Good Morning Lynne,

I agree with NH that there are any number of reasons why you are finding yourself too tired/exhausted to get yourself on your bike even though you are mentally ready to bike.

My suggestion would be to start journaling - keep track of what you eat (including supplements and other medications), how much/when you exercise and what type of exercise you engage in (walk, bike, aerobics), what your moods are and what, if any, types of stress you are experiencing.

I know this isn't *bike related* but bear with me ... When I began to suspect that I was experiencing migraine's and was asked to keep track of not only my headache's but my moods, weather, etc. When I first went to the neurologist I said that the headaches that I suspected were migraines occured only once a month. Imagine my surprise when I started keeping track and discovered that I was experiencing three migraine's a month.

Keeping a journal might help you to see any types of patterns that correlate between your fatigue and other things going on in your life.

Over the past two years dh and I have cut out a lot of refined flour and sugars in our diet (we've been on low fat life style for about 5 years) and are staying away from a number of foods that contain the so-called bad carbs. I've discovered (again by journaling my food/moods) that orange juice and bagels will give me an instant energy burst followed quickly by hours of feeling very sluggish and sleepy. While I can use orange juice in marinade I have had to totally cut the oj out of my diet - one of my favorite week-end breakfasts was a bagel with cream cheese and orange juice. No wonder I felt lazy for the rest of the day!!

It could be that you are pushing yourself beyond your limits and not realizing it - I think you called it exercise bulimia - maybe find some quiet time for yourself to meditate? I thought the advice of getting out for a five minute ride around the block is a great idea. A real hands on reminder that cycling should be about the spiritual experience being on a bike offers and not all about putting on 40+ miles everytime you get out to ride.

If you find that the exhaustion continues and you feel the need to discuss it with your physician your journals will be very helpful to him/her.

Good luck ... having biked in the Minneapolis/St Paul area I know they have a number of wonderful in city trails.