Hey superwomen...

[limewave]

Fortunately, I don't have a social life to contend with--but I do have a 1-year old, work full-time, and a husband who runs his own business working 12 hour days, 6 days a week.

Early morning riding is my answer. The pooper, until recently, has been too little to tag-a-long with me and I didn't have the heart to leave her with a babysitter every night after day-care so I could ride. So I get up early while the family is sleeping, strap on lights, and head out for a 20 mile ride. One night a week my parents would watch her so I could go on a group ride with some friends.

Saturday I spend all day with the pooper. And Sunday, once again, I get up at 5 AM to ride before church. If DH can spare the time on Sunday, we'll get a babysitter so we can ride together in the afternoons :-)

The house is neat, but not spotless. The yard is, you know, mowed once in a while. The laundry gets done when it gets done. And there's nothing like stouffer's lasagna, chicken quesadillas, and soup for dinner because who has time to cook? Especially when I never know when DH will be home . . .

[GLC1968]

I have no social life.

I bike to work when I can (around my crazy work schedule) which is almost 30 miles round trip.

My husband and I prefer to ride on the weekends over any other activity.

We don't have kids.

Otherwise, I don't think I'd be getting in the miles...certainly not during the winter months anyway.

[Fredwina]

I'll argee with everyone else here: it's abouit choices and finding time
I work 9 hours days , and it's an hour one way to work(30 miles). where i'm at is very rough area, so bike commutting is out of the question. to do a weekday ride, I get up at 4:30 am
weekend, most of friends are bicyclists, I can usually get a metric century in before noon on saturday. I have been to show up at church in lyrca. I do get every other friday off, and I'm single w/o kids. it also helps that family is about 2,000 miles away for now.

[bikerchick68]

I'm single with no kids as well... but I DO have family nearby. Last year I rode. And rode... and rode. I logged a bunch of miles and rode 7 centuries. This year I had the goal of doing a century a month... completed Jan and Feb and then my mom had a very serious fall down a flight of stairs at her house. That ended riding for a while as it resulted in hospital time and an extensive recovery at my home... got back on the bike and had some medical stuff of my own... including 2 surgeries to fix the problem. That resulted in more time off the bike. I am about 13 miles away as of this weekend of breaking 1000 miles for the year. Last year I had done 1000 by March.

For me, I totally had to evaluate my priorities this year. I love to ride, but I can't pressure myself to do it when I am not able to, or I end up resenting it.

So, during the down time this year, I spent more time working on my home, and gardens (another huge hobby is gardening) and went dancing a bit more... (my third time consuming hobby! LOL)

who knows what next year will bring... my mom is having another surgery in 2 weeks and it's pretty major but will hopefully resolve the prob that's making her fall. So for now, I ride when I can and have no "goals" regarding it... I'm just riding for the sheer, unadulterated joy of riding. Maybe next year will hold a century a month... and maybe not. I've had to realize that I can't compare last year with this year or the next. I'll ride as much as I can and if I'm lucky... it'll be lots.

[mimitabby]

My husband is being nominated for "social director" of his bike club.
They have "events" almost EVERY weekend. That means any other aspect of our life will take second place if it is his responsibility to setup these events.
I am really nervous about it and he called it "my resentment"

Balance? balance? yes, i hope we can find it.

[maillotpois]

Priorities! It is tough to balance everything. I work 40 hours a week (at least) and have a kid and husband that I enjoy spending time with. When I am riding, I generally log at least 100 miles a week, and I follow these handy tips:

We only fold laundry when the piles are so high OSHA would require them to be shored for worker safety.

During the week, I will get up at 5 to do a spin class/stationary trainer workout before the kid gets up at 6:30 to get ready for school. It's rare that I have time to ride outdoors. If I can sneak it in (a court appearance ended early or whatever), then I will. I also volunteer at school, so that may take time that I would be riding, but it's worth it.

On weekends, I ride between 7 am - 1 or 2 pm, leaving the afternoon open for friends, kid soccer, whatever. DH rides also, so we have to alternate our rides, generally. It's not uncommon for me to only be able to ride 1 day of the weekend.

We eat a lot of non-creative dinners (pasta every way imaginable) and I am trying to put the crock pot to better use.

I pretty much only have friends who ride.

I'm usually asleep by 10 pm.

[BeeLady]

Mimi - best place to find balance is on a bike!

[RoadRaven]

Balance, yes... but very very difficult.

I have five children... four teenagers (as of Sunday - number four turned 13) and an 11 year old...
I have a 40 hour job half and hours drive from home...
I also do extramural study...

So... to "fit it in" I;
- hop on the spin bike first thing in the morning for 30-60 minutes before i wake the kids up
- try and bring some work home during the week occasionally so I get home early and can ride on the road after work
- when the teenagers have a day off school, I commute (as I don't have to get them and their gear to school in town)
- when my partner has a day in town, I bike to work and he takes the kids to school, does his town stuff then gets his bike outta the boot and bikes home to meet the younger kids and i pop my bike in the boot to bring myself and teens home
- I ride both days every weekend, either on spin bike or on road, depending on weather and "baby-sitting" for the youngest 1 -2 (sometimes the now-13 year old will go for a ride with us too and my 18 year old who no longer rides will watch over 11 year old)

Its def a juggling act, but I rarely get in the distances per week that some of the women here do and I just wish I could.
I am looking forward to riding more often in a fortnight when the oldest two have exams and no longer need to be taken to school in the car - I will commute 5 days if I can, and on nice afternoons will take "the long way" home.

Just persevere and be patient - as your children get older its gets easier and easier to have more "me" time on the bike. That was one of the biggest learning curves for me... going for a ride for an hour by myself, or with others even, is not selfish and does not mean I am a "bad" mother (I still suffer from "the guilts" occasionally for working full-time!)

[SadieKate]

Our social life with non-riding friends and family is organized around optimum ride hours. In hot weather the riding is early but not so in the winter so it may mean an early breakfast together. I usually have one big ride on the weekend, most usually Saturday, so that allows more flexibility on Sunday. We'll limit the number of activities done during the optimum ride hours to maybe one a month. Friends and family have to tolerate this because if they don't I am more than willing to give them a response of "wasn't it just last week that you didn't want to do X because you wanted to watch the [insert pro sports team name here] game?" and then we have the silent internal (nor not so silent) discussions of couch-spudness.

I think one of the biggest challenges for all of us is learning to say to others that riding (i.e., exercise) is not a frivolity or an option. It is critical to our health and happiness, now and for the future. Learning to say no to others or find a more mutually agreeable time without feeling guilt about placing your ride time high on your priorities list is so very difficult but absolutely necessary.

[Cassandra_Cain]

It is all a matter of choices, as several folks have commented.

In my case, it is even simpler...

No kids, no bf, gf, or whatever - I come and go at my whim.

There's plenty of time to ride

[Geonz]

I ride to work. Having a base of 75 miles a week is a bit of a head start, both in plain ol' numbers and fitness.

Yes, it's reasonably easy to do that here - but it it ieasier than most people *think* in many places.

[bikerHen]

Yep! For me, It's all about the commuting miles. I kill two birds with on stone. I have to get to work, I need to ride my bike! Three quarters of my 3500 miles to date are commuting miles. I live only 3 miles from work but I have routes that give me up to 20 miles a day. Although I do feel like the village idoit as I wander around the northside of town.

I also have a very understanding husband who has picked up some of the slack at home and understands the concept of "the lived in look" of home decor. My daughter, who is 21, is old enough to look after herself and now that she has a steady boyfriend (who likes to MTB) she is rarely home.

With winters approach I will spend more quality time with my MP3 player and indoor trainer. Cold, yes. Rain, yes. Ice and snow, no!

It has taken me two and a half year to make excerise a priorty in my life. Thankfully, my family understand that. Even if they do, on occasion, question my sanity. bikerHen

[MomOnBike]

I've kind of slacked off right now because Life has thrown me a curve or two, but generally:

1) Sometimes it's a choice of get out of the house or go 'round the bend. So I "ride around the block." (Block is defined very generously.)

2) DH & I go on dates on our bikes - mostly because we feel we can "afford" the dessert calories when we do.

3) Small errands are done on the bike. "Small" being defined in this case as under 10 miles and/or 10 pounds total, more or less.

4) Commuting is an easy way to watch miles add up.

5) Take the scenic route home from all the above.

Hey, it works for me.

[limewave]

I have been to show up at church in lyrca.

We have too! It's a 20 mile ride to our church. We get in a nice ride, have church, go out for a nice breakfast and ride home. But, I'm always careful to wear my best lycra and smelliest-free jersey.

[CycleChic06]

Holy crap, I thought I was busy. But after reading about everyone else's crazy schedules makes me feel like I have been slacking. I work 40 hours a week, am getting my masters part time and play in a wind ensemble once a week on top of other gigs I play on weekends here and there. I find that if I don't find time to exercise and release all my tension then I go crazy. Now that its dark so early I'm not riding afterwork anymore. I usually end up at the gym in spinning classes right after work on the two free days I have during the week and I've been trying to motivate myself to go for a ride on the weekends but it's just sooo cold, and I need to have some sort of social life, so it doesn't always happen.

It's about sacrificing and prioritizing. If you make exercising a priority then you'll make time do it.