Hitting your mojo back!

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Gee
Posts: 102
Joined: 24 Mar 2021, 10:11pm

Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Gee »

4 years I used to ride a lot, mostly 200km audax and day rides.

The I moved house and didn’t really get going again. I’ve done a bit since. Maybe a couple of thousand a year. Now here I am thinking I must get going again.

I really miss the exercise and keeping fit (ish). But! I just don’t have the desire to be out for hours on the bike. There’s no other exercise I really like, apart from the odd round of golf.

I miss being lighter, leaner, the mental well being and just generally healthier though😒😒😒
peetee
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Joined: 4 May 2010, 10:20pm
Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by peetee »

Not having the desire to ride is a classic symptom of not riding.
The less you do, the less you want to do. That’s true in most situations, not just cycling.
Start small. Look for some practical reasons to go out; an appointment, the shopping, to see a friend. Then look for somewhere local you have never been. After a few rides you will get some enthusiasm and you will want to get out just to be out.
If that doesn’t work it could be a sign of a more serious clinical issue to which you should seek medical advice.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
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RickH
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Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by RickH »

Become a tandem pilot! :D

There are folk all around the country (& beyond) who would love to cycle but no longer can for one reason or another - often deteriorating vision or balance problems.

Usually there are many more people wanting a pilot than the number of folk available.

I got teamed up with Clare (who has a deteriorating sight condition) in 2014 through British Cycling (I was a ride leader for their Skyride/Let's Ride prgramme) & nearly 8 years later we're approaching 10,000 miles ridden.
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Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
cycle tramp
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Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by cycle tramp »

Gee wrote: 23 May 2022, 5:15pm 4 years I used to ride a lot, mostly 200km audax and day rides...

The I moved house and didn’t really get going again. I’ve done a bit since....

I really miss the exercise and keeping fit (ish). But! I just don’t have the desire to be out for hours on the bike....

I miss being lighter, leaner, the mental well being and just generally healthier though😒😒😒
Don't worry about it... cycling, like art, or music or gardening or cooking or even reading is one of those activities which ebb and flows through your life at different times...
...there was a time I used to try and get in as many miles as I could, and towards the end I didn't enjoy it.
Today, before tea I cycled a couple of miles along a farmers track and then along a couple of lanes to a shop in a neighbouring village and back again. Probably less than seven miles in total...
...I enjoyed every moment, the weather conditions were right and you could see clearly to the horizon, spring is slowly turning to summer with fresh green growth everywhere and spotted with all kinds of flowers, the air was full of bird song...
...I've reached the age where emotionally I don't care what people think of me, I am slow, if I'm lucky I've got enough fitness to cycle 40 miles in a day.. but i will need breaks.. what I find I'm doing more is simply fitting cycling into my life when and as its convenient for me to do so, and not putting myself under any stress to reach this mileage or that top speed or cover that distance in that time..
..I'm cycling to the shops, I'm cycling to see my friends and family.. and I am loving it :-)
It's time to go :-)
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Jamesh »

Set yourself a target perhaps a city or town a distance off.
Ride there and have a coffee / lunch and ride home.

Incorporate cycling into your necessary travel. I needed to visit a freind in hospital in Nelson 25miles each way. Rather than waste a afternoon I took the bike.

Go with freinds, when you don't feel like going out joining a freind makes it more enjoyable.

Give yourself a goal perhaps a century in a month's time then you'll feel the need to train. If you don't aim at something then you won't hit it!
roberts8
Posts: 547
Joined: 20 May 2011, 9:14pm
Location: Surrey

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by roberts8 »

I know the feeling.
My idea is to go shopping, combining cycling with sketching and painting. I have also booked 3 days in France to watch the Tour so have reason to get a few miles in. The slow cycling movement is one I intend to adopt as it seems to remove the need to get overstressed about the miles I get in and accept I am getting older and slower.
nomm
Posts: 414
Joined: 13 Oct 2015, 8:39pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by nomm »

Gee wrote: 23 May 2022, 5:15pm 4 years I used to ride a lot, mostly 200km audax and day rides.

The I moved house and didn’t really get going again. I’ve done a bit since. Maybe a couple of thousand a year. Now here I am thinking I must get going again.

I really miss the exercise and keeping fit (ish). But! I just don’t have the desire to be out for hours on the bike. There’s no other exercise I really like, apart from the odd round of golf.

I miss being lighter, leaner, the mental well being and just generally healthier though😒😒😒
I feel your woes...!

Only last October I was enjoying the 100+km jaunts into the countryside and planned all my free time off around more...

Alas, several sudden health issues, 2 house moves, work/life/parenting stress appears to have thrown a massive spanner in the front wheel

I am lucky enough to enjoy commuting/shopping/child lugging by bike so this seems to be keeping the need at bay for now... I must also get going again
Nearholmer
Posts: 3898
Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Nearholmer »

Maybe it’s because you see a bike as an exercise machine, rather than a machine for taking you places.

Where do you fancy going?
Mike_Ayling
Posts: 385
Joined: 25 Sep 2017, 3:02am
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Mike_Ayling »

RickH wrote: 23 May 2022, 7:08pm Become a tandem pilot! :D

There are folk all around the country (& beyond) who would love to cycle but no longer can for one reason or another - often deteriorating vision or balance problems.

Usually there are many more people wanting a pilot than the number of folk available.

I got teamed up with Clare (who has a deteriorating sight condition) in 2014 through British Cycling (I was a ride leader for their Skyride/Let's Ride prgramme) & nearly 8 years later we're approaching 10,000 miles ridden.
P5070096.JPG
I volunteered with Vision Australia tandem programme and linked up with Dave who had his own tandem and rode with him for a number of years until he decided to move elsewhere
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Jamesh »

Try running?

Parkruns, trail runs, etc.

Running is a higher intensity exercise than cycling.

So a 26 mile run is equivalent to a century ride tbh.

But it also makes you want to get on the bike as it's far more boring! You see so much more from a bike.

Obvs joints or other illness permitting!
gbnz
Posts: 2552
Joined: 13 Sep 2008, 10:38am

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by gbnz »

If you want to cycle, get on the bike. It's straightforward enough.

Suppose I only had 55.81 miles yesterday,
deeferdonk
Posts: 166
Joined: 11 May 2019, 2:50pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by deeferdonk »

Jamesh wrote: 27 May 2022, 7:03am
So a 26 mile run is equivalent to a century ride tbh.
Having done both - riding a century is allot easier than running a marathon!
Tim Holman
Posts: 132
Joined: 1 Aug 2020, 9:51am

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Tim Holman »

I know the feeling too. It goes through cycles (!) with me but I'm always back after a very short while. The key phrase for me is written in my notebook:
"Cycling for pleasure and purpose"
I guess it's self evident but those two principles help to keep me going. Heart condition, getting older, slower and diverted but cycling is the thing that I've done since I was a boy and which keeps me fit, healthy, cheerful, out there and with my chin up. Pleasure on the bike speaks for itself and for me there is often as not a purpose tagged on: library, pharmacy, shop, bank, wildlife, history and so on. How lucky are we cyclists to be able to see a different view every day even on the same ribbon of tarmac or track?
Keep on pedalling, going strong,
Tim
Jamesh
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Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by Jamesh »

deeferdonk wrote: 27 May 2022, 12:34pm
Jamesh wrote: 27 May 2022, 7:03am
So a 26 mile run is equivalent to a century ride tbh.
Having done both - riding a century is allot easier than running a marathon!
I live in Yorkshire!!
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foxyrider
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Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 10:25am
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Hitting your mojo back!

Post by foxyrider »

Jamesh wrote: 27 May 2022, 6:10pm
deeferdonk wrote: 27 May 2022, 12:34pm
Jamesh wrote: 27 May 2022, 7:03am
So a 26 mile run is equivalent to a century ride tbh.
Having done both - riding a century is allot easier than running a marathon!
I live in Yorkshire!!
your point?
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
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