lil brown bat

I'm not you, and my motivation is never going to be your motivation. Find your own or stop doing it. Just, y'know...don't spend your life trying to like things because you think you're supposed to like them. A lot of brie and mojotos get sold that way.

urban rider

I took a week off from commuting by bike. It cost me $120.00 in gas, I picked up 3 pounds and I feel awful. So guess what I will be doing next week?


Gas, .69 cents the cost of a can of beans.

dcrowell

I didn't start commuting because I was supposed to.

In November I bought an elliptical as part of my weight loss plan. I quickly got bored of it. In April I bought a bike, for fun and fitness. I had trouble finding enough time to ride. A co-worker suggested riding part of the way to work for exercise, and to save money on parking.

It was a natural progression from there. It didn't take long before I was riding the entire distance. The discomfort on my right hand and shoulder caused me to buy a recumbent.

I love riding. I had been doing good until last week. I was unable to ride last week. I was out of town on business. I think that one week screwed up my motivation.

I intended to get back on the bike first thing this week, but I only rode one day this week. I feel horrible about it.

huhenio

Eat more chocolate.

2 weeks off the bicycle and i just could not do it, till i hit the chocolate.

harleyfrog

Only work for me if the chocolate was hanging about five feet in front of me at all times.

huhenio

No surprise ... you used to ride Hardley's

dcrowell

This sounds like a plan I can stick to.

thirdin77

You might have to force yourself back onto the bike. No need to instantly go back to 3x a week, though. Start with just two days or even one and go from there.

Just spend the $$ and get a tail light or lights bright enough that you feel you'll be seen.

recumelectric

Hey dr,

I was worried about this, especially when all the hurricane leftovers came your way. I, too, slip in and out of the bicycling routine. The thing that has motivated me to keep going back to it is simple: I feel like crap when I don't ride regularly. I drink more. I gain weight. I get stressed out over things at work. I'm less energetic and more slow-witted. I worry about my blood pressure, which goes up when I don't ride. I also have to face the doctor who will b---- me out once a year if I'm not at least doing something for my health.

Now, the big reasons are out of the way. So, how about the daily motivation? I get myself psyched up the night before. It is the only way I will get out of bed. I pack my lunch and clothes and I think about how fun it will be. If I have fears, I adjust things on the bike. (Last night, I put a broken blinking light holder back on so I would feel safer in traffic.) I also think about the best parts of my commute--the things that make me giggle or smile. (On a bent with electric assist, there are lots of things to make one giggle and smile....especially passing drivers at intersections.)

Finally, I agree that your commute is too long to stick to over time. You're riding well over an hour each way, and most mere mortals just can't do that over time. You need something sustainable. I have 3 ideas: 1) Sell and move closer. (You're already on that.) I dream of the day that I can do this. I look at the real estate along the way and calulate how much closer it would bring me. I don't want too far, and I don't want too close, either. 2) Get an electric assist motor. It will make you go faster and shorten the time of your commute. That was the purpose of my motor. I knew that, realistically, I would not go 10 or more miles each way on my own. Too slow and too much exhaustion. I like to be worked out, sweaty, and then relaxed and happy after a ride. With my regular bike, I was more like not able to decide between food and sleep until I finally passed out in exhaustion. 3) Get a bike that will fit on the bus, and augment your ride with the bus. I did this for many years. I pretty much skipped the morning ride and rode the bus. In the afternoons, I rode and felt goooood.

One more time, the real motivation is that you will feel gooood.

recumelectric

Oh, god! Food is so good when I ride. There is nothing better than taking a good ride, rinsing off the sweat, and then going for a full basket of wings and some french fries, eating chocolate or cheese without guilt, chowing down at the buffet, coming up with a recipe and cooking something to be available after the next ride... Food and my ability to enjoy it like a teenager is also a motivator. It's all about the food.

recumelectric

The 2X /week thing always troubles me. You can't get into shape or keep in shape going 2 X /week. May as well be a weekend warrior with a good heart attack to prove it. Exercise has to be consistent. If his round trip is too much, he'd be better off riding a shorter distance after he got home 5 days /week.

...Now I'm back on the electric assist thing, because those who have it ride more frequently.

Sammiches

A timely topic. I had motivation trouble just this morning. The scale has stopped moving down and I'm real grumpy about it, like I should be getting more for my effort. I somehow convinced myself to bike in today anyway, and I crashed at the gate at work to top off a perfectly nasty, cold, dark morning. I've got some road rash and aches, but the worst injury is to my pride.

Anyway, one thing that helps motivate me is setting a date. I decided to bike right up to December 1, unless the snow starts covering central Michigan sooner.

huhenio

Ditch the scale.

dcrowell

The hurricane leftovers were fun. I was luckier than most. My power was only out for 25 hours. There are still people without power. The only day I didn't ride that I can blame on the storm damage was Monday. There was debris in the road, but it was cleaned up by Tuesday, and I rode Tuesday.

I guess having everything packed into my panniers the night before would help. Then not riding becomes a pain.

I've thought about the partial bus-commute, but to get to the nearest bus stop, still requires me to ride 9 miles, and that includes the divided highway that I hate riding.

I'm just going to have to tough it out until I move. I did order fenders for my recumbent, now I need to look into better lights.

I planning on riding to work everyday. If I can't bring myself to ride the whole distance, I'll throw my other bike on the car, and drive part of the way.

DataJunkie

Nah. Eat less. Drink more water.

JMRobertson

Simple... you sell your car.

dcrowell

You're my kind of girl!

capejohn

I drive to within 10 miles of my workplace and ride from there. In the winter, I get a little closer and park at a supermarket lot.

Brian T.

My motivation: I'm 5'8" and weigh 190 lbs. Too big ,maybe. But my normal BP is 112/62, my cholestoral is 130 and I can eat like a horse and my weight doesn't fluctuate more than a pound or 2. (BTW, 190 is down from 205) If that doesn't motivate, I don't know what would.

e0richt

well, not sure if this is the same thing but I find that I have a certain amount of nervousness on my commute that is not too bad... but if I miss a certain amount of time between commutes it comes back stronger. I guess that, in my case, the more I commute the easier it is to do the commute both physically and mentally...

edit: ok, I see that your commute is 15 miles one way... mine is 7.5 miles one way... I would do a park and ride, so that I can change the distance when I don't have as much energy...

recumelectric

Some more motivating ideas:

That's because you're building muscle mass, which is leaner and will speed your metabolism in the long run. At least that's what I tell myself. ...Actually, it is true that weight will plateau at points, and often it is due to muscle building. I usually don't get the awesome metabolism until I've done a year or more of consistent riding.

That's the best motivator of all. You've got a war story!

dcrowell

One of my unhealthy motivators is when I spend money on the bike... <sigh>

I did it again. I just ordered some DiNotte lights. I hope they are worth the money.

I will be riding for a while to make up for the money I just spent.

harleyfrog

I don't own a set (yet) but from the reviews and videos I've seen, DiNotte rocks. I'm a bit envious.

DataJunkie

I find spending to be motivating as well. However, that can easily get out of control. Lately I am just happy with the occasional chain or socks. Riding is way more fun than bankrupting ones self.

dcrowell

Oh, I know. Before I spent money on bikes, I spent it on computer stuff. Spending is fun. Paying off the debt isn't.

I knew I needed better lighting. My morning commute has been getting scary. I can justify the money, even if I shouldn't have spent it.

It had actually been a while since I spent money on bike stuff though. Then I ordered fenders yesterday, and the lights today. Once I get them, and get them installed, I'll get some pictures.