Originally Posted by mike868y

to start, i agree with everyone who says that it's perfectly healthy to take a step back and if you're not enjoying it, you probably should. bike racing is too much work if you're not having fun. that being said, have you considered changing your perspective on racing? the past few years i've transitioned from being super neurotic about training and having a very rigid mindset with regards to racing to drastically reducing my training hours and really just doing it for fun. i got shelled on sunday and in the past I would have been really upset by it whereas now it's just kind of like...whatever, was a fun day out pushing myself. I recognize that plenty of the people i'm racing with have lives that allow them to ride and train much more than me (half of my instagram feed is currently in spain) and that's fine...it's just a hobby. my priority is school/career stuff, but bike racing is a fun way to stay fit and have fun with my friends. you can get plenty fit for crits on 6-8 hours a week and it's a nice distraction from the stress in my real life. maybe this isn't applicable to you, but it's a shift that I've made recently and it's really made me enjoy bike racing more and have a healthier relationship with it.