I have not been that much of a fitness oriented person but about 5-6 years ago, I took some weight off and exercise was a big part of that. And here's the "secret" I learned. It was a secret to me because I thought all physically fit people just did their sports and stayed at some sort of magical high level of fitness at all times. But the truth is that life interrupts us. Kids need us. Our parents get sick. We get overwhelmed at work and exercise just doesn't happen. And you start over. Well, not over as in "learning to ride the bike all over" but in terms of endurance, etc, we start over. I _really_ learned this with swimming because even being out of the water for a couple of weeks causes you to loose ground. So I really agree with lph, pick new routes, new ways of doing things. When I get back in the water, I concentrate on a slow even stroke, no speed about it. Just getting back into it, getting your arms moving again. I might spend more time noticing the water and how good it really feels on my body. That's remembering what I like about swimming. And remember, there always is a first spring ride when the bike feels new again, and you don't really have your breathe yet, and you might remember ruefully that doing 20 miles was a snap last summer but somehow 10 or 12 or 15 feels like "enough". And here's my motto. Never ride so far that you are in danger of getting off the bike (or the run, or the swim) and saying, "I _never_ want to do that again!" Practice bicycle "mindfulness". Notice what there is to see. Ignore the bike. Ignore the speedometer. Smell the flowers, listen to the frogs, talk to the horses and cows you pass. I also like my bike and I am genuinely thankful that I have my beautiful bikes that have let me do so many adventures. Set a goal, for example find yourself a nice 25 mile charity ride and work towards being able to participate in that. I rode yesterday and while I was not grateful for the wind (however, this is KS) we've had so much rain of late that I heard lots of frogs singing. The ride I took 2 weeks ago, I saw 4 snakes two of which were not dead. And I'm working on learning more about birds. So think of other things to think about rather than your distance and speed. You know yourself the best. I like wearing my heart monitor because I can see that I am stronger within weeks when I wear it.