Does anyone JUST ride for fun (and some exercise)?

[MyLitespeed]

I'm not competitive and don't want to be (I'm to old). I just enjoy getting on my bike and riding 25 - 30 miles around where I live.

About once a week I will get together with some friends and we will cycle somewhere (about the same mileage).

Sometimes I'm really hard on myself because I'm not competitive and can't (even if I wanted to), keep up with most riders. I find I'm in sort of a "no man's land" when it comes to cycling.

I can out climb some people but certainly can't keep up a fast pace with most people. I don't want to ride with people who are REALLY slow 8 - 9 mph and only ride for 5 miles. That leaves me with very few options when it comes to riding partners.

The ladies I do ride with are very tolerant of my slowness and will wait up for me at certain points in the ride. My average speed is usually around 11 mph. I find myself riding alone more and more, which most of the time I don't mind.

I try and remember that I should just tell myself "are you having a good time?"

[Karma007]

I ride quite a bit, just for fun. While I'm not overly competitive, I do enjoy pushing the limits sometimes of what I think I can do, if I'm feeling up to it. Other times I put on my cutoffs and converse sneakers,and cruise downtown for lunch, or something like that. I feel each kind of ride fits a need. I enjoy group riding, but haven't done much of it lately, it can be tricky to coordinate some times.

[Biciclista]

me, me, me.
I was talking to a coworker who also commutes to work and he was telling me how when he rides he always keeps his heart above a certain rate. Boy, that didn't sound fun to me at all!

There are lots of older people who ARE really competitive, but i'm not one of them. I like to ride and I do it for exercise. and you know, after you start bike commuting, it starts feeling like a hassle to get into your car instead of riding your bike!

[Kalidurga]

This was my problem last year. I read too many articles, and too many posts here , about training, speed, cadence, you name it. I began getting way too serious about my riding and didn't enjoy it enough. I haven't been on the bike since October, but I'm getting ready to do my annual Spring Cleaning of the bike in preparation for warm weather. One thing I'm going to do in order to get back into the right mind set--- remove my computer. It might drive me crazy to not know my speed and distance, but I'm gonna give it a try.

This is what inspired me:

[ny biker]

I ride for fun.

I average 13-16 mph depending on the hilliness of the route. I am ridiculously slow going up hills. If I'm riding with a group, I'm still usually riding alone for the most part, with the faster riders dropping me and hopefully at least one person back behind me somewhere. I stopped worrying about getting dropped a long time ago.

I do keep track of things like how far I've gone, average speed, cadence, etc., but that's mostly because I'm a geek and I like to keep track of things. I set certain goals, like finishing a ride with a certain average speed or within a certain time, but they're based on my own abilities, not anyone else's.

[redrhodie]

I've been working towards the goal of riding for life, too! Thanks so much for posting that article! I'm already doing almost everything on it. I got similar advice from a book I read a few months ago, I think it was called "Cycling Bliss".

My riding buddy is getting too fast for me. I told her today she's going to have to make our rides together her easy rides. They'll still be my hard rides, I'm sure!

So, you're not alone. Keep having a good time!

[Fredwina]

I'm usally on that side. Actually more so since my accident.

[Red Rock]

I ride for fun all of the time. There are a variety of cycling groups here in town, but I never get around to "meeting up" with them for one reason or another. So when I ride it is for my enjoyment only. I am also putting my toes in the water for bike communting around my town here too.

I have always been competive, so there are some hangovers for me on that one. I like to go fast (for me that is 10+ mph) on flat ground and whatever I can muster on the hills/mountains around here. I have a computer that gave me speed and distance and that was all I was intrested in. I did not know they even exisited until four or five years ago when my younger brother was talkling about them. All other rides as a child/teenager/college student, I had none of that technology. Everything else took away the fun for me. The scientist in me would like to know my cadence, but I have not figured that one out yet.

I like to see the view, the people sitting in their cars talking on the phone in traffic waiting for lights to change, all the time while I am happily spinning on my bike going to wherever I need at the time. Its like I am in my own world of happiness and no stress.

Learn what you can from all of the knowledgable folks here on the site but always go out and have a great ride. Remember there is never a bad time to ride.

Red Rock

[Miranda]

One thing I'm going to do in order to get back into the right mind set--- remove my computer.

My bike computer wasn't working exactly right at the same time I started riding post some surgery recovery. Quite out of shape. It was so depressing thinking about where I was before, and what I could do upon return. So, I just ditched all of my tech toys. Computer, Polar HRM... went 'back to basics' as they say. I suddenly was no longer depressed. I just knew that if was sweating, pedaling out my best effort, and still got a fly by view of the cute baby goats on my favorite route... bike life was good. Being clean bar can be a really liberating thing.

[gingerale]

F&F rider...that's me! Fun and fitness, that is. I have participated in a few organized rides that I enjoyed and look forward to doing some more. But I'm not a member of any cycling group. I go out on my own...or when my parents come to visit (or I go there) then my dad and I ride together. My mom joins us, too, when they're here and my boys are in school. I enjoy riding at my own pace, pushing myself where I want or need to, and just enjoy being outdoors and getting in some exercise.

[wackyjacky1]

+1 for Fitness and Fun!

I am slow on a bike. I always have been (even when I was young and in good shape) and I suspect I always will be. My goals are to gain fitness and to increase distance. I'll never break any speed records.

[Over50Newbie]

My Litespeed,

Where do you live? You sound like you are just my type of rider!!!

I live in Connecticut. If you are nearby, I would love to ride with you sometime. Even your speed and average riding distances are about the same as mine.

I only ride for fun. My philosophy is that if it is not fun, why do it?

Luckily, I have a very good friend who feels the same way I do. We ride together all the time and have an absolute ball. We stop to smell the roses, look at all of the scenery, and just appreciate being outdoors and being healthy enough to exercise. My wish for you is that you find someone with the same mindset as you to ride with.

So have fun, and keep on doing what you are doing.

Lynette

[celerystalksme]

i ride to crush souls

j/k!

usually, i just ride for fun...just to get out and be on the bike. i'll go at a very leisurely 10-15mph. and maybe start mashing to go fast just for a sec to feel the air rush past me.

but i do enjoy 'training' too...so sometimes i'll make myself a workout schedule and do intervals every day or every other day or whatever.

i just like bikes...

[tulip]

I ride for fun. I don't care how fast I go. At the end of a ride, my computer usually reads between 13 and 14 mph, sometimes slower if there are hills. I used to ride to work, and then I had a timeline and would average 15 or so even with stoplights. But now I work from home and my rides are more relaxed. I like the scenery.

[tzvia]

Yep for fun and fitness! When nothing else worked, all those fitness DVD's and funky hardware (had that big ball thingie, the waist twisty thingie and all kinds of 'slim in 6' DVDs) and nothing takes weight and inches off faster than my bikes! And I get to be outside and take them on vacations too. Lost about 30lbs since last July without 'dieting' (evil word it is). Twenty more to go and I will weigh what I weighed 25 years ago! I now weigh what I weighed 10 years ago and smile while I do it! It's like a way-back machine (weigh-back?). . In Novenber I turn 50, and I look better than I did when I turned 40 (feel better too)!