Hey superwomen...

[roguedog]

how do you find the time?? I read that many of you log in some good miles every week like between 60-100 miles. How do you do it?? What's your routine?

I have a new job that is allowing me to have way more of a life and I can't find the time to do the other stuff in my life and bike. Especially now that it's getting dark earlier

Like I'm feeling I have to balance my weekend social life with my biking life. I pretty much defer alll the "let's get together" requests to one of the weekend days so the other one I can bike . I'm a little backlogged cuz I also want to have just down days.

HOw do folks find time during the week to log miles? I bike to work occasionally but only when I think I'll not stay too late or there's nothing critical due. I have no idea how you women with kids do this..

Anyway.. looking for some insight.

[SadieKate]

You make choices. As many of my friends can attest, housecleaning is unknown. Procrastination is huge.

Example: I need to set up a home office. The back bedroom/workroom contents have been migrating to the living room for sorting for 6 weeks now. Solution? You can't see it if you're riding.

Example2: The carpeting is 16 years old and needs replacement, badly. Solution? Keeps the lights low and go riding.

Truthfully, it really is about choices. I also don't have kids so at least I don't have to factor them into the equation.

[mimitabby]

Well, it's what you said, a balancing act. Some of us do have more free time.
My husband tends to want to ride every single weekend both days. Sometimes I just have to say NO!! and occasionally he stays home too. But you have to make sacrifices. I also try to combine bicycling with other activities.
Let's go to the opera on our bikes. Let's go to my mother's on our bikes...

During the winter you will notice a lot of mileage drops off. I will set up a bike in my basement for the long dark weeks of wet and cold.. otherwise, I lose my training.
Hope that helps.

[jobob]

We still haven't fully unpacked after returning home from our vacation trip a week and a half ago, if that tells you anything

[Bad JuJu]

Well, I'm not one of the women with kids, but I do have a job. Fortunately, I teach at a university, so I have time to ride on Wednesday mornings as well as one or more weekend days. Is it possible for you to do a ride one morning a week before work? Now that DST is over, for a little while, it'll be light a lot earlier in the mornings, so you could take advantage of that to get in a ride or two on weekday mornings.

Regarding weekend rides, if you get out there early enough, like 8-ish, you can get in some decent mileage by noon (40 miles or so) and then still have most of the day for other activities, including down time, if that's what you want--we all need some of that! That's what I do on weekends.

Most of this is obvious, so you may have thought of all these things before. This is how I get my mileage in. I'd still like to do more sometimes, but this gets me 50-70 miles in an average week.

[jobob]

Oh, and my weekend social life *is* my biking life.

[Bluetree]

Changes to my lifestyle: I eliminated having a typical social life. No going out for movies or dinner. No television or much time for reading. I quit a job where I spent (wasted) time commuting in a car. I gave up season tickets for sporting/cultural events. I go to bed most nights at 7pm and am up at 2am to start work. That gives me a good twelve hours a day to work, and up to three hours a day to train/do other stuff. I make lists of everything that needs to get done (daily/weekly/monthly) and plan my time accordingly. I know, sounds really boring, but I haven't felt better in my life. Oh, and I don't have kids and don't plan on having any.

Fortunately, my BF and most of my friends are triathletes and I can spend quality time with him/them on the bike or at the gym, instead of movies or at dinner. Weekdays I can get a 25-mile ride in easily. Often, that means training alone because it can get difficult making schedules with everyone else. Sunday mornings I plan for extended rides with my friends.

P.S. I'm not "super" I'm just organized.

[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!)