sjanzeir

So, I just wanted to put this out there and see what everyone else deals with it.

I really do want to go out and ride, but then, just as I'm about to get bring myself to get off my ass, I stop short. I really don't want to get dressed. I really don't want to pump up my tires. I really don't want to carry the bike down the two flights of stairs. I really don't want to fiddle with my helmet, the GPS app on the phone, or the action cam.

The voice(s) in my head start yelling all kinds of excuses into my ears: "You just started a new job! What if you get hurt crashing?" "You're going to get run over, doofus! Stay home." "What if this POS bike of yours breaks down? Do you really want to spend money on a taxi cab?" "What if your wife trips and falls and hurts herself while you're out somewhere?"

And it goes on and on, sometimes for days on end.

And yes, I know that I might be having some mental health issues (anxiety? Paranoia? Probably a whole lot more that I don't even know about!) And no, I can't afford to see a shrink right now.

shrimp123

here are the multi choice question based on your thread.... pick wisely.

1. Do you want to ride
- dressed?
- undressed?

2. do you want to ride
- with air in your tire/tube?
- with no air in your tire/tube?

3. do you want to ride after
- you carry the bike down on your left shoulder?
- you carry the bike in your armpit?

4. do you want to ride with
- helmet in last known clasp?
- helmet re-adjusted?

5. do you want to ride
- with gps log?
- without gps log?

6. do you want to ride
- carefully and not crash?
- at max FTP and not crash?
- at 70% FTP and not crash?
- two of above?

7. do you want to ride
- to help your new job performance?
- to help refresh from your new job stress?

after you have carefully answered all the questions, please check what is common to all the above and follow your heart.


the one thing that helps me more than the above questions is the choice of cafe where i pick my coffee and biscotti.

CliffordK

I only pump up the tires once a month or so. Perhaps once every couple of months. You can get your bike "ready" a few days in advance if that helps.

For me, I'm an avid bike commuter/utility cyclist.

I don't get out every day, but when I want to go somewhere, I take the bike.

And, there are days I plan to go out, and go the next instead.

My radius of how far I'll go by bike is pretty large. I've done about 200 miles a couple of times, either as a round-trip ride, or up one day, back a few days later.

And, to get to a "car-free" ride at the local national park, I did 1 1/2 days up, and 2 days back.

TimothyH

It helps me to live a balanced life - physical, spiritual, intellectual.

Read a book. Pray. Take a class. Volunteer. Work on a car.
Cycling is recreation. The word recreation literally means re-creation. It is something I do for myself only, with no other responsibilities while I do it. Sometimes I do stuff for others. Sometimes I learn or teach.



One can't be all physical and neglect the others. Physical exercise becomes drudgery when that's all I do.


-Tim-

Bryan C. 

This is something I have been battling all year. It's hard to stay motivated and any excuse not to ride seems legitimate when you are feeling down.

One thing I try is to get back to riding some of my favorite or usual routes. Sometimes it's the little things that make the ride enjoyable, like a nice sunset or a great view. You can also change up your routine a bit and see what happens.

One way to get your interest back is to buy a new bike or some sort of upgrade. But that is a slippery slope for sure.

mynewnchome

This usually goes away2 minutes after beginning to pedal

I-Like-To-Bike

I think you already know the reason, but as you have stated, are not prepared or ready to deal with it. It is unlikely you will find an answer here other than a pep talk or two. Maybe that will help.

RiceAWay

Try a bike club. This is usually a motivator. If your monthly gas bill is high and your commute isn't that far that is another motivator. With the way things are these days you can't have a large enough emergency/retirement fund.

HarborBandS

I find it's easier to get out on the bike regularly if I set a goal, like training for a century or other long ride. Sure, many can crank out a century without training, but it's a lot more enjoyable if you have laid down some serious miles ahead of time. You can easily get in to trouble if you're not in shape, and that is a motivator--especially if you are going with other experienced cyclists and you don't want to be the weakest one in the group.

And I get depressed when I don't get out on my bike for a while. I am primarily a solo cyclist, and a relish the quiet time without electronic devices or noise.

bugs11

Think of the carrot at the end of the stick. The fresh brewed hazy IPA and free popcorn at the trendy bar 30 miles away.

One of the reasons I work out is for the 5-10 minutes of glorious sweaty respite in the steam room afterwards. I love a good steam, sweat out all the toxins.

Last ride 76 

+1... Battling depression, one thing that helps for me is "idiot-proofing" my ride (wrong term, with negative connotations, no surprise there).


Simplifying everything I can.

1) having my gear ready to go. - If I can't find some piece of kit... screw it, I'm old, slow, and no-one besides me gives a... on with the tee, and out the door. Last week I rode 15 miles in sneakers, something I would have never considered even a year ago. Just to get myself out the door. (Studies show most of the power is in the downstroke, ha ha.)

2) having a bike ready to go. - I may be planning to ride a particular bike, but if it ain't ready and seems like too much to deal with, OR becomes too much to deal with, screw it take the back-up.

3) Cycling computer, phone. - Yesterday I spent time getting hr monitor, computer mounted on the right bike, had 10% battery, check, died the moment I got outside. Ride or no ride... I'm on the bike, but even so, a day without the stats, big whoop. Can I do without the phone for a while? Eddy did... I can too.


Etc. You get my drift. I am riding 4-6 times per week rather than 1-3 earlier this year.

I just realized I forgot to charge the computer. ADHD has it's drawbacks. Time to go for a ride, without the dang thing again as if that really matters.

Seriously, (to myself) ...Just get out the door.

TiHabanero

As I have said to others, "Can you afford not to get help?" I have known several people over the years that needed counseling, but refused to do it and are no longer able to do it. Get counseling asap. Many, if not all, counselors offer a sliding scale fee based on income. There are some that offer their services pro-bono based on income. If this is a ruse, shame on you as a person's health is nothing to poke fun of.

livedarklions

If it helps you get fired up, you and I could get into a heated pointless argument about a noisemaker.

Seriously, you sound depressed, and it's a pretty scary place to be. I hope you get whatever help you need or just get better, but if you find yourself overwhelmed, please don't try to just tough it out. I've lost loved ones to that, and it really sucks. From your last sentences, it sounds like this is about a lot more than riding or not riding your bike.

CAT7RDR

It sounds like the "What If's?" are self-condemning. Perhaps, you can write out responses for all the benefits you get from cycling and refute the "What if's" with more rational responses.

Thoughts create feelings, which create moods, that create actions or inactivity.

You might check out Dr. David Burns's self-help books. I have found the exercises do work.

DrDyno

I blame it entirely on your bike! Get a new one!! Make it light weight and fancy!!!

canklecat

That's why one of my bikes is a comfort hybrid with fat puncture resistant tires and tubes. No need to suit up for a ride. No need to check the tire pressure -- I just squeeze the tire. If it feels okay, I ride. Usually I take it for a spin around the block and to pick up a few things from the grocery store. So a casual ride might be only 15 minutes, but enough to get the blood flowing and wake up a sluggish body.

And when I don't feel like worrying about traffic or the summer heat, I'll take a short, easy ride after midnight. It's relaxing and helps me get back to sleep easily. I did that two nights in a row this week after midnight, a couple of 15 mile rides around my familiar routes at an easy pace, and slept soundly.

But, yeah, I understand the whole deal of needing to suit up, install the cameras and lights, etc. I've been wearing a Tickr heart monitor for a couple of months and noticed that when I'm prepping for a ride on my road bikes, my heart rate shoots up from 60 to the 80s or 90s. All I'm doing is moving around the apartment, getting ready to ride. But when I do the same for riding my hybrids my resting heart rate stays lower.

There's a whole psychological aspect to my road bikes that gins up my competitive nature and stress levels. I can't just relax and ride. Every road bike ride turns into a workout. I can't resist the urge to post a better time on Strava. So while I need that once in awhile, it's not the best approach for a relaxing ride. That's why I like my hybrids.

dahoneezz

Are you commuting daily to work on your bike? Maybe take a rest day. Get a taxi/Uber instead. Or change the time you leave your house. Go earlier in the morning when the sun is about to rise and there is less traffic. Change your route. Leave the camera/helmet home once a while. Wear casual (jeans tees). Just ride.

rseeker

Sometimes it's hard work to plan a whole ride, so don't. Just plan to go to the end of the street. And once you're there, if you want to do more, well heck, you're already on the bike, may as well.

Is the computer/smart phone the problem? Those things are addictive. So don't get ready to ride, just go outside and lay down on the sidewalk/driveway. Listen and look around. When you feel like getting up, do so with a push-up, and then you're already exercising. May as well make it official and ride.

Do you have other things to attend to? Write them down, make a list, tape it to the screen, and come back to them when you get back.

Don't plan to ride -- just get your shoes out and put them in the hall.

Don't plan to ride -- just get a water bottle and set it by the sink.

Don't plan to ride -- just go stand by the bike and lay a hand on the seat. Squeeze a tire if you feel like.

Don't make it so you have to swallow the whole apple in one big bite. Just take a little bite, and maybe you'll want to keep eating.

My head also fills up with that kind of noise when I'm delaying action. The cure is always action, but it's a catch-22 because the cure is the very thing I'm having trouble doing. Once I actually get in motion, all that clears away and I can't see what was so hard. It's like becoming a different person.

I hope you can find some leverage so the part of you that wants to get out and engage overcomes the part filling your head with noise.

bruce19

I go through this from time to time. I've come to the point where, as I ask myself "Do you really want to ride today?", my next thought is "That's not a valid question." Then I go put my kit on and pump up the tires. You have to stop being "in your head" and look around at the present moment.

Jim from Boston

Lack of motivation. The topic of motivation occurs frequently on Bike Forums. FWIW, as a decades-long, lifestyle cyclist, this is a compilation of replies to this comprehensive thread, “How do you find your motivation to ride?”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Ever contemplate your mortality on the road?

Actually, in one of my most serious contemplations of mortality, the Road served as a relief:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

My magic moment when I realized what makes cycling fun (important) to me was at a lunch with two doctors about 20 years ago. We got to talking about the vicissitudes of life, like sudden death, or trival symptoms as harbingers of a serious disease. We eventually came around to that old chestnut to live life to the fullest everyday.

As we were leaving, the surgeon, a marathon runner, said, “Well, any day with a run in it is a good day for me.” I was already an avid cyclist and cycle commuter, and that clicked with me, any day with a ride in it is a good day for me.

BobbyG

@sjanzeir When I find myself in your situation I sometimes just get out and WALK. I get some of the excercise, some of the endorphins, and all of the head-clearing of a ride. Walking alleviates the guilt of not riding, and also provides some sense of accomplishment.

Another motivator for me is watching ride videos, both mine and others. They usually spark something in my mind and body. And sometimes just reading about bikes, and BF is enough to motivate me.

You also live in a pretty amazing city...go explore.

FiftySix

Agree with all of the above.

That's why I became unplugged while riding a few years ago. No cycling computer, no phone in view, I wear a simple wrist watch and just ride.

For those that do fully kit up and are semi-serious to serious about why they are riding, I bet many of them have a "non-serious" bike sitting around too. Non-serious bikes are great because you usually don't care what your ride turns into. Go fast, go slow, stop a lot, whatever you want, plus you can still turn it into a work out if you want to.

jon c. 

That's what I try to remember. Once I'm on the road I'm always happy to be there.

In fact, I need to close this laptop and get on the road.

Kabuki12

As I am soon to be 65 , I find motivation to do things that are good for me a bit easier. I don't quite know why that is , I just go with it. I am disappointed when I can't ride. I build and maintain my own bikes so maybe that is part of it. I get up early on ride day and check all the fine adjustments while the bike is on the stand and set correct tire pressure , make my water drink , and by the time it is time to leave the house , nothing can stop me! I live in Southern California , so , we ride pretty much year round. Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

jackb

The concerns over cycling strike me as symptoms of a mild anxiety disorder. I suffer from this disorder, though it hasn't affected my cycling, but it has many other activities that I do. I take medication when I feel a bout of anxiety coming on and I see a the******. Both help. Not feeling like you want to change clothes is not anxiety. Worrying about things that could happen but most likely won't is. I think it is best to seek some sort of professional help so that you don't limit yourself in what you do.