Anyone else just get sick of riding bike to the point you don’t want to look at a bike for several months? Kind of ashamed to admit it but this past spring when the world got turned on it’s head I lost any desire to train and even ride. Almost formed a resentment towards bike riding. Does anyone else ever feel like this? Working on the house and lawn became of form of therapy instead of riding. Scared to step on a scale or take an FTP test because it’s going to provide PR’s that nobody wants to see…
As we move into fall I’m starting to find a little more interest in riding again but just curious what others experience and how long it lasts? What other hobbies do you find get you fired back up to ride again?
Each of the three times I’ve done PBP (1200k unsupported ride, 90 hrs or less total time), I’ve taken anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks of no riding.
Part of this is because my bikes packed away and I’m still traveling, part of it is physical soreness, fatigue, etc and part of it is jus mentally taking a break from cycling.
This ride is every 4 years, so it’s not like these breaks happen a lot.
I took a long break from riding when COVID hit in New York. Didn’t want to risk riding outside, and a possible trip to hospital if I took a spill. And riding inside when the Spring weather hit wasn’t very appealing. I jumped back in at the end of May, but I can see myself looking forward to a break around Thanksgiving. I do seem to have an issue with staying motivated 12 months a year.
In the past I have, mostly due to increased work stress and home projects while being super focused on cycling. Then I would take a day off, which would turn into two, then a week, etc. I would just wait until I was excited to ride again, which tended to be about 6 months.
Now I have an established routine and am more focused on balancing different aspects of my life, managing work stress, and not being super focused on any one thing. My goal with increased balance is to keep a slow, steady burn that is sustainable vs. burning hot and fast and taking breaks. And also remembering that it is a hobby and I do it for enjoyment. Its not a job, it shouldn’t add stress, it should do the opposite and I should look forward to it.
Yes, but not for months at a time (luckily). Usually I can simply take a few days off the bike and I feel the fire to ride again. I also try to ride different disciplines like others have mentioned. I was really heavily into road and gravel riding for the beginning of the season, and now I haven’t touched the road bike in months, maybe the gravel bike a few times this month tops. Mountain biking has taken precedent for me now, I’m not obsessed with training now, so just riding consistently and focusing more on keeping up with faster friends and locking in some better technical skills.
My young son also just learned to ride, so that’s been another avenue for keeping things fresh. An easy recovery ride with him, we get some great time together and watching him learn has been helpful with keeping me motivated to ride, just for the sake of it. I’ve also just found a new group to ride with during the week. These guys are all just a little bit faster than me, (and seem willing to wait for me) so it’s been fun pushing myself on those days too.
Off the bike interests include music, and home maintenance projects. I also have to admit I’ve recently gotten back into playing video games, better than watching mindless tv or social media scrolling though. I can always pick up one of these activities when I really want a break. If I’m feeling like being outside sans a bicycle, I’m lucky enough to enjoy hiking and live near some amazing multi-use trails.
End of the day, if I didn’t want to ride for months at a time, I wouldn’t sweat it. Just find something else you prefer doing. For most of us, this is a healthy lifestyle thing, so hopefully you’ll rekindle the fire or find another avenue for fitness. Good luck!
Nothing to be ashamed of…many of us go through cycles where we don’t geel like riding much (or at all). Given all that happened this spring, and with the cancellation of every event, it is even more understandable.
Nothing wrong with taking a break to keep mentally fresh and enthusiastic. I used to take off almost all of November & December every year…and then start ramping back up over Xmas break. Just needed the break mentally.
Yes buddy, I’ve been there several times over the years, and it’s perfectly natural. Would be bizarre to not suffer diminishing returns - though I think for endurance athletes what likely happens is we lose that top end pleasure from the activity and maybe even forget what it feels like. We perhaps roll around on a maintenance level, where they need the activity to simply feel okay.
For me, my burn out happened because I wasn’t really enjoying where I was riding. It was pretty miserable where I lived to be honest. I was just riding to keep weight down and training for power that I didn’t even need for anything.
Solved that by moving though! Wish I’d done that years ago.
I was off the bike there for around 11 months and just started again recently - in the best place I have ever experienced for cycling and love every ride. Not much traffic, cars are friendly and seem to enjoy watching you ride and struggle up gradients! I have a variety of climbs and super long flat scenic coastal areas etc all at the doorstep and the roads are smooth.
I built a beautiful super bike too, and I love looking at it and riding it.
It’s really kickstarted my joy in cycling again. Only made possible right now due to WFH flexibility - I actually sneaked away and rented a place in the countryside to pull this off!
This for me is what the future should be like. Able to move around travel, while working and riding in beautiful locations when you want.
Bit of a tangent - but long story short, I went from feeling miserable about riding to absolutely loving it again.
Oh also, I’d also throw this in. Fitness didn’t seem to leave me as catastrophically as I thought it should. I know the theories and studies on how fast different attributes tail off and how long it should take to regain that fitness - it didn’t seem to be like that for me. It came back much, much faster than expected.
I absolutely dread house and yard work, but it wasn’t always this way.
I used to have WAY too many hobbies, many of which were mentally stimulating. Didn’t have enough time nor money to tackle them all.
Then I started a company, which I still run, and as time went on, I no longer felt the desire to seek said mental stimulation. I get plenty of that through work. Cycling is the one activity that keeps the mind occupied subconsciously, and is mostly an opportunity for me to zone out.
I’ve been riding since I was 13 (54 now) so I’ve had many ups and downs with motivation. What helps me is having goals and rides to look forward to. This can be as simple as a weekend group ride where you can test yourself against your mates week in and week out. Or, having races or centuries, or fondos on the calendar a few times a year…
This year has been tough. My group ride disbanded and then we moved states so that now I truly don’t have a group or all my usual roads that I like riding. On top of it, my kid is home every day doing virtual school.
I’ve kind of gone into maintenance mode. I jump on the trainer almost every day and do some endurance. I toss in some tempo and sweet spot intervals just to do something. I can get outside to ride on the weekend and occasionally during the week. It’s an easy 8 hours a week but I think of it as stoking the fire and keeping the endurance engine going. Plus we are going into fall/winter anyway. I can jump on structured training in the spring again if a new group ride materializes or if events happen.
I often go through periods of not wanting to be on a bike but I have been racing since 93 and a bike mechanic since 96 so I’ve no option of getting away from them.
Like others have said you just need to mix things up, take of the computer, go for a ride in shorts and tshirt etc, it soon comes back.
Had a 3.5-month period here this summer where I only went out twice over an hour and only a handful of other 4-6x 30-second maximum efforts just to not lose all fitness. Working out of town for 7-8 weeks and work still crazy when I returned: had very little desire to ride; just wanted to sleep. FTP dropped by at least 25%.
Also, I looked at my total ride time on strava from the year or so before, which made me fundamentally question how much time I and others spend on this hobby…won’t make that mistake again.
I got really burned out about two years ago in August and didn’t touch the bike again until December. Then in the middle of last year, I really started to fade with my interest in riding as well. What really restarted that fire was getting away from structure and training. Getting back to what made me enjoy the bike in the first place. The bike was a vehicle to stoke my independence and confidence. It was a way to prove to myself that I could, under my own power and will, go from Point A to Point B and back. It was way to meet new people and see new places.
So my suggestion is remind yourself why you ride your bike. Just get back to the basics and take the pressure off of riding. Ride when you feel like it rather than when the calendar says to ride. Disassociate the bike with the stressful parts of riding and associate it with the fun parts and personal goals/achievements instead. Did wonders for me this year, and I’ve been very disciplined about making sure my Sunday ride has no structure at all. It is the day I remind myself why I do the hard work: to enjoy the ride all that much more.
That happened to me 3 years ago. I sold all my bikes and wanted nothing to do with riding. I even contemplated doing CrossFit . A few months later I started seeing gravel begin to make its way on the scene and I bought the 2nd gen Diverge. I started doing more chill rides and began to feel the joy of riding again. Sure enough I was off to the races and sold the Diverge a couple of months after I bought it for a Stigmata because it felt racier. Then, I sold the Stigmata a few months after I got that for a road bike and before I knew it I was back around full circle. ( My wife was not happy about the 3 new bikes in 6mos)
Sometimes you just have to remove yourself from the sport completely and reset. Don’t listen to people who say they’ve never felt the need to not ride. Everyone is different and we all go thru ebbs and flows. It happens and it’s good for you. I’m a better cyclist now and I have a good group that I ride with.
. A few months later I started seeing gravel begin to make its way on the scene and I bought the 2nd gen Diverge. I started doing more chill rides and began to feel the joy of riding again. Sure enough I was off to the races and sold the Diverge a couple of months after I bought it for a Stigmata because it felt racier. Then, I sold the Stigmata a few months after I got that for a road bike and before I knew it I was back around full circle. ( My wife was not happy about the 3 new bikes in 6mos)