stayfed

Hey everyone.

I was wondering how you stay motivated when riding alone. How do you stay motivated when doing laps? Do you listen to music? Day dream? Set goals?

I'd love to hear how you stay motivated and push yourself.

Thanks!

bianchi10

I hate riding solo and find it difficult to push myself. I always listen to music when riding in a group or solo. It helps me get into a zone and spin.

halfspeed

Find a fast group ride and get your ass handed to you. If that doesn't motivate you, take up golf.

Jobiensis

I ride because I like to ride, if I'm getting demotivated it means I'm riding too much.

Music is only used on a trainer/rollers. Nothing more pleasant than a couple hours alone out on the roads.

halfspeed

Or resign yourself to eternal freditude (not that there's anything wrong with that).

MegaTom

I used to listen to music... but then I discovered reading while on the bike. Yay for audiobooks.

stayfed

Good call.

DaveWC

I ride solo 99% of the time. I love riding so the motivation is doing something I enjoy. I decide what my goal is for the day (speed, power, distance, recovery etc) and just start laying down the miles toward that goal. What really motivates me is the joy from being able to do something that most cannot. If/when the time comes that I can't ride then it will take some real motivation to get through the day. For now it's easy.

caloso

Motivation is where you find it. I'm following a structured program so some days I'm trying to hit specified wattage targets. Some days are recovery days and my motivation is to keep the legs loose and enjoy being in the outdoors. And I commute so 5 days a week, my motivation is to get to work at a decent time.

tanguy frame

I train so I can climb mountains to find good snow and ski my ass off. We hike with skis. It sucks if you get to the top and are too tired to ski down with grace and style. Intervals are your friend.

OldsCOOL

Strava. I push hard knowing there is a chance to break into a top 10 on a nasty little challenge. Music. I get a flow going when grinding out that next hill or last 5 miles listening to a good SRV blues tune.

Velo Vol 

If I don't ride my life becomes increasingly miserable.

That's my motivation.

alexaschwanden

For the Miles, and its my only transportation i can rely on.

BoSoxYacht

On my days off work I normally ride 3-4 hours each day, and commute 120 miles during the week.

Having a girlfriend that enjoys cycling as much as I do, makes long rides very enjoyable.

plpete

Set personal goals for yourself. Simple as that. Yes, if you just mindlessly spin with no real goal then yes, it could be boring. Not that there is anything wrong with an easy spin with no destination just to clear the mind. We all have our usual routes. Try to improve your time, be it on the whole trip, segments, sprints or hills. Strava is useful for that and makes it easy and fun.

IP Freely

This. I've never ridden in a group. I ride because I feel good when I do. That's all the motivation needed.

Strava only serves to disappoint me.

stayfed

Thanks for all the great advice. I've been riding BMX for the last 15 years and have been transitioning into road biking over the past year. It's a completely different world and I really really like it. It seems like I just need to ask myself what I want out of this and to set some goals. Thanks again everyone!

bikerjp

This.

I don't get what's so hard about solo riding. It's all I ever do. So easy to go out whenever I have a chance and nothing to plan. Just enjoy being out of the house. Of course, if you are single maybe it's harder to appreciate that.

generalkdi

I love riding. It's well enough for me to go ride 2-3 hours solo. Some rare times I join with some people down the road. Riding the trainer is a little harder, but I want to keep up with my little group of friends during the spring, so I keep riding as much as possible, telling my self that they probably think the same, so I gotta ride MORE and HARDER than them!

Don't you have any reference you want to compete with, may it be a time, power, friend, group, strava or even your weight! ...anything?

Just go, ride as far as you can, and come back. Just the feeling to get home, tired, after a long ride is enough to motivate me from the start...

THSdrummer

Do you really listen to music?

I'm just curious!

When I ride solo, I tend to do laps. I like it, so I can compare where I'm at per lap. Plus, at least on windy days, I only have a wind straight for 1 mile (out of 5). Plus it's residential, so I don't have to deal with as harsh of cross winds. Strava helps on some loops as well.

Being one of two college runners in my town, I find myself having to do tempo runs a lot. I guess I just transfer the mentality over. "This is going to hurt, but it has to happen to get better"

Jandro 

Yup.

Mike F

Pretty much this. Riding gives me a sense of balance. Its the only time Im guaranteed to do what I want and no matter what the day brings after my morning ride, I did something that I find very enjoyable.

Beneficial Ear

Strava is a great motivator. I have some private segments setup so I can focus on topping myself. I also have quite a few public segments setup which many folks have ridden before - since these are some of my fav places to ride I do what I can to stay KOM. Also hunting for KOM's can make for some really fun intervals at places that I may not have known were good to ride. This fuels my competitive nature and has really helped me to progress (regardless of whether or not I get every KOM or even set a good time!). A problem here is sometimes its hard to just cool out on a recovery ride if fun segments are coming up.

But the greatest motivation is merely the joy of cycling, I'd still be out there solo pushin hard feelin the wind and adrenaline as events happen without any piece of electronics.

Beaker

Power based workouts really help give me focus and satisfaction. I also know that starting the day with an early AM workout invariably puts me in a better state of mind.

Listening to music on a group ride? Sounds a little risky.

bianchi10

I always wear only in right ear and just loud enough to make out what the song is. I also wear bose IE2 earbuds which are not noise canceling. I have friends ride on my right side all the time while talking and I can hear them just fine.