pdxtex

Whats the longest intentional break you've taken from cycling for recoup purposes? Im about to do two months of lazy bliss. Ive been chugging out 100 heavy (my legs feel like lead!!) miles a week all winter/spring and its just not going the way id like it, as in easy! I think i just need to do some whole body recovery and stay away from cycling for a month or two and let my body do some healing.....Barring injury, the longest break Ive taken from riding for the last decade has been well, never. i just ride year round, year after year....I kind of feel like forest gump, "ahhhm tired, i think ill go home now". and then he stops running.....

EdgewaterDude

I did this at the end of last year in to this year. I got in to a funk where cycling just wasn't fun and I didn't want to get on the bike. The break was good and I've got my mojo back now. I've been happily racking up miles.

Homebrew01

8 months last year. Only riding on the weekends this year so far.
Not sure if I'll get motivated to get competitive again. Was going pretty well a couple of years ago.

RidingMatthew

are you doing the same kind of riding? what i mean is if I do a lot bike commuting i find that a good mountain bike ride switches things up enough for me to enjoy road biking again.
just a thought

pdxtex

no, i actually need to let my body rest! i think its a combination of mileage, age, riding style and lack of recovery time. i had bad crash in august last year, and then i twisted my knee on some ice in december so i took a little time off from that but i think im still feeling some residual chunkiness all around.....riding for so long i forgot how to run, holy crap i can barely trot across a parking lot at the moment but i can walk great....i just need to realign a few things....i think because cycling has been my only means of vigorous exercise for the last 15 plus years, ive properly neglected my other day to day muscles. it quite an accomplishment for me to do a 4 mile walk at the moment but ive been working on that.

Rowan

After an extended period in randonneuring, living without owning a motor vehicle and doing just about everything by bike, and then bushfires in 2009 that destroyed where I lived, I haven't been nearly so intensive. I went a year virtually without riding, and then got back into doing some centuries and a few short randonnees. Then some touring. Commutes are out of the question right now because of the distance I have to travel to work and the terrain make it impractical.

I am kind of hoping I can start ramping things up a bit again and do some randonneuring in the coming 12 months. Our living arrangements are a bit temporary right now, and a lot of our cycling stuff is in storage in another state. Once all that is settled at the end of this year, I am hoping it will be all pedals ahead.

In the meantime, I am enjoying a lot my gym visits -- swimming, treadmill walking, spin bike, and weights, while still doing some outdoor cycling on weekends (it's winter in the southern hemisphere, so weekday riding is somewhat limited at the moment). I have hopes of doing a triathlon or two come summer which will add variety to cycling.

10 Wheels

Going into 5 months now from an accident.

mihlbach

If one form of cycling burns you out try another.

I got burned out on road cycling last year, so I went the opposite direction and started bmx racing and dirt jumping. The bmx racing got addictive plus I can involve my kids in that much more easily than road cycling. I commute and still do the occasional road ride, but the long miles just bore the hell out of me.
As long as I'm pushing myself on a bike somehow I'm happy. I'm sure my interest in it will pick up again sometime. I still consider myself a roadie.

eja_ bottecchia

One month, following my 4-stent procedure.

Couldn't wait to get back on the bike and feel the road beneath my wheels.

eja_ bottecchia

Hope that you are healing well.

diggy488

When you all came back from your break, how long did it take to get back to peak level? For example, if you've biked consistently for a couple years, took 6 months off, then came back to cycling, how long did it take to get back to where you were? This excludes coming back from injuries.

Caad08

4 years. Went into bodybuildng and gained 35lbs of muscle. Just starting to get back into cycling now.

Will Goes Boing

Was off the bike for 6 months and focused more on bulking up/lifting weights. When I came back I was still faster than your average rider but I was nowhere near as fast as where I left off. I'm in the process of going on a cut hoping to get from 170lbs back down to 155-160lbs. I think it was the most noticeable in climbs.

krobinson103

Never more than a few days.Been four years since I rode less than 200km plus every week without fail in all weather.

Machka 

When I lived in Canada, the seasons provided a natural break.

January to March -- ramping up, doing spinning classes, riding the trainer, getting outside when I could

April to September -- lots of cycling outside

October to December -- rest, less cycling outside, occasional cycling inside, other sports


By the time October rolled around each year, I was ready for a break.


Here in Australia, the situation has been a little bit different because there's decent cycling year round. It's easy to take a break when there's 2 feet of snow on the ground and the temperature is -30C ... it's not so easy to take a break when it's a sunny and green 10C.

[HR][/HR]

I've also taken several involuntary breaks ... when I burned my foot to the bone, when I developed DVT ...

hueyhoolihan

you know that 35 pounds will have to come off, don't you?

datlas 

On purpose? That's crazy talk!

My advice: take a week off. And go for some easy/fun rides.

Homebrew01

15 years off after burning out from racing when I was 30.

DXchulo

I used to try to take 2 weeks off in the winter. I'd usually make it about 1 week. I think I went for about a week when I went to Alaska because that was more of a vacation with my wife (though I did squeeze in a century one day). 1 week is probably my limit as long as I'm physically able to ride.

surgeonstone

1) get rid of the cycling computer.
2) ride whether you want or not.
3) instead of hammering or going as fast as you can, take it easy. Smell the roses, look at the scenery. Don't check the time when you start or finish. Ride like you did as a kid, coast down hills, pause and listen to the world around you. Cycling is great and approached this way will always make you feel better by the ten minute mark. Competition with oneself of others can easily become drudgery.

surgeonstone

On a bicycle 35 pounds of muse is no better than 35 pounds of fat.

clausen

A muse on a bike is always good.

krobinson103

Depends on where the muscle is. On an mtb going downhill muscled arms and back really help.

Garfield Cat

Buy a brand new bike. A different brand.

Dudelsack

Don't take anyone's advice.