7bmwm3gtr

This summer of 2010 i might go to my home country of the Philippines for 2 months. Most of my family is there and i would love to spend time with them, but i'm fearing that a 2 Month break off my bike is waaaayyyy too much, and when i come back and hit the bike i'll be weak and would need to re-build some strength and skills.

The longest period of time when i was "sober" from biking was exactly 7 days or a week.

So i'm curious to know, especially from competitive bikers, whats the longest amount of time off of your bike, why, and what happened when you got back on.

Fortuneatley the trip isn't set in stone, but i don't know what i'd do without my bike...lol

Yaniel

unless cycling is your lively hood, family > cycling.

alpha_bravo

+1 Don't be a slave to cycling.

No matter how much you think you're going to lose strength or speed wise, it will only be a fraction of what you'll really lose. The time off may even do you some good, letting your body rest and recover. Maybe try running or swimming for the time being.

If you're so obsessed that you must, you will have no trouble finding a cheap bike down there to ride.

Looking back on it 15 years from now, will you have missed the two months of day to day training? Or the time spent with your family in a country most people can only dream of visiting?

td.tony

I went about 2 months without riding at all because of school, the past 2 months actually.

I went on my first bike ride yesterday, a very slow 50 mile ride just to get my legs and lungs used to riding again. The first ride after a long time off the bike always sucks. Really sucks. My quads actually started to cramp up, and I was drinking plenty of my electrolyte drink and it was 50 degrees.....my quads never cramped before... I went for a nice 10 mile cruise this morning and my legs felt awesome after they got warmed up, but today is just a rest day for tomorrow.

The first ride back on the bike definitely feels like crap, but I'm sure in the next two weeks my body will be just about back where it was two months ago. The human body can adapt very quickly, it isn't that bad.
Just try to eat healthy and stay active during your time off the bike.

logdrum

If you stop how would you be the Manny Pacquiao of cycling?

bretgross

+1

clutchy

I'm of the opinion and i have nothing to back this up besides personal experience, but i think cycling conditions your heart long term. I quit for almost a year but i'm back and it came back pretty quickly.

Homebrew01

You can take your shoes and pedals and a pedal wrench. Maybe you can rent or borrow a bike. Put the wrench in checked baggage, NOT Carry-on ... they'll confiscate it.

Do some running, especially uphill if possible. If you're not a runner, start running a bit ahead of time to get used to it, or even very fast walks.

7bmwm3gtr

LOL. That's one of my concerns haha kinda

cyclefreaksix

They don't have bikes in the Philippines??

7bmwm3gtr

They do, a LBS near the place i sell actually is selling Trek Alpha Black Framesets for like $600 which is the frame on my Trek 2.1, and they rip off and sell the components elsewhere. It's a pretty bad deal.

But even if i were to get the cheapest road bike there, the roads there are terrible and very rough, it's polluted and dirty, and the place i stay has too much crowded traffic. There are no bike lines, and the police don't really enforce traffic laws, which makes me vulnerable to getting hit.

Kurogashi

I have gain 5lbs since the summer due to school + no exercising whatsoever.
Feel my pain!!

rufvelo

2 months off the bike is not an issue. 2 months without family though is. A good program to get back in form and you won't have missed a thing.

icyclist 

"place i stay has too much crowded traffic. There are no bike lines, and the police don't really enforce traffic laws, which makes me vulnerable to getting hit."

Stop rationalizing. It doesn't really make a difference what you do. Because it isn't as if, even if you lost a lot of strength and stamina, that you couldn't get it back. And I doubt cyclists are an endangered species anywhere in the Philippines.

roadiejorge 

Like others have said, what is lost can be regained so I'd go and enjoy the family time though I would look into getting a MTB or cross bike if the roads are that bad and you want to get some riding in.