I just want to love to ride again.

[HappyTexasMom]

BTW I love the term "Slow Riding". Doesn't hurt that it makes me feel better.

I do want to get fit, so I don't want all of my rides to be too slow, but I figure if I can ride 50 or more miles, not matter what the pace, I'll be ahead of where I'm at now.

I'm also a budding photographer, so this style of cycling melds perfectly with it. Now to move my butt somewhere that has scenery that I enjoy more (OregonOregonOregonOregon).

[HermitGirl]

BTW I love the term "Slow Riding". Doesn't hurt that it makes me feel better.

I do want to get fit, so I don't want all of my rides to be too slow, but I figure if I can ride 50 or more miles, not matter what the pace, I'll be ahead of where I'm at now.

I'm also a budding photographer, so this style of cycling melds perfectly with it. Now to move my butt somewhere that has scenery that I enjoy more (OregonOregonOregonOregon).

SlowRiding is a mentality, an attitude.... not an actual pace. It's all relative to the clutter keeping one agitated too much, not enjoying turning the crank.... or stopping to take photographs!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I suggest you get on your bike in plain old street clothes (with helmet though) and just go ride to have a cappuchino somewhere pleasant. Then ride home.
Think about making your bike a natural part of your everyday lifestyle instead of having biking be a big competition where every ride requires complicated preparations, special gear, and unpleasant emotions for you.
Sounds like you need to re-connect with your inner bicycle child.

[HermitGirl]

I suggest you get on your bike in plain old street clothes (with helmet though) and just go ride to have a cappuchino somewhere pleasant. Then ride home.
Think about making your bike a natural part of your everyday lifestyle instead of having biking be a big competition where every ride requires complicated preparations, special gear, and unpleasant emotions for you.
Sounds like you need to re-connect with your inner bicycle child.

I agree about the cappucchino and riding in street clothes. I don't fit into hardly *any* of my old riding clothes anyway. THe other day I just picked up my trail bike and started riding from my door up the ridge road, in my pants and t-shirt... it was thoroughly liberating to not have to GEAR UP for a ride. Thoroughly. Since driving to ride is not my forte, or philosophy, I think I will have to make that cappuccino with my campstove packed in panniers, at a nice turnout with a view of the valley, as I live on top of a mtn at around 2000 ft, ten miles from town. To ride into town to get to the fancy cafes is indeed an epic ride for me at this time (Zen, I did say "epic" _

I do definitely need to reconnect with my inner bicycle child, and not cringe at the thought of the old club riders passing me on the road (I live on a very popular mtn road-riding loop) .. barely recognising me, and then making me feel exphixiated in my own shame of not riding with them any longer .... whatEVER !!!! I think there's a degree of left over paranoia that just makes no sense any longer. Thanks.

[HermitGirl]

Bleeker St Girl ~ I am getting slammed with coincidences right and left.... I quickly viewed your profile ... I own a mtn dulcimer, but hardly know how to play it, and was thinking just the other day how I must change that !

Weird !!! , but ina cool kind of way

[Biciclista]

check out her dulcimer blog she will help you with that too!

[Crankin]

I can totally relate to you, on 2 levels. First, the same thing happened to me with aerobics. I loved it, participated for 6 years, and then I became an instructor. For the next 10 years I taught at various places, in 2 states. I began to hate it. I was 15 pounds underweight and obsessed with being skinny. Problem was, I was comparing myself to other instructors who were 20 years old. I went from being in my early 30's to early 40's during this time. Also, I am not a dancer and not much into music, so the technical part was WORK for me. I quit when I decided I wanted to be a consumer of the services! But, I didn't go much, got lazy and got fat.
So, my son started racing and my husband started riding. After a couple of years, my husband bought me some cycling shorts and a jersey and put me on an old mountain bike. I could barely breathe, and I thought I was in shape! My riding improved steadily; I never wanted to be competitive, but I knew I was better than the "slow" riders. I got certified as a trip leader and started leading trips for AMC and was on the bike committee. Guess what? I started resenting cycling! Then, 2 years ago, I got sick, with stuff no one has ever figured out. One of the things that resulted was I couldn't ride as fast. So, last year I did a few things to make me want to keep going.
I got a flat bar road bike I use for "smell the roses" rides, errands, destination rides, in addition to my carbon road bike. I took myself off of Bike Journal. I stopped using my HR monitor. I rarely look at my average, just miles.
Last season I rode the same amount of miles as the year before, but much slower. I also did more hiking, walking, yoga, xc country skiing, and snow shoeing. This winter, I started running. I *know* I am a slow runner, and it's just for fitness. I will never run in a race...
Guess what? In the last 2 weeks, I realized that my fitness level is back to where it was and so is my speed. But, I don't care. I mostly ride with others who are like me, or if they are faster, are not fanatic. So while most of my life revolves around cycling and other sports, it's on a healthy level. I even quit my gym membership, for the first time since I was 26 years old (I am 55), because I can do everything I need to at home or outside.
I think moderation is the key. The point is to keep doing this until you fall over and croak!

[HappyTexasMom]

SlowRiding is a mentality, an attitude.... not an actual pace. It's all relative to the clutter keeping one agitated too much, not enjoying turning the crank.... or stopping to take photographs!

Well, I wasn't really taking it literally, although I see that it sounded like I was. I just meant that for some of the things I'd like to do, I'm not going to be able to take too much of a smell the roses approach, or I just won't be able to get them done. That said, I think it still fits in with doing what I want to do to enjoy my riding..

[Lakerider]

I ride alone most times. My favorite places to rides are near lakes & rivers. Just enjoying the nature around me is so calming. I do keep track of my miles but I'm not in compitition with anyone except maybe myself, improving my indurance. I hope that you can find your joy in riding again soon!

[HappyTexasMom]

Btw I'd love to come ride with you on your mountain (my ideal environment)...in a very non-competitive way, of course. You'd probably have to drop me, because I'd be stopping every 30 seconds to take pictures.

[lph]

This is a great thread. I happen to love riding fast, and am at my most competitive (which isn't very) on a bike, but your thoughts on being a Slow Rider are just the way I feel about kayak paddling at the moment. I know plenty of people who paddle fast, are technically very experienced and can teach me a lot... but I don't want to. I adore sliding silently through the water close to shore, suddenly realizing I can see pale rocks on the bottom glowing through clear water, noticing the amazing colour of those flowers growing right down by the edge, trying to capture the reflection with my camera before my waves disturb it, watching a scruffy gull chick eeping with a beady-eyed parent bird watching me. I like being a Slow Paddler, and have no desire to speed up and lose all this. I don't paddle as much as I just slide around in a kayak, seeing things I would never see otherwise.

So my only tip would be bring a camera, a thermos flask of coffee and some cookies, and go out for a ride to take pictures and drink coffee someplace completely new, with the bike just as a means to get there.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Great post, LPH! I love to kayak-glide too, and contemplate the rocks under the surface and the reeds growing on the shore.
My favorite kayak moment was paddling out to the middle of a mirror-still Adirondack lake years ago during a very difficult time in my life. I paddled out there in the middle of nowhere on the still water with fog creeping over the surface. I just sat motionless in the kayak, soaking in the peacefulness. A loon surfaced near me and began to call, and a single feather came off him and floated over to me, like a gift. I cried for a long time there, partly feeling sad for myself, and partly crying at the beauty and spirituality of that moment. I felt hope and closure when I returned to the shore.

[Selkie]

Hermit -- I ride alone, too, for many reasons. I can go at my own pace, wherever I want, for as long/short as I want, etc. That's true freedom. In addition, it's the one part of my day when I'm truly by myself and I have time to meditate/think.
By nature, I'm an introvert and enjoy my own company. I like people, but I also need that private time.

[solobiker]

This has been great to read. I struggled for a while when I couldn't be as fast I used to when I was alpine climbing with a heavy pack. In my early 30s I could easily blow past men and women while I was carrying a 30-40 pound pack with climbing gear. well, I have gotten older and have nerve issues in my feet that don't allow me to do that anymore. I now take my time both on my hikes and bike rides to look at anything that may catch my eye.

There is so much beauty out there it is amazing.