Back and ready for new season

[Roadtrip]

Hello to everyone!! I sorta dropped away and fell into the occasional lurker mode. Honestly I've struggled with my personal goals on and off the bike. I've struggled with what makes me happy and a better person when I'm riding.

In the Spring of 2011, I started the season strong and was going further each time out and enjoying myself, until my crash and shoulder injury. I was essentially off the bike a few months and really struggled with fitness after... grew frustrated and honestly less happy on the bike so lost some enthusiasm.

For 2012 I tried to join in with the LBS shop ride to try something new and reinvigorate my enthusiasm for cycling, but I was totally unprepared for the hills on the ride and heavy road traffic had me panicked, so after only a few miles I tucked tail and limped on rubber legs back to the shop. I just could not recover and felt horrible about failing to complete this "beginner" ride. I never got back to finishing longer rides that I'd used to enjoy.

Here comes 2013 and I'm trying to figure out exactly how get back to just enjoying being out on my bike. I know part of it is to forget the frustrations of the past and just take each day that I'm on my bike as a good one!

Looking forward to enjoying this season with all the ladies here!!

Shannon

[Catrin]

Welcome back Roadtrip! It was great to see you yesterday, and +100 on your comment about taking each day on the bike as a good one

[hebe]

Good luck Shannon, take things at your pace and I'm sure you'll find your groove soon. I've barely ridden since September but am going to do 30 Days of Biking in April, though I'm sure I won't get the full 30.

[Crankin]

It's good to see you, too, Hebe.
Any riding is good riding.

[deanywalker21]

Shannon,

I can related. A few of years ago I crashed on a hill (during a group ride) after a knee gave out and I could not get unclipped from my pedals. I spent the balance of the season healing my knee and my ego. I was so afraid of hills that I was driving my car to "flatland" neighborhoods so that I could ride and avoid hills. It took the balance of that season and the next to get my confidence back (it did not help that I had learned to ride as an adult). I have found group rides too stressful and avoid them as much as possible. I enjoy riding by myself and in lower traffic areas. I think this is more about learning to ride at age 51 than anything...more fears and phobias. I still feel some anxiety when approaching hills and have bailed more than a few times, rather than risking panic and another fall. If I did not enjoy riding so very much it would have been easier to put the bikes away and never ride again. Last year I started commuting by bike part of my daily trek to/from work. There is this one hill that freaks me out, but to avoid it I have to spend 2 additional miles on a state highway and it has become mind over matter.

[redrhodie]

I would just ride alone for a while, and keep it fun and easy. Avoid your stressors and build your confidence up. I would normally suggest commuting, but if you're in a city, it may be too stressful if there's a lot of traffic. I'd ride when there was as little traffic as possible. Choose the road less travelled. The more relaxed you can keep things, the more you'll look forward to getting on your bike.

[pinsonp2]

Shannon,

I remember the big grin on your face with your new Ruby. That was priceless. I hope you get that same joy back soon. Take it at your own pace and always enjoy the ride.

P2

[Bike Writer]

Shannon,

I empathize with you fully. I've had a couple of health issues and a large personal issue as well that I am working on putting behind me. I also dislike group rides for the same reason, I don't keep up well because I'm a slow rider and struggle with hills, it's demoralizing to be in them so I ride solo or with just one or two friends. So I have to say I feel like I'm starting all over again. I've found my spark in my ride last Saturday when I got off the beaten path for real and did some exploring. I love to explore new places and it made my ride and makes me want to ride again.

[Roadtrip]

Shannon,

I think this is more about learning to ride at age 51 than anything...more fears and phobias.

This I agree with!!! I started riding about three years ago after just having turned thirty-five and bought my very first bike as my birthday present to myself. I would commute to work if I could do that on quiet streets, but I live in Cincinnati where most of the streets are congested and not Ike friendly at all, not to mention the distances would be more then what I could handle at this point. Is changing here but very slowly.

I work as an IT consultant and could be placed anywhere in the greater Cincinnati area with any number of our clients. I basically go where I'm needed. It's also one of the reasons why I'm not happy as I'm never in one place for long. Just as soon as I make friends and feel like I "fit" in I'm off to another assignment. I'm currently evaluating my options so I can make the right decisions for my future.

Tanks again!!
Shannon

[Catrin]

I think we need an "started riding > "n" age club" It really is about the increased fears and phobias than it is the physical side of things. That being said, for many of us there are certainly increased physical issues at our age as well, especially if we've not a long athletic history. Flexibility and mobility issues are part of it, not to mention core strength and muscular imbalances. Then again, nothing says we STILL wouldn't have all of this if we had been athletic for a longer % of our lives

I am in the "learned to ride for my 50th birthday" club. I was obese and had spent many decades putting a lot of energy in pursuits that I could only do seated...(needlework and computing). Shannon - sending you lots of positive energy as you examine your options!

[Crankin]

I started riding at 47, almost 48. I did ride a lot as a kid, though, until I moved to Florida at age 16. Although I was fit and was a fitness instructor for 10 years before I started riding, I had never really done any outdoor activity, at least any more than taking a stroll in the woods or sitting on a beach chair. And I definitely have some coordination issues. I wish I had started seriously riding at a younger age, as I think i might have had the potential to be really fast! I've had my ups and downs since I started riding, with illness and chronic muscular things, but I am a lot more confident now. I think I would have had a lot more fears in my 20s/30s, as what I am doing now was so far out of my frame of reference; when I actually started both my DH and one of my kids had been riding/racing for a couple of years, so I had some familiarity with the stuff.

[shootingstar]

I seem to only join group rides maybe once or twice annually and they are never competitive. Either long (50-100 km.) or short social rides.

Otherwise I just ride with my partner or with a friend and often solo. I've been riding after returning to cycling at 32 yrs. I'm 54 now. We are car-free and so sometimes, cycling truly is a necessity for us as a means of transportation.

The most important thing about cycling well and enjoying it also, is once you have mastered some hills that you like (and you will like a few. No one is asking you to like all of them), can ride in moderate car traffic and know all the bike paths/routes in your area, is to become freer, more confident and stronger within yourself. Become so confident that you will jump onto your bike yourself and just go. And not wait/rely on a friend to motivate you. That will be the signal that you love cycling for what it is and what it gives to you. A gift to yourself over and over.