Been in a funk I guess

[1SPD]

hey fellas!

Well, even though the bike has been working great (I will never say that it is finished) I just haven't felt like riding. I know, "What the hell is wrong with me?" But that is really the only way I can describe it.

We have had some good rains come thru our area the past couple of weeks which laded me on the spin bike in the basement at least 3-5 times. While it sucks to ride that stupid thing, I always seem to have a decent time while doing it and try to make the best of it with intervals, longer climbs (harder tension), high rpm intervals and what not.

In any case, the past couple of days that I had the chance to get out I always managed to find an excuse to not go. I don't know why or what the hell I was thinking. I tried to get out yesterday and at the 3.5 mile mark had had enough of my seat creaking that I turned around and came back home.

But after cleaning the bike up and correcting the creaking issue (seat post binder bolts) I loaded it all up in the car and plan on banging out a good ride today after dropping my daughter off at soccer practice. At the moment, I am still excited about it which is a good thing.

So, just curious if any of you guys have gone thru this crap. I thought maybe I was just over training or something but I think it was all just mental. Maybe I just have issues????

[fryed_1]

Find one of these:



And follow it. You'll find yourself wanting to ride longer and harder than ever before!


I get in funks sometimes, but since I commute by bike 25-35mi a day off and on-road, I don't have much of a choice other than to ride. If I can force myself out in the morning I usually feel better about it after the 3-4 mile mark, especially since the first 3-4mi of the day heading to work is all downhill and I don't want to turn around and climb it only to spend 2x as much time in traffic to go the same direction.

[wjphillips]

Happens to me all the time. I usually fix it by riding some new trails or participating in group rides with folks I've never ridden with.

Of course, you can always buy upgrades (instead of riding up grades). New bike sh*t always gets me excited about riding again.

[racefit]

Diversify your activities.

I ride more when weather is nice and hit gym when it's not. Both seem to compliment each other nicely and I don't get burned out on either one.

[alex_sdca]

Happens to everyone I think. Try a night ride. The same ol trails at night can put some excitement back in.

Also finding new people to ride with. See if any of the shops in your area have group rides. A shop in San Diego has a year round group ride on Tuesdays and when I get a little stale I show up and it seems to help.

[Dirty $anchez]

Take up alternate activities like Dwarf tossing to mix it up a bit.

[Schmucker]

Do some bike maintenance.

GNARLUBE How To Lube Your Chain on Vimeo

[Nubster]

Take up alternate activities like Dwarf tossing to mix it up a bit.

[Shalom]

It happens to everyone at some stage. I find it starts after a few days off the bike. The key, for me anyway, is to ride daily, even if it is only a short spin.

Good luck regaining your mojo!

[ALBM]

Nothing wrong with a few days off the bike, what's funny is when I do this then decide too go out riding, my first thought is " I ef'n love riding my bike"!

[1SPD]

Well, I went out yesterday for a lap around our local race course. I tooled out to the course from the soccer fields where my daughter was practicing and sorta used that as a warm up. But my warm up extended to about 1.5 miles into the course before I told myself to start frickn riding!

In the end, I pulled in a pretty good time for riding by myself and not having any sort of adrenaline pushing me like you would have in a race. At the same time, I could tell that I hadn't been pushing myself on the bike lately as I was getting tired. I still managed to beat my race time though so that was a good thing. Then I checked out where I stood on the loop on Strava and found that the fastest time around the loop was almost 13 minutes faster than mine! WTH??? Sorta took the wind right out of my sails for sure.

Judging by the way I felt at the end of my little loop, I realize that if I am going to race in the sport class I really need to get myself back on my training. The sport class is two laps! Funny how fast you can lose some of your fitness.

In any case it was a good ride and I enjoyed myself. I can only wonder what my time would have been had I been pushing the pace from the start of the course and not stopped 2-3 times to do a quick look at the trail map to make sure I was making the correct turns at intersections. You would think that for as much as I ride out there that I would have this course down. Yet there are still 3 turns that I tend to mess up just about every time I am out there unless I look at the stupid map board. Oh well, the course will be marked on race day so that won't be an issue.

[1SPD]

[QUOTE=fryed_1;9376607]Find one of these:



I would love to see more of these out on the trail but they seem to be somewhat rare!

[Aaron1017]

[zaskaranddriver]

Who knew one broken chain would have such a profound impact on one's riding?

These things are cyclical--it'll come back around!

[1SPD]

I know right? My new one showed up last week but sticking with Sram one until it is time to clean it up then I swap between the two. Decent ride last night around Schaeffer though.

[fryed_1]

I would love to see more of these out on the trail but they seem to be somewhat rare!

Yeah the trails here are adjacent to a mostly-female liberal arts college and the girls there use them for running and biking quite often. Early fall is the best time when the new stock comes in to town. Once or twice a week you'll find a handful of 19yr old girls out there on their huffys lost on the trails and it's always up to me to play the good guide to help them out.

[sasquatch rides a SS]

Riding with a buddy definitely makes things more exciting, especially since I ride alone nearly always. Brings new life into the same trails following/leading someone else.

[1SPD]

Yeah the trails here are adjacent to a mostly-female liberal arts college and the girls there use them for running and biking quite often. Early fall is the best time when the new stock comes in to town. Once or twice a week you'll find a handful of 19yr old girls out there on their huffys lost on the trails and it's always up to me to play the good guide to help them out.

Bastard! Nothing like that near by! I guess that is a good thing for my marriage anyway.

Sass,
I hear you, that is why I try to get out on the local group rides once a week. But I have now missed it the past two weeks. I will agree with the statement above that the funk seems to creep in after a couple of days off the bike.

I do cross train if you will though. I have a gym in my basement w/ bench, squat rack, lat tower, dumbbell rack, barbell and a bunch of plates and dumbbells as well as a spin bike. I also go to the gym if I don't feel like working out at home. But it is what it is.

It was nice getting back out there yesterday even though there were still some mud puddles to avoid. And turning in a time that was only a 1.5 minutes off my old race time isn't bad either for not really pushing the pace for the first 1.5 miles or so. Unfortunately, I can't get back out there tonight (I don't think I can anyway, though I might give it a shot). Tomorrow is looking out of the question so that leaves the Thurs. night group ride (not a night ride).

I haven't been on a night ride in a while so perhaps I will consider that for this weekend if the weather holds out.

[1SPD]

I totally agree with you. I need to just suck it up and get back out there!

[1SPD]

Good point!

[fryed_1]

Bastard! Nothing like that near by! I guess that is a good thing for my marriage anyway.

Yeah I fixed that problem years ago. And before anyone calls me a creepy old stalker, it all comes down to simple math. Two 19yr olds... One 35yr old.... 19+19=38. Technically that would make me a cougar-chaser.

[SS Hack]

Yeah the trails here are adjacent to a mostly-female liberal arts college and the girls there use them for running and biking quite often. Early fall is the best time when the new stock comes in to town. Once or twice a week you'll find a handful of 19yr old girls out there on their huffys lost on the trails and it's always up to me to play the good guide to help them out.

Hard work ...

[1SPD]

....but someone's gotta do it....

[1SPD]

Alright, I think I am over the funk. I got out again today for a short ride of 7.5 m. I won't complain though. I was given a window of time and ran with it. Basically the wife had to be somewhere and I had to get one of the girls to swim practice and attend a parent meeting. In any case, I rode my home trail (Seneca Greenway) but jumped off the main section and hit what we call the hidden trails. Unfortunately, they are getting a little grown over in some places so I am thinking I will need to go out there for a trail maintenance day here soon. My buddy was spending alot of time working on them in the early spring/late winter but has since taken a job that now has him commuting and I haven't seen him out there in a while. He is actually the one that cut the trails back in the mid 90's.

In any case, I had a good time because I still don't know the true flow of the trails which results in you not quite knowing what is coming next. You only really know the general direction you are heading. It keeps things interesting and the trails over all are in good shape since very few people ride them/know about them.

Not sure if I'll make it out tomorrow or not but am still planning on the group ride on Thursday if the weather holds out!

[honns]

I always enjoy a new trail, variety is the spice of life (or so they say).

I ride greenway a lot, if you are looking for a hand with the trail maintenance, I would be happy to pitch in.