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Lost the passion...just venting..

3K views 40 replies 33 participants last post by  Skookum 
#1 ·
I have not posted many threads here on MTBR, but have gained invaluable information over the past two and a half years....when my mountain biking story began. In the fall of 2002, my girlfriend at the time convinced me to get a bike so I purchased a new 2002 Raleigh M600 (I think it was a 600) that gave me more than one concussion. It was a real beast hardtail. Very quickly, I found out that about 10 of my friends had ridden mountain bikes in the past or wanted to start riding. The spring, summer and fall of 2003 was pretty much spent riding. I upgraded to a 2003 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ in the summer of 2003 and made many many upgrades. Sold the Raliegh at half price to a buddy so he could have an upgrade also. Riding with my group continued through the fall of 2003 and spring of 2004. Then it started happening...the group started shrinking until it was down to just me and one or two other friends...we still rode a lot and even bumped it up to night rides. In the spring of 2005 I upgraded again to a Santa Cruz Blur. Again, I sold the Fisher to the same friend at half price so he too could have another upgrade. I have put maybe 150 miles on the Santa Cruz Blur since I got it about a year ago....and none of my friends ride anymore. I rode for a while by myself, but it's just not as fun as riding with friends. All my old riding buddys have moved away, gotten married, bought a house or are expecting children. To make matters worse, it has literally rained in Houston every week for the last 3-4 months making any riding impossible. Now I find myself in a similar situation as my friends....just bought a new house and am getting married in May (both of which I am very excited about). I look at the bike and remember the good times but just can't find the time to ride. To make things worse, I have been on assigment since October working 6 days a week 50 miles from home leaving me only Sunday to get the necessities done. To make things EVEN worse...my new house is less than 1 mile from the trail head me and my friends used to ride like crazy......Can you get the passion back and even more importantly, can you get it back in others?? I spend more time during the day reading 'Passion' stories than I do riding my bike.....SUX!!! Just venting.......
 
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#2 ·
MCF said:
I have not posted many threads here on MTBR, but have gained invaluable information over the past two and a half years....when my mountain biking story began. In the fall of 2002, my girlfriend at the time convinced me to get a bike so I purchased a new 2002 Raleigh M600 (I think it was a 600) that gave me more than one concussion. It was a real beast hardtail. Very quickly, I found out that about 10 of my friends had ridden mountain bikes in the past or wanted to start riding. The spring, summer and fall of 2003 was pretty much spent riding. I upgraded to a 2003 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ in the summer of 2003 and made many many upgrades. Sold the Raliegh at half price to a buddy so he could have an upgrade also. Riding with my group continued through the fall of 2003 and spring of 2004. Then it started happening...the group started shrinking until it was down to just me and one or two other friends...we still rode a lot and even bumped it up to night rides. In the spring of 2005 I upgraded again to a Santa Cruz Blur. Again, I sold the Fisher to the same friend at half price so he too could have another upgrade. I have put maybe 150 miles on the Santa Cruz Blur since I got it about a year ago....and none of my friends ride anymore. I rode for a while by myself, but it's just not as fun as riding with friends. All my old riding buddys have moved away, gotten married, bought a house or are expecting children. To make matters worse, it has literally rained in Houston every week for the last 3-4 months making any riding impossible. Now I find myself in a similar situation as my friends....just bought a new house and am getting married in May (both of which I am very excited about). I look at the bike and remember the good times but just can't find the time to ride. To make things worse, I have been on assigment since October working 6 days a week 50 miles from home leaving me only Sunday to get the necessities done. To make things EVEN worse...my new house is less than 1 mile from the trail head me and my friends used to ride like crazy......Can you get the passion back and even more importantly, can you get it back in others?? I spend more time during the day reading 'Passion' stories than I do riding my bike.....SUX!!! Just venting.......
I've experienced a similar problem. Started mtbing in high school and then in college. I had a load of friends to ride with and that was in Bellingham, WA of all places where the trails are amazing and the Shore is 55 miles away. They all have houses, kids, spouses etc and they still have their old full rigids up on the hook in the garage covered in dust next to the jar their balls are in.
Is there a local club you could hook up with to meet some new folks? That's what I did when I moved to Seattle and I finally found a cohesive group outta the much larger one. Try putting together a ride that includes a BBQ at your place afterwards and then have the spouses/kids come for that. Offer to buy the ale??? :)
I took a college buddy riding last night who still has the passion but hasn't been living it so much. He was flailing bcz it was a very tech trail and he wasn't aware of where the sport had gone over the years. But now, he's stoked to get back into it.
Kept saying his gut was getting in the way of his pedal stroke tho'.....
 
#3 ·
Its hard to motivate rides when you don't have a few key people to ride with, but you can definitely get the passion back.

Try hooking up with local club rides to meet people who ride in your area. I end up doing this every time I move to a new place. You might even try a road club if there is no mountain club in the area - I have had good luck emailing a road club's email list serv to find some mountain riders. And if you don't mind imposing a bit, introduce yourself to people at the trailhead. I have met some really great people this way that I still keep in touch with.
 
#4 ·
Do not rely on others for your own happiness. If you want to ride - ride. If you do not want to ride alone - join a group. Either way - you alone are responsible for your own happiness. That is a great thing to learn early.
 
#5 ·
Never said I wasn't happy...

Thanks for the replies...never said I wasn't happy...in fact, I am happier than I have probably ever been....just frustrated with current work, life and weather situation preventing me from riding...if I had to make a choice, I would be happier with everything I have right now than to ever ride again...I am just frustrated my current situation prohibits me from riding. Trust me, I am the kind of person that does many things alone and actually prefer to be alone than with some 'half' friend that a see alot of people hanging out with just because they can't be alone. In fact, some of my most pleasurable moments riding were when I rode alone and got to a point on the trail and could stop and relax on the trail and imagine I am miles from civilization...even though I am only a couple blocks...it the wrecking and breaking my neck along that worries me......... but thanks for the psychology lecture....hehe... :)
 
#6 ·
MCF said:
....just frustrated with current work, life and weather situation preventing me from riding...... :)
First of all, congratulations on the choice of bike. I got min in Oct'03 and promptly put over 1300 miles on it. I live in a town where very few people ride MTB. However, through this board I found them. It was a choice to make new friends or ride alone. I'm glad I've made the new friends. They're out there. Just gotta go look for them.

Don't give up on the riding. You'll prolly end up like I did, and let 35#'s accumulate, pick up bad habits and before you know, you'll be kicking your self for not riding. Trust me, it's a pain in the ass to get back in bike shape. Besides, you paid good money for that bike, so go out and ride it. And who say's it's against the law to ride in the rain.

Sorry for the lecture.

jps
 
#7 ·
I started riding at 14 in South West Washington, near Portland. I rode several times per week, mostly alone although occasionally with friends, too. In college I didn't have time to ride much. After college I lived in Dayton, Ohio for three years. There isn't much riding there, so I rode very seldom (this was my dark time- I wasn't happy with this situation at all). Now I live on the California central coast :). Shortly after moving here I also bought a Blur (by that, I mean like 3 days after arriving, before I'd even found a place to live!). Yup- I had my priorities straight, and was chomping at the bit to start riding at least as much as I did in high school. After about 200 miles I took a hard fall and both my wrists were messed up. I couldn't ride my new uber-bike for 9 months :( At the end of the 9 months, I bought a house and moved across town. A month or so later, what do I see but a pack of four riders right in front of my house, all riding dust-covered Blurs. I was gearing up for a ride myself, so I hopped on the bike, chased them down, and we've been riding several times per week ever since (Even though these guys are almost 2x my age- they're still pretty fast though).

The point: I'm 27, I'm married, and I have a house, but I ride more than I ever have in my life now, and I made NEW riding friends. I'm continuning to make new riding friends too. I just rode with a new guy yesterday. It is a lot more fun, and a lot safer, to ride with others but I still ride alone sometimes too. Get back into it with guys who are already into it. Ride your local trail and you'll probably meet up with other riders who live nearby. Maybe your buddies will get back in to when they see how much fun your having! So, get out there and RIDE as soon as you have some more time off. Think of it this way: if the trails are too wet to ride right now, what better time to be saddeled with extra hours at work? Hopefully you'll have more time as soon as the trails dry out, and now they're right out your door. Sounds to me like you're sitting pretty comfy right now, so cheer up!

Ride on!
 
#9 ·
Take it easy & TCB

Sounds like you have a full plate at the moment.
Take it easy for now, take some time off - Take Care of Bidness &
get back into the swing as soon as the dust settles.
Check out the LBS organized rides etc.

Congrats on the future blessings.
 
#10 ·
Get involved on the Bike Mojo forum!!

You will find passion galore, and a really great gropu of riding fools. Post this post on the Austin Voodoo board, you will get a lot of great suggestions. If you can make it to a Tuesday R&I (you have to find out what this means on your own!)at Walnut Creek in Austin (I know it's far, but to find passion is invaluable), you will meet a bunch of great folks who can help you find the stoke. There is also a houston forum as well. Give it a shout, I keep my ride stoke up on the Mojo forum all the time, and I am in Idaho!.
http://www.bikemojo.com/speak/forumdisplay.php?f=14
 
#11 ·
Passion is what you make of it. I run 7/14 year cycles the past 46 years, started Skiing/road biking preteen, then XC ski/mtnbike (rigid days), then telimark/snowboard, then windsurfing,/snowboarding, then mtn biking and being a Mr Mom in my freaking 40's. Well I'm done with 7 years of diapers so now grinding 1 hour of uphill is stoke unless you ride with a rich dude that gives no photo props on nice shots like this ;)

http://www.dennis-williams.com/Images/Cabrillo Peaks 10-04/PA070021.JPG
 
#13 ·
MCF,
I to have a simlar story. I started Mt.biking in '89 and rode alot of the times with friends. Over the years the group got wittled down, some stopped riding, some moved away, some just didn't have the time. I had my first born in '90 and used to strap him to my Diamondback and take him along. I used to ride 3-4 times a week up til about 6 years ago, I had my second child and some friends convinced me that power lifting was the way to go. Funny, but the same thing happened after about 4 years and 40lbs of weight gain I found myself alone in the gym. I figured I was big enough and a 300lb. benchpress goal was met...so I stopped going to the gym. Two years later I found myself in the garage over weight and unhappy with myself looking at my Ritchey with old and broken parts hanging on the wall, while searching for parts I stumbled across this site and single speed outlaw. My passion rekindled I converted my old steed to a 1x1 and began riding.....alone. In the last month or two I can't think of anything else, I'm riding short trails (4-5 miles of singletrack) every day or two and I'm in the process of building a new XC bike on a very limited budget. Even two of my old riding buddies I work with have started to talk about going for a ride. I've found my passion again and I hope to have it for years to come. Take the time, even if its a hour, and ride a little. With a trail 1 mile for your new place(congrats by the way) you'll find what you've been missing.
 
#14 ·
The way I see it, if I never get married/have kids/buy house, I'll be fine as long as I can ride and go on epic trips once/year. But.......this may not be normal thinking. I dunno.

What sucks is that living in the city and in this climate, I have to limit the passion to reading/writing about it constantly. I may have to seriously consider living in a cardboard box in Colorado instead. It amazes me that people can ride nearly every day- that's life as it should be!

Once things settle down with your life, you'll get back into it. Might take a couple of years, but with some clever scheduling and a new group, you'll be fine.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the note!! Really hope to get at least a good 10 slow miles in tomorrow....if it doesn't rain tonight....the heck with the house!!

@dam said:
I started riding at 14 in South West Washington, near Portland. I rode several times per week, mostly alone although occasionally with friends, too. In college I didn't have time to ride much. After college I lived in Dayton, Ohio for three years. There isn't much riding there, so I rode very seldom (this was my dark time- I wasn't happy with this situation at all). Now I live on the California central coast :). Shortly after moving here I also bought a Blur (by that, I mean like 3 days after arriving, before I'd even found a place to live!). Yup- I had my priorities straight, and was chomping at the bit to start riding at least as much as I did in high school. After about 200 miles I took a hard fall and both my wrists were messed up. I couldn't ride my new uber-bike for 9 months :( At the end of the 9 months, I bought a house and moved across town. A month or so later, what do I see but a pack of four riders right in front of my house, all riding dust-covered Blurs. I was gearing up for a ride myself, so I hopped on the bike, chased them down, and we've been riding several times per week ever since (Even though these guys are almost 2x my age- they're still pretty fast though).

The point: I'm 27, I'm married, and I have a house, but I ride more than I ever have in my life now, and I made NEW riding friends. I'm continuning to make new riding friends too. I just rode with a new guy yesterday. It is a lot more fun, and a lot safer, to ride with others but I still ride alone sometimes too. Get back into it with guys who are already into it. Ride your local trail and you'll probably meet up with other riders who live nearby. Maybe your buddies will get back in to when they see how much fun your having! So, get out there and RIDE as soon as you have some more time off. Think of it this way: if the trails are too wet to ride right now, what better time to be saddeled with extra hours at work? Hopefully you'll have more time as soon as the trails dry out, and now they're right out your door. Sounds to me like you're sitting pretty comfy right now, so cheer up!

Ride on!
 
#16 ·
Thanks for all the encouraging notes....

but I hope it doesn't take a couple years....I find myself checking out 'stunts' on the side of the road as I drive to work this morning.....I hope to get it back in June when I get back from getting married and the Honeymoon and I am spending 7 days a week in the house a mile from the trailhead instead of 1 day a week now....a couple of years from now...oh god...kids...the horror...hehe.....I just want to get out and pedal....MY GOD...as I am typing this, I realized I had a dream about riding last night and I was on my bike, but I kept hitting roots (yes, our trails are very rooty in Houston) alone side of them instead of cutting them perpendicular...kept making my wheel slip out to the side....I must be going thru serious bikeing withdrawal!!!!
 
#18 ·
MCF said:
I have not posted many threads here on MTBR, but have gained invaluable information over the past two and a half years....when my mountain biking story began. In the fall of 2002, my girlfriend at the time convinced me to get a bike so I purchased a new 2002 Raleigh M600 (I think it was a 600) that gave me more than one concussion. It was a real beast hardtail. Very quickly, I found out that about 10 of my friends had ridden mountain bikes in the past or wanted to start riding. The spring, summer and fall of 2003 was pretty much spent riding. I upgraded to a 2003 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ in the summer of 2003 and made many many upgrades. Sold the Raliegh at half price to a buddy so he could have an upgrade also. Riding with my group continued through the fall of 2003 and spring of 2004. Then it started happening...the group started shrinking until it was down to just me and one or two other friends...we still rode a lot and even bumped it up to night rides. In the spring of 2005 I upgraded again to a Santa Cruz Blur. Again, I sold the Fisher to the same friend at half price so he too could have another upgrade. I have put maybe 150 miles on the Santa Cruz Blur since I got it about a year ago....and none of my friends ride anymore. I rode for a while by myself, but it's just not as fun as riding with friends. All my old riding buddys have moved away, gotten married, bought a house or are expecting children. To make matters worse, it has literally rained in Houston every week for the last 3-4 months making any riding impossible. Now I find myself in a similar situation as my friends....just bought a new house and am getting married in May (both of which I am very excited about). I look at the bike and remember the good times but just can't find the time to ride. To make things worse, I have been on assigment since October working 6 days a week 50 miles from home leaving me only Sunday to get the necessities done. To make things EVEN worse...my new house is less than 1 mile from the trail head me and my friends used to ride like crazy......Can you get the passion back and even more importantly, can you get it back in others?? I spend more time during the day reading 'Passion' stories than I do riding my bike.....SUX!!! Just venting.......
Were you getting faster than your friends? Do you think the Blur is overkill for your local trail? Don't want it to get dirty? Get back to simplicity - get a singlespeed and just ride and don't worry about the rain.
 
#19 ·
MCF said:
I have not posted many threads here on MTBR, but have gained invaluable information over the past two and a half years....when my mountain biking story began. In the fall of 2002, my girlfriend at the time convinced me to get a bike so I purchased a new 2002 Raleigh M600 (I think it was a 600) that gave me more than one concussion. It was a real beast hardtail. Very quickly, I found out that about 10 of my friends had ridden mountain bikes in the past or wanted to start riding. The spring, summer and fall of 2003 was pretty much spent riding. I upgraded to a 2003 Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ in the summer of 2003 and made many many upgrades. Sold the Raliegh at half price to a buddy so he could have an upgrade also. Riding with my group continued through the fall of 2003 and spring of 2004. Then it started happening...the group started shrinking until it was down to just me and one or two other friends...we still rode a lot and even bumped it up to night rides. In the spring of 2005 I upgraded again to a Santa Cruz Blur. Again, I sold the Fisher to the same friend at half price so he too could have another upgrade. I have put maybe 150 miles on the Santa Cruz Blur since I got it about a year ago....and none of my friends ride anymore. I rode for a while by myself, but it's just not as fun as riding with friends. All my old riding buddys have moved away, gotten married, bought a house or are expecting children. To make matters worse, it has literally rained in Houston every week for the last 3-4 months making any riding impossible. Now I find myself in a similar situation as my friends....just bought a new house and am getting married in May (both of which I am very excited about). I look at the bike and remember the good times but just can't find the time to ride. To make things worse, I have been on assigment since October working 6 days a week 50 miles from home leaving me only Sunday to get the necessities done. To make things EVEN worse...my new house is less than 1 mile from the trail head me and my friends used to ride like crazy......Can you get the passion back and even more importantly, can you get it back in others?? I spend more time during the day reading 'Passion' stories than I do riding my bike.....SUX!!! Just venting.......
You don't need passion - you need paragraphs! :D
 
#22 ·
Christine said:
The way I see it, if I never get married/have kids/buy house, I'll be fine as long as I can ride and go on epic trips once/year. But.......this may not be normal thinking. I dunno.

What sucks is that living in the city and in this climate, I have to limit the passion to reading/writing about it constantly. I may have to seriously consider living in a cardboard box in Colorado instead. It amazes me that people can ride nearly every day- that's life as it should be!

Once things settle down with your life, you'll get back into it. Might take a couple of years, but with some clever scheduling and a new group, you'll be fine.
well i am married with 2 kids and i ride more than ever, went through a spell a few years ago when i lost the passion but it came back with a vengeance...i love riding alone or with people, no matter what, i always feel better after a ride, even if i felt great before...Christine: get to Colorado if thats what you want, don't wait til its too late...i just got back from Fruita as my wife and kids were gone, as a married guy i get at least 3-5 long weekends where i can get in epic rides, sometimes the family and the camper come along..
 
#23 ·
Hey sometimes you gotta do somethings for yourself. I am a big believer in 'me time'. Of course it helps to have an understanding wife. I also love solo rides, they're the best for clearing the mind. It's ok to drop some responsibilities here and there to take care of yourself. If you don't it's possible you'll wind up regretting people or things. Who wants to be bitter.
As Rodney Dangerfield said: "you gotta look out for number one, but don't step in number two"
 
#24 ·
The Weasel said:
Hey sometimes you gotta do somethings for yourself. I am a big believer in 'me time'. Of course it helps to have an understanding wife. I also love solo rides, they're the best for clearing the mind. It's ok to drop some responsibilities here and there to take care of yourself. If you don't it's possible you'll wind up regretting people or things. Who wants to be bitter.
As Rodney Dangerfield said: "you gotta look out for number one, but don't step in number two"
i agree, but the understanding partner if huge...my wife will actually tell me to go for a ride once in a while when she can tell i need it...now thats love...on the other hand i do my best to make sure she has time to do things she needs to do as well
 
#25 ·
MCF...which trail do you live close to? Is it the Ant Hills? If so, PM me. I live about 1.5 miles away from the AH's, and my one and only riding partner is about to give up on the sport because he thinks he's too slow. I'll ride with ya.
 
#26 ·
Take it from me you can get it back.

I am basically coming off of an 8 year break during which time I bought a house had kids etc etc etc. Now I am back in the bike game full speed ahead and loving it.
All my old riding buds quit too and as a result 90% of my rides are solo. But I'm ok with that. And I am starting to meet people on the trails and make new connections.
 
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