After A Tour ... Lacking Motivation to Go Out Cycling

[Psamathe]

Having recently completed my 1st tour lasting a couple of months I now find myself totally de-motivated to go out cycling. On the tour I cycled most days (only had 3 rest days) and loved it; got home and for the next week left everything packed up and I was continually thinking I might clip the panniers back on and within the hour I'd be back off to France ... Mornings were the high risk times 'cos that would give me time to make the overnight ferry.

But in the 3 weeks since getting back I've been out on the bike only once and it was really dull and boring. Knowing exactly what was round every bend, knowing exactly how many miles to go from any point on the ride, knowing exactly where I'd finish the ride, etc.. There was no excitement and it was all just "going through the motions" as exciting as one of those bikes they bolt to the floor in the expensive gym's.

On my tour I was averaging 40+ miles a day, plus shopping trips, camping effort, etc. and I still had loads of energy. 30 mile ride at home and I'm just tired and getting round the circular route is just a effort.

Do others feel like this after touring somewhere new? If so, how to inject a bit of interest into cycling in an area you know really well?

Ian

[meic]

I recognise the problem and dont know the answer.

[Cyril Haearn]

Go early or late when the light is different, observe weather, animals, birds closely

See the thread about keeping ones brain going in retirement? Or the ones about churches, OS benchmarks, read more, join an organisation, do more walking

The Bible says, there is a time for this and a that, I cycled less now than before but still have the memories, hope I can cycle more again later but not today, +30°C, very bright

[Psamathe]

Go early or late when the light is different, observe weather, animals, birds closely

See the thread about keeping ones brain going in retirement? Or the ones about churches, OS benchmarks, read more, join an organisation, do more walking

The Bible says, there is a time for this and a that, I cycled less now than before but still have the memories, hope I can cycle more again later but not today, +30°C, very bright :(

Not bored with life - I've plenty to do and no depression (busy planning next of my travels which may happen between next week and never). It's just I'm totally demotivated to go out cycling.

Ian

[mnichols]

I've just finished my 20th tour (on Saturday) and I usually feel like that when I come back, but I don't worry about. In fact I look forward to it.

I read a good book about why sports have seasons and why we need them. Basically it said that if your sport doesn't have a season then make one, and do something different for a while.

I've been training hard and touring since January with very little time off the bike. So, I'll do something different for a while. For me it will be Mountain Biking, Gym and Walking.

Over winter I'll set some goals in the gym, and just cycle when I feel like it. Over winter I'll start planning next year's trip, and then I'll start increasing my cycle training in Spring.

Works for me

[horizon]

It's just I'm totally demotivated to go out cycling.

Ian

It may depend on what motivated you to tour and that might not have been (indeed almost certainly wasn't) just the cycling. In my profile I say the cycling I like involves four panniers. You don't need that for a ride around the park.

Incidentally, even if it's actually the cycling that you enjoy, you still need the motivation and that could well be a challenge or whatever. Apart from that you've probably still got a buzz from the trip - it wouldn't be the first time that such an adventure has been described as a drug.

[Psamathe]

It's just I'm totally demotivated to go out cycling.

Ian

It may depend on what motivated you to tour and that might not have been (indeed almost certainly wasn't) just the cycling. In my profile I say the cycling I like involves four panniers. You don't need that for a ride around the park.

Incidentally, even if it's actually the cycling that you enjoy, you still need the motivation and that could well be a challenge or whatever. Apart from that you've probably still got a buzz from the trip - it wouldn't be the first time that such an adventure has been described as a drug.

You are right in that it was not just the cycling. My average daily distance was only 40'something miles a day. I didn't have any specific aims, no "destination", no duration. Every evening I'd decide where to go the next day. It was 4 panniers with a tent. I enjoyed the cycling, I enjoyed the looking round villages, towns & cities I camped in. I enjoyed choosing somewhere to eat or visits to the supermarket. I enjoyed not knowing if I'd be at a great place or a complete dump that night, etc., etc. I think it was a sum of everything I enjoyed and without aims/durations/limits/constraints I could make it exactly what I wanted without even thinking (and adapt "what I wanted" over time).

Ian

[bogmyrtle]

Get another tour planned. Motivation sorted.

[foxyrider]

I feel demotivated and out of sorts after any break away from home. Indeed I just got back from a road trip last weekend, I would happily have caught the next ferry out to return to the euphoric feeling of visiting new places in furren lands.

My cure is to go for a ride on those familiar roads asap but with no real destination in mind, on Saturday I ended up doing a loop out and over Mam Nick - by the time I got back the angst and post trip depression was much less. I also find writing about or relating the trip to others to renew my enthusiasm.

[nirakaro]

I find exactly the same thing, and my solution is very simple – I just don't cycle very much when I'm not on tour. Most years I'll do a tour of about six weeks, maybe 1500 miles or so; rest of the time me and herself will pootle off to a pub ten miles away for lunch, or something similar, once in a while, or maybe I'll do the occasional night or two away with a tent. The great majority of my year's mileage is on a big tour on the continent, so much so that I often feel a bit strange riding on the left.

[tatanab]

I too suffer with post tour apathy. It lasts anything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. I simply cannot be bothered to go for a ride without having a purpose. Most of my tours are up to 4 weeks with about 60 miles a day average.

[mnichols]

Seems fairly common. Ive often wondered if touring every day and then stopping puts your hormones out of whack

[Psamathe]

Seems fairly common. Ive often wondered if touring every day and then stopping puts your hormones out of whack

That is interesting as a few days after getting home I went through a stage where I had no energy, completely exhausted. I wondered if I was not sleeping well (late to bed, early up) but I was not sleepy tired, just no energy, no strength in muscles. I wondered if I was catching some bug but never got ill as such.

Ian

[mnichols]

Seems fairly common. Ive often wondered if touring every day and then stopping puts your hormones out of whack

That is interesting as a few days after getting home I went through a stage where I had no energy, completely exhausted. I wondered if I was not sleeping well (late to bed, early up) but I was not sleepy tired, just no energy, no strength in muscles. I wondered if I was catching some bug but never got ill as such.

Ian

That's pretty much how I feel, but it's how I always feel, so I expect it, ride it out and know it will pass. I don't even mind it anymore. It's just part of it, like the chill on a descent when you've climbed a mountain.....time to enjoy the view, there's another hill on the horizon

[aflook]

Know that feeling! One thing that encourages me to go out for day rides after a tour is that without all the camping gear, familiar hills feel a lot easier and I enjoy them more.