Too Chicken To Go On Longer Rides

[tctrek]

These are all great suggestions that I have done most of. I'm still in the "too chicken to group/club ride"...yet. But, that one I am changing this season.

I broke the ice in doing my first group ride by riding at the back of the pack. I was more afraid of riding shoulder to shoulder with someone than anything else. So, I didn't mind being last... I let everyone take off ahead of me! I didn't draft anyone or join a pace line. I just rode my ride and it was great!

[SlowButSteady]

I ride a flex-loop. I can vary it from 8 miles to 22, without backtracking too much.

Sometimes I ride with a group but they LIE. They'll say, oh, we're tired, let's only go 20 miles and inevitably they tack 10 more on.

If I really needed to force myself to ride further, I'd have my husband take me off and put me out on the side of the road 30 miles from home so I have to ride back.

Come to think of it, that's how I did my first "big hill conquering" ride.

He set me out on the side of the road and I had to ride it (the big hill) in order to get home. It's like giving a horse his head on the way back to the barn.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Sometimes I ride with a group but they LIE.

Hahahahah! I remember one of the first mountain bike rides I did with the Dirt Chix led by my (now) friend Joy. It was a relentless climb- we're talking miles of steep fire roads. When we got to the top, she said, "It's all downhill from here." But we took a different route back. She lied.
I don't mind I am always that last one up the mountain. Probably 'cuz I'm one of the first down.

[MomOnBike]

Do you have someone to take you somewhere X miles away? Then you simply ride home. If you go out over the exact route it might help if you are worried about, um, "taking the scenic route" home. Take your cell phone as an electronic security blankie and you're good to go - that is, ride home.

Later, you can make the route an out-and-back or find a nice loop to add to it.

Oh, and make sure the drive out is INTO the wind. That increases the chances of a tailwind on the way home.

[ny biker]

FWIW, I have never been too tired to make it home, on any ride.

There have been plenty of times when I was exhausted and my legs hurt and my neck hurt and it was too hot and my back hurt and ...

That's when I usually realize that I haven't had a rest break in a really long time. So I take a break. Get off the bike, stretch, have a snack, have a drink, stretch some more. Find a shady spot under a tree to get a break from the sun. Have another drink of water. Take a deep breath. Again.

Then I get back on the bike and ride home.

If the distance seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller chunks. Focus on getting to the next intersection. Or the next tree or telephone pole.

Just keep pedaling. Every revolution gets you closer to home. Just keep pedaling.

You can do it.

[wackyjacky1]

It's funny, but something as simple as a rest break hadn't occurred to me. D'oh!

So I took everyone's advice and did a somewhat extended version of my regular Sunday ride. I ended up going 13.5 miles, and felt great the whole time, even while tackling some killer hills. I think I've broken through my mental barrier!

BTW for the first time I wore cycling shoes (Exustars that I bought from a fellow TE-er). I don't have cleats, but I used them with my toe clips. What a difference the shoes made -- my pedaling felt much more efficient. I'm sure they contributed to my not being very tired during my ride.

[Kano]

The morning I suggested a 50 mile ride to DH, he said, OK, plan a route.

So I did.

Then he came up with his own idea:

He planned the first 20, which was something we were pretty used to, for an area we have had lots of fun riding many times. Then he planned the other 30 with lots of "bail out" options -- where a simple right turn would take us back toward home within about 5-7 miles.

We made the whole fifty, but the thing we should have remembered was that during those first twenty, we still had thirty to go, cuz the last ten were pretty doggone hard! (we had, in fact, chosen one of the bail outs, then realized how close to making it we were, and toured around the neighborhoods on our way home until we had our fifty!)

Karen in Boise