolutely. It's yet another of life's tests and a mastery of self. Pretty powerful stuff, actually.

+1 trillion.

I love riding, but my limitations really get in the way. I tried commuting 15 miles after work a couple times a week and it's not working out. I work full-time as a landscaper/groundskeeper and I already have arthritis problems with my hands and knees. My job tends to aggravate these conditions and after a day at work the last thing I want to do is hop on a bike and ride home. My knees especially hated carrying extra weight on the bike and combined with the hills I have to climb to get home I was miserable and I ended up straining my knees so I'm off the bike for a while.

My riding is pretty much limited to flat terrain and I have 1 flat route at my disposal. I only have 2 days off from work and I don't always want to ride both days. So if I have the energy for it, after work I'll drive to the flat bike path 2 miles away and ride even if it is only 30 mins. Normally I ride to the path, but dealing with the rush hour traffic isn't my idea of a relaxing/stress release type ride after work. Saturdays are the only day I have to drive to work and there are mountain bike trails a few minutes away so I'll sometimes pack up the mountain bike and if I'm up for it I'll cruise along on the easy trails.

Yes, I'd love to make cycling more of a lifestyle...using it for grocery runs, errands, commuting, but the reality for me is that my knees can't handle carrying much weight and/or climbing and aside from one bike path, there are hills everywhere I go. The good thing is I have an excellent public transportation system at my disposal and I have a bunch of grocery stores/markets within 10-20 minutes walking distance so I don't have too drive to much.

Bike riding is time consuming. I think running is more efficient, timewise. I used to run and then switched to riding. A lot depends on your family and job situation. A young father will be hard pressed to get a regular riding routine with young children to help nurture. A father will grown up kids in high school may get more riding time. The job commute will take a lot of time and prevent the early morning ride and evening ride. So that leaves the weekend. That will hurt the "at least 3 rides per week" aerobic conditioning mantra.

Bring them with you! You can nurture them in the back of a Burley.