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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    El Paso Texas
    Posts
    1

    tips for the time crunched cyclist

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    Dear friends,
    I am a single mom to a young child, and time is at an ultimate premium. On weekends that he is not with his dad (every other weekend) any cycling is out of the question. I have recently re-invented the wheel (pardon the pun) and am doing my best to make time to cycle between 4pm and 5:30 when I must pick up child.

    What is best for a seriously time crunched cyclist? Right now I am scheduling one hour on MWF, and every other weekend I put in another 3 hours.

    Is there a better regimen or way of distributing time on the bike?

    Right now I spend those precious one hour sessions climbing. On weekends when I can go 2-3 hours in a row i allow myself some zooming flats.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    Commuting by bike, even if only once a week. Riding with your child in a bike trailer (and that is good exercise, believe me). Doable at all?
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Wilts, UK
    Posts
    903
    Hello and welcome to TE

    What lph said, really. Riding with a trailer isn't particularly fast, but it really does give you a good workout, and also gets your little one used to going out by bike.
    Dawes Cambridge Mixte, Specialized Hardrock, Specialized Vita.

    mixedbabygreens My blog, which really isn't all about the bike.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    4,516
    Get a trainer for your bike so you can ride early mornings/when he's otherwise occupied, but with you? Also get some Spinervals workouts so you can get some good, focused workouts in?

    If you don't want to do that, I might swap one of your climbing rides for intervals (others have better descriptions of how to do that than I do - but the idea is to really push the pace for short periods of time, recover for a little while, rinse, repeat).
    Most days in life don't stand out, But life's about those days that will...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Columbia River Gorge
    Posts
    3,565
    Quote Originally Posted by Blueberry View Post
    Get a trainer for your bike so you can ride early mornings/when he's otherwise occupied, but with you? Also get some Spinervals workouts so you can get some good, focused workouts in?
    Plus one. Having a trainer set up that you can get on, do a few drills to improve efficiency and maybe some short but HARD intervals would help a lot.

    I love lph's suggestion of commuting too.
    Living life like there's no tomorrow.

    http://gorgebikefitter.com/


    2007 Look Dura Ace
    2010 Custom Tonic cross with discs, SRAM
    2012 Moots YBB 2 x 10 Shimano XTR
    2014 Soma B-Side SS

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Posts
    48
    Another single mom here. I know it costs $ but I get babysitters or use drop-in child care so I can participate in cycling events and do my weekend rides when it is not a dad weekend. I will skimp on other things so I can afford the child care, and my son loves his babysitter so I don't feel too guilty. Then again I have my kid 75% of the time so I don't feel so bad about leaving him to ride. Plus he thinks it's cool that I ride bikes fast!

    I can't afford babysitting for a century ride but I do invest in half centuries and events that are <4 hours. Also can you possibly swap child care with mama friends every other weekend so you can get a long ride in every weekend?
    Leah
    www.tinycircles.wordpress.com
    2012 Trek Madone 5.2 WSD C
    2009 Surly LHT
    "I thought of that while riding my bicycle."
    ~ Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    73
    A child trailer can truly change your (and your son's) life.

    They are quite cheap at consignment shops.
    Existence is empty, but I am full of myself.

 

 

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