bicycle blahs

[sundial]

I don't know why but lately I have no desire to ride. I rode through most of January but I don't want to ride now. I have a new Spinervals DVD that I haven't even opened yet. I don't even want to ride my mtb. It's sunny today and feels like early spring, but I have no desire to go out and enjoy the fresh air. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Geonz]

A little down time is fine ... but sometimes I have to get past an invisible doldrum barrier and just inform my moribund self that I am getting on the bicycle and riding two miles thank you.
Generally that reminds the body-mind-soul continuum of the joy therein.

[mimitabby]

happens to me from time to time as well. If it persists, you really have to grab yourself by the shoulders and get your butt in gear. Sometimes people need a few days of downtime. But if you get USED to that, that's your muscles atrophying as we speak...

[F8th637]

I get that way too. I had a bit of a bout of that in the summer. Previously I had been obsessed with riding and then all that passion was gone for a little while. I worried it wouldn't come back. But it did! I think that for me this will happen every now and then. Could it be you are overtraining too? That'll do it also.

[Starfish]

Sometimes if I feel like that, a week off the bike, but doing something else, helps. Like swimming workouts for a week, or gym workouts on the elliptical, or just something other than biking.

[indysteel]

I feel that way myself at the moment. It's a good thing that the weather is a bigger deterent at the moment than my lack of motivation. I'm kind of enjoying a different workout routine right now. That said, I'll be ready to go when the weather starts cooperating.

[Melalvai]

Finding someone to ride with is a big motivator.
I'm looking again. This time I'll find the right gender.

[mimitabby]

I feel that way myself at the moment. It's a good thing that the weather is a bigger deterent at the moment than my lack of motivation. I'm kind of enjoying a different workout routine right now. That said, I'll be ready to go when the weather starts cooperating.

Hey Indy, we're looking for someone to lead a ride ...

[solobiker]

I feel like that sometimes too. For me if I make myself go out for a ride, even if it is for a short ride, I usually feel better and more motivated.

[Susan126]

I hit that feeling last night and today. I had been going to spin classes religiously (because my local weather here is not the best for outdoor riding) but at least I was getting a work out (brother was I!!!! My spin instructor is the task master from you know where!) I skipped last night and I am skipping tonight. But if I don't snap out of it by tomorrow I will force myself to go. As Mimi said sometimes "you really have to grab yourself by the shoulders and get your butt in gear." I'll give myself one more day to chill! So one more night of slacking but hey the series premiere of Survivor is on tonight!

[Geonz]

OH, and I also sometimes have to coach myself out of the discouragement that comes from knowing I won't be in shape when I go out there, and say "no, you're just going out for a little spin because that's infinitely better than being on your butt. Now just SHUT UP AND GO."
And I remember those days on the swim team when I would be *sure* that I was tooooo exhausted to even swim a lap, and boy I wanted to take a nap.
At some point I realized that this was bogus because once practice actually began I didn't want to sleep any more. I just needed to get moving to activate teh active hormones or something.
Now I don't have to convince myself because it's how I get home from work and to wrok... but even just this week I was feeling pretty blah... but felt better after getting on the bike, even when it was nasty and raining and gross. But who says I'm normal...

[OakLeaf]

Avoiding that kind of feeling is part of why I like to mix it up. A couple of days a week running, a couple days cycling, a couple days aerobics; Pilates and weight training thrown in there wherever.

The down side is that I don't really get stronger at anything unless I'm doing it three days a week. But the upside is that there's almost always some workout I feel like doing, and on the rare days that I really don't feel like any at all, I figure my body's telling me something and I give myself permission to have a day off.

[emily_in_nc]

Sundial,

Don't worry -- there's nothing wrong with taking some time off the bike. I used to ride all winter and not enjoy it very much at all. I'd find myself wishing for too-cold, too-rainy, too-icky weather so I wouldn't have to ride. When I finally gave myself permission not to ride in the winter (even on nice days!), I found that I enjoyed it much more when spring came and I hopped back on the bike with renewed enthusiasm. Don't forget, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and variety is the spice of life. Cliches, yes, but for a reason -- they are true!

There are plenty of other healthy activity choices you can do if you're not in the cycling mood (I'm partial to hiking and jogging in the off-season). The bug will bite again! Don't beat yourself up and give yourself permission to take a break. You'll enjoy cycling more when you get back to it, I promise!

Emily

[tulip]

It's so windy here, I just couldn't face getting on my bike. So I worked in the garden for several hours, sifting compost (good upper body workout), cleaning up leaves, mulching around the BLOOMING crocus ! It was a mental refresher. I think if I had gone out for a ride, I would have been uncomfortable with all the wind. I'm glad I didn't ride today.

[sundial]

Thank you all for your encouraging words. I don't feel so alone now.

Looking back, I noticed that I felt the no-cycling urge the week of impending severe weather. I know this probably sounds corny, but I really think that as an artist I am much more sensitive to things subconsciously and it manifests itself in resistance to creativity, and in this case, cycling. 2 days prior to all the tornados, I could not focus to paint if my life depended on it. Instead I was getting our emergency gear together and focusing on the safety of my furkids. Today I found out that a funnel cloud had actually been spotted on our street and had passed over our house. I am so very thankful that we, and our neighbors, are safe.