hooCycles

after commuting? I commuted this past summer and now I'm back to just recreational riding (at school). It just isn't quite as rewarding. I like the sense of purpose that commuting brings.

Anyone else experience this?

grolby

No. I commute by bike because I have to. The rest of the riding I do, I do because I want to.

jfowler85

I have a hard time riding unless I am commuting to a destination. Otherwise I just get bored.

AlmostTrick

Yes. The "Sense of Purpose" (as you call it) that I feel when actually commuting to a destination that most others would have driven to makes the ride more rewarding than just riding around in circles for fun or "training". (ugh) I commute by bike because I want to, not because I have to.

Why not do errands on the bike? It'll give you the same sense of purpose.

Steely Dan

my recreational riding has really tailed off over the past several years, but that probably has more to do with settling down, getting married, and starting a family.

time has fast become the most elusive of commodities.

perhaps when the kids are older and riding bikes themselves i'll get back into the groove of riding purely for the fun it. as it is now, commuting/errand running is >99% of my biking.

Eric S.

Sometimes I try to "just ride around" to get out for awhile, but the lack of focus does affect the enjoyment of the ride.

My commute is almost like playing a video game, preparing for certain maneuvers.

ThermionicScott 

Nope! My purpose for riding is to have fun. I can do that whether I'm riding to work or riding aimlessly.

Giant Doofus

I did have this problem when I first started commuting. After a few months, though, I rediscovered the joys of a rambling ride. I don't race or anything like that, so a recreational ride for me is really just an exploratory ride. I discover new streets in my city and how they connect to each other, or a follow a road I've never gone down before to see where I end up. My spouse and I often ride to coffee shops or lunch together. Even a 50 mile ride together normally has a destination, which invariably involves food!

Are you new to commuting? If so, give it time. I'm guessing the joy of the ride that has no purpose but fun will come back to you.

highrpm

When I commute to work, I try to beat my best speed and time.

When I ride the bike to lunch, I try to take new routes and don't worry about my speed at all.

When I do family rides, I pace myself to my kids' speeds and more frequent breaks, and we all have a great time.

kuroba

To me, commuting took away part of the joy of recreational riding in the sense that, after starting commuting 15kms, any ride less than that seems like a waste. And sometimes I don't want to get that far away from home, so I just go for a run. Now my recreational rides have to be 40kms or longer to really feel rewarding to me, always with a destination in mind. I can't ride aimlessly :/

Craptacular8

My commuting probably doesn't bear much resemblance to traditional commuting....I live 40 miles one way from my closest office, and have to remain ready to hit the road to other offices that are 80 and 240 miles away, so a car at the office is required. I keep a bike at the office, and bike commute to lunch destinations, which are primarily 5-6 miles round trip, as often as meetings, etc allow. I do like the sense of purpose from commuting in this manner, it has yet to save me any appreciable $ from fuel savings in today's lower gas prices, but, I still enjoy recreational gravel rides exploring the country around me, and meeting up with friends for rails trails. I just like riding, and some days, that lunch ride is the only time I'm able to get outside my office and enjoy the day.

hooCycles

I'm trying to convince myself that recreational riding is just training for my commuting season. I'd love to shave off a few minutes from my commute next year.

hooCycles

Yes, this summer was my first time bike commuting and I really had a blast. I like your idea of riding for discovering your city and for finding good food and I am near a good city to try it out. Glad to hear that I may 'ride out' of this phase!

tjspiel

Yes and No. On my own I won't go on a ride just for the fun of riding, but I might go on a ride with other people with no particular destination in mind.

I will go on a solo recreational ride for training or exercise. Otherwise, my recreational rides will typically have an "adventure" component to them. I'll ride somewhere I haven't been before, - at least not on a bike.

There isn't a sense of loss involved in any of this, but that might be because I've been commuting by bike for a long time.

no motor?

What might be considered recreational riding for me is usually something I'm doing to get some exercise and the fun is secondary to the exercise. But even my commuting miles have enough fun in them to be considered at least partly recreational, and my trips to the credit union are more fun than driving there. I quit worrying about trying to label my rides according to what I'm doing and just go to get where I'm going most days.

PaulRivers

Yeah, I like riding more when I have a sense of purpose. If I don't ride at all I can meander around fine, but if I ride to a specific destination regularly, just meandering around isn't as enjoyable.

Papa Tom

Interesting way of putting it, hoo. You made me realize that I, too, have lost some of my hip-hip-hooray for leisure rides that don't bring me somewhere I need or want to be. Perhaps that's why touring has become more important to me.

mcours2006

I think once the cold weather hit rec rides kind of lost their appeal for me. My favourite time to ride is early morning, and now because dawn comes so late I really don't want to take the risk of riding in the dark when I don't have to; I do that when I commute to work. I think once spring hits and it gets light around 5AM, I'll get back that feeling of excitement of going somewhere far on my bike.

Nowadays I just run on the weekends. I get an equally good workout session in half the time.

hueyhoolihan

may not happen, 'sense of purpose' that is, if you loathe your job.

i'm using the royal 'you'.

downtube42

Perhaps, but such things are not permanent. I've been commuting and riding recreationally for over 35 years. Interest in recreational cycling has ebbed and flowed over the years, for various reasons. There are a lot of cycling activities to choose from and move between as interests change and time allows. If you do what you enjoy and what your life allows, you will be rewarded with rich experiences.

Jim from Boston

Is recreational riding ever the same...after commuting?

For me recreational vs commuting cycling is a chicken-vs-egg question, because commuting is fun / recreational, and the necessity of commuting gets me on the road far more than I would for just recreation.

Furthermore for me during the nice weather when I try to follow a training program, mileage becomes a destination itself. An optimal and desirable ride is to extend my commute, especially if I do a long ride when going in on Saturday for a few hours. Such a long commute usually takes me through the best recreational cycling areas in Metro Boston.

gregf83 

I don't need a purpose to ride. I spent 10 days in Spain this spring and rode with no purpose, no responsibilities, nothing to do but ride, drink and eat. It was fantastic.

In the past two years I've done about 370 rides over essentially the same route to work. I still enjoy the ride in the morning and evening. If I'm not working I ride about the same number of hours per week but tend to have fewer, longer rides.

wphamilton

Riding to work is just a short recreational ride, so no I don't think I'd see riding much differently if I stopped commuting.

unterhausen

commuting takes me into the kind of riding I don't enjoy that much. Not sure why it would replace recreational riding at all

john4789

Elaborate, please.