Totally lost the desire to ride!

[kajero]

Ugh. The manager thinks I might make it. They are keeping me on a leash for 30 days. But I think my depression is lifting. It doesn't have anything to the 30 days. It's raining, but I wanted to go riding. Maybe tomorrow.

[colorisnt]

kajero,

I know the feeling about the weather. The weather makes me depressed, too. I feel too tired to ride today because of all the hoopla yesterday (my roommate had emergency surgery and I had to take care of her, she's been in and out of the hospital for two weeks) but tomorrow the weather will be awful. Why, weather? This summer has been terrible for that!

[kajero]

Uhm, spring was canceled and I am not sure summer will ever truly be here. LOL

[kajero]

My SO forced me out on a bike ride today. He said he couldn't believe he was the one that insisted we go riding! It was a good thing too, or once again I would have just slept on the couch. We biked to the library to get a book they were holding for me. It was a 7.5 mile ride there and back. It is a really beautiful because except for about 3/4 of a mile, it is entirely on trails. We didn't go really fast; I am just too out of shape. I am really tired, but it is a good tired!

[thekarens]

Sounds like a great ride. Glad you got out and enjoyed it!

[ny biker]

That's great!!!!

[Bethany1]

I'm for looking for a hybrid on CL to help with errands if that will help. Can you sell the hybrid you have now to help buy a new or new to you bike? The best thing I did was sell my Mamba after my accident as I never trusted the bike afterwards. A huge weight was lifted up after that.

I hope you feel better soon and are up and riding.

[kajero]

I found this poem somewhere on the Internet. I imagine most of you have seen it, but I thought I would post it for those of you have not seen it. (It's given me something to think about. They extended my probation another 30 days. Ugh. What is with them anyway?)

When the spirits are low,
when the day appears dark,
when work becomes monotonous,
when hope hardly seems worth having,
just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin
down the road, without thought on anything
but the ride you are taking."
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1896

[Penny4]

I found this poem somewhere on the Internet. I imagine most of you have seen it, but I thought I would post it for those of you have not seen it. (It's given me something to think about. They extended my probation another 30 days. Ugh. What is with them anyway?)

When the spirits are low,
when the day appears dark,
when work becomes monotonous,
when hope hardly seems worth having,
just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin
down the road, without thought on anything
but the ride you are taking."
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1896

Thanks for posting, I love this! And is is so true....

[Miranda]

First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for posting this thread. I too have been struggling to ride. And the discussion here has been helpful.

I am in pain, to varying degrees, 24/7/365, from my crashes of the last few years. And that permanent damage will be there for the rest of my life. But the worst, is the emotional and psychological. My real life cycling friends just do not get it. The majority have never been thru that situation. That part, of people not understanding, really hurts too.

Besides getting a hybrid that has been mentioned, I instead also own a cyclocross bike. I love the versatility of that sweet little work-horse bike. It's a no-brand-name Nashbar special. It was the same geometry as my roadie, so I knew it would fit ok. And yes, btw, I've crashed bad on that bike too. Sometimes I just ride it the 7/10mi loop around the sub-division. Where I live it is so bike un-friendly, it's hard to find a place to ride that feels safe.

Also, I have taken up alternatives I would have never done before when cycling as I used to, pre-crashes. I've found a relatively safe route to take the dog on a longer walk, 3mi, and I figure that's something, vs doing nothing.

[Dogmama]

Miranda, I completely understand. I have nerve impingement in my neck that causes numbness & pain. It is exacerbated with long bike rides. I've had to accept that my century days are probably over. I, too, am doing alternatives like dog walking & weight lifting (I have osteoporosis too). It isn't as satisfying but there is that part in Desiderata about gracefully giving up things of youth...

And losing the desire to ride - at 5AM it is over 80 degrees and 60% humidity. Ugh.

[Catrin]

I also have had bike-related injuries that have really impacted my ability to ride longer than 45-60 minutes. Thankfully I've found other activities (weight lifting/metabolic conditioning/cross-training) that I like just as much as riding, but I MISS being able to just go out for a nice 40-50 mile ride to explore the countryside. I was in denial for some time in thinking that the only real impact was to mountain biking, but that has been proved wrong. At least I CAN still ride short distances - and the almost daily rain for the last month has meant that I've not been able to ride more than once a week (if that) as it seems to only rain when I've a "riding window".

It is sad that those few people I've ridden with in the past no longer asks me to ride since I've had to turn them down so many times due to these physical issues.

[Miranda]

Miranda, I completely understand. I have nerve impingement in my neck that causes numbness & pain. It is exacerbated with long bike rides. I've had to accept that my century days are probably over. I, too, am doing alternatives like dog walking & weight lifting (I have osteoporosis too). It isn't as satisfying but there is that part in Desiderata about gracefully giving up things of youth...

And losing the desire to ride - at 5AM it is over 80 degrees and 60% humidity. Ugh.

Thanks for sharing, that was helpful, nice that someone else understands...and I had never read that poem before...beautiful.

It is sad that those few people I've ridden with in the past no longer asks me to ride since I've had to turn them down so many times due to these physical issues.

Yes, I know what you mean, have the same thing...I try to tell myself, for some reason, their destiny must not be meant to be mine.

[OakLeaf]

I'm going the other direction actually ... after a long near total hiatus I'm on my way partially back. I don't know if I will ever be all the way back. But since I'm the one with the limitations, the burden's on me to ask my old riding buddies to join me for whatever distance, terrain and pace I feel up to, if I want company. I can't expect them to guess, or conclude anything about the friendship if they get frustrated with guessing wrong.

[Catrin]

I'm going the other direction actually ... after a long near total hiatus I'm on my way partially back. I don't know if I will ever be all the way back. But since I'm the one with the limitations, the burden's on me to ask my old riding buddies to join me for whatever distance, terrain and pace I feel up to, if I want company. I can't expect them to guess, or conclude anything about the friendship if they get frustrated with guessing wrong.

This is a good way to look at it. I've tried this a few times but it doesn't seem like there is any interest in the shorter distances. I am shy (as hard as that is to believe) in person. I try not to conclude anything about the friendship but it is very hard since I never hear from them otherwise. Right now having company helps to get me out the door on my bike, but neither do I want to keep bugging them if they simply aren't interested on my short distances. There are a couple of weekend CIBA rides that I like that have shorter distances, so far they seem to land on days when it is raining...