Lemond1985

Could it be the 60% humidity?


I know that would slow me down. It's actually hotter in California this week than it is in Saudi Arabia. Though we're only dealing with 30% humidity vs. 60%.



I know that I ride pretty hard through most of the mild winters here, and some years I use July and August as my "rest months". I can remember feeling really crappy in July and August many years, and then feeling great again by November. I wouldn't sweat it too much (ha ha).

I do know that once I'm out there riding, I almost never regret it. What I do often regret is failing to plan my ride out in advance enough that I know where exactly the heck I'm going. Those tend to be my shortest rides.

OldTryGuy

Walking 5K, 10K, 10 miler, half marathons, marathons events were once fun as was walking 33 miles at our 2016 Relay For Life all night 7PM to 7AM to complete a half my age challenge. Three years later and bone on bone knees makes walking not an option.



I have a beater bike -- 2002, $100.00, 7speed hybrid MAGNA from Target, that I ride for errands OR KIT UP and ride in the rain as I did on July 26th for 101 miles as my memorial tribute ride for the 7 year anniversary of my friend Pete being killed by a semi less than 800 miles from completing a Prudhoe Bay, AK to Key West, FL bike ride. REMAINING plugged in is important for me.



As a soon to be 65yo in 2015 the phone call from my Dr. was to inform me I had Aggressive Prostate Cancer. Had done everything I thought was right for a 'long life and anti-cancer" but not in the cards. No MEAT, no DAIRY, no SUGARS, no EGGS and some other things are the NO ITEMS to minimize a recurrence with lots of veggies, spices, nuts, seeds, EXERCISE being the YES ITEMS. Maintaining strength/fitness by bicycling having had a bi-lateral Orchiectomy instead of receiving the horrific/life altering ADT DRUGS is my motivation to keep on pedaling.

FiftySix

I'm trying to figure out how your first sentence is related to the second sentence?

If you are referring to my comment about a phone, not having a phone in view doesn't mean I don't carry a phone.

sjanzeir

I knew I was going to regret putting this out

And the Bike Forums robots blocking out the "r a p i s t" part of "ther a p i s t" is just hilarious in this politically correct world we live in!

All jokes aside, though, I'd like to thank you all for the overwhelming responses and great advice. I never thought the post would garner so much attention. It's a lot to take in, so you'll forgive me for not being able to respond to every point.

I should point out that what I meant with "get dressed" was "take off the shorts I've been wearing around the house for three days and put on a clean pair of pants." As a matter of fact, other than a few padded cycling undies off of Amazon and a couple of midrange road helmets, I don't have any cycling-specific apparel to speak of (my brother-ingl-l, an on-again, off-again mountain biker himself, once gave me a pair of bib shorts, but I wore those just one time in 2016.) That's about as seriously as I'm willing to take my cycling for now; I don't want to get to a level of involvement where I'll be taking my cycling too seriously to enjoy it. A pair of joggers and a t-shirt with comfy, breathable sneakers and I'm good to go.

Just now, I took out my wife's trike to pick up some groceries from the new store in the neighborhood just a quarter of a mile away. My wife needed fresh mint for her tea, and the stray cats outside - including three-week-old kittens and their mother - hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday, so I had to go out and get them some food. That was all the motivation I needed for the day.

It's actually quite nice this evening as the heat wave is beginning to recede, but, as Lemond pointed out earlier, humidity could be deflating. I'm literally soaked right now. Speaking of reading books and working on cars, I've got a pile of books sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read. From The Hobbit to the latest on the JFK assassination, I have yet to start - let alone finish - a single one. There's this whole big "what's the point?" element to the whole condition that I'm battling with.

Then there's my old Benz, which - as it always does - needs some repairs; some of these (such as rebuilding or replacing the alternator) I could most likely do myself; replacing the completely shot lower control arms is best left to a professional who has a set of spring compressors. For the last few years of its production run, Mercedes-Benz, in their infinite wisdom, re-engineered the front suspension so they could fit slightly bigger brake rotors. But you could no longer just press out the worn ball joints and press in new ones. With the newer design, the ball joint is built into the control arm; once a ball joint goes bad, I'll need to replace the entire control arm! Thats from about $150 per aftermarket piece to as much as $600 for the genuine OEM part. And that's per side. No wonder I'm so depressed!

OldTryGuy

Assume that unplugged refers to no computer monitoring while riding.

sjanzeir

"Meanwhile over at Bike Forums..." It was just a matter of time before fight wasbbound to break out sooner or later!

dahoneezz

Cars are money pits.

Can't help you much on that. On the other hand, with my bike, at best I can do about 20 km/h . That is on flat terrain. Not going anywhere much although my bike has the ability to transform itself into an airplane suitable sized package and fly itself to Bangkok. Yup ... the money part kicks in.

FiftySix

Gotcha.

livedarklions

I just reread your posts and am wondering if what's really going on is that right now you really don't want to do anything that takes you physically or mentally away from your wife. Starting a new job is pretty stressful so maybe you just need to cut yourself some slack and not worry about the things you don't want to do right now, and focus on the fact that fresh mint for your wife was that important to you. Wanting to be with your family during a time of transition sounds pretty healthy to me. The bike will be there if and when you want it.

TiHabanero

Sjanzeir, at the risk of topic drift, my dad was an engineer and he always told me that if you can afford to buy a MB, you need to be able to afford to own it. I didn't believe him until I got one myself. Disappointed to say that the MB engineering decision makers baffle my mind. They are not shade tree mechanic friendly and defy commonsense engineering principles. Was more than happy to get rid of that one. Was happier once it was gone, too!

sjanzeir

My wife is special needs. She's been through spinal surgery some years ago, and she's made a remarkable recovery given her preexisting condition. And though she does her damnedest best to be independent and self-reliant, she still needs help with a few things. This makes her somewhat accident-prone, so there's always that fear, that concern that she might somehow get into a situation where she could get hurt.

The old friend who called me up out of the blue is fully aware of all this. It didn't even occur to me that he might do something like this, but he designed the job so I'd need to spend only three workdays of each week in Riyadh. This has been yet another lesson in knowing who my true friends are, given the history we had together.

And no, we're not getting into another argument about noisemakers . That was an episode where I chose to be a dick thinking it might get me some catharsis, given just how highly strung and stressed out over the lack of work I had been at the time, when I could've taken a deep breath and directed my effort towards a clearer, more conservative explanation to get better answers. It was just wrong, and for that I'm truly sorry. (For the others: please don't look that thread up! It's just too embarrassing )

eja_ bottecchia

My suggestion is that you just go out and ride, no GPS, no computer, just you and the bike. Even skip the kit and ride with some comfortable shorts and t-shirt, like riding a mountain bike.

Do this and see how it feels. Sometimes we load ourselves with too many attachments that make riding seem more like a chore.

Remember when you were a kid and just opened the garage door, put a leg over the bike and just rode away.

Try to recreate that feeling.

Good luck and ride safely.

eja_ bottecchia

I, OTOH, have owned MB for many, many years. My current is a Cabrio, I absolutely love that car.

I always marvel at how well engineered it is.

No back to the topic at hand...

sjanzeir

Hey, my late dad was a German-educated mechanical engineer, too, and he used to say the exact same thing, and he was an MB man through-and-through. Even though he did dabble with some Detroit iron and Asian tin throughout his life (and so did I; we even owned Fiats and Ladas for a thankfully short while ), he would always default to daily-drive an old Benz. Knowing him, he might have abandoned the brand for good if he got around to experiencing their post-90s crap!

With that being said, it might be easier to own an MB in my home country (Jordan) than it is in most of the world. Historically, Mercedes-Benz has always been the brand of choice for longevity, weather as a workhorse vehicle for public transportation or for prestigious private transport. I learned to drive and wrench on old Benzes (among other things). My first car was an old Benz. It has always been part of the local culture - until the recent Asian invasion, that is. Now it's more Hyundais and Kia than anything else, with Cherys and Geelys becoming more common!

Just look up any old, historic photos of, say, downtown Amman and see how many Benzies you can spot:



















That's why parts and service are available in abundance all over the country, which drives the cost of ownership down for the consumer. I could drive my old MB over to Amman and have it serviced bumper-to-bumper there for a fraction of the cost here in Saudi Arabia, and I will never be left wanting for spare parts, both new and used.

And yet here I am today, thinking of getting rid of it! But every time I try and put it up for sale, I just back off and tell myself there's plenty of life left in it. Everything still works: The AC still blows ice-cold on the factory hardware and factory refrigerant; all power options still work; the car hardly ever creeks or rattles. The engine doesn't burn an ounce of oil, and the transmission (admittedly, its third; it was my fault that the first two transmissions went, having used non-MB fluid) is as crispy and smooth as a 25-year-old transmission could be! So there we go.

Have we drifted off topic far enough?

livedarklions

That thread always wins me the "who got into the weirdest heated argument on bf" award, so I've kind of grown fond of it. It's always been a mystery to me how it got so out of hand, so I really appreciate the explanation. I was a goofball in that one as well, so if you'll accept, let's make that a mutual apology.

I'm going to stick with my suggestion you give yourself some slack. The riding is something you do for you, and if you're just not feeling it right now with all you got going on, feeling bad for not doing it is probably the last thing you need. To be honest, it sounds like you have the right priorities for what needs to be done now. I hope her recovery continues to go well, and that you can soon let go of some of that anxiety.

sjanzeir

That thread was weird and wonderful!
Weird because Damn, Dude?! and wonderful because it epitomized the very essence of Bike Forums. The moderators oughtto pin it up in the introductions section with an assertive "NEW USER? READ THIS FIRST!" so new users will know what they're getting themselves into!

And we're cool! For now, that is (hey, this is BF after all! You just never know )

So, siren whistles?

Dirt Farmer

1) Go out and ride

2) Post this same question on a mental health support group forum. They really can help!

freeranger

I have times when I feel like I should go out and get a ride in, but have a difficult time motivating myself to do it. But then I think of the good time I have when I ride and that will usually (not always) get me out and on the bike. It never fails, though, that I feel better after the ride than I did when getting myself up and going.

Nachoman

Personally the way I avoid backing out of a ride is the NIGHT BEFORE my ride I do all the prep work.
I pump up the tyres, set out the cycling kit, and prepare my breakfast, so that all I have to do is pour the milk into the cereal and hit the on button on the coffee maker.
It's psychological warfare!

RiceAWay

If you don't want to ride then don't. Though all you have to do is take a ride on public transportation and see what happenes to people that don't want to exercise.

livedarklions

How about a loudspeaker that blares out a "wrong answer" buzzer?

This thread got revived after a few days, so I thought I'd run an idea by you:

You mentioned your wife has a trike. I think what I'm getting from your OP is that riding has turned into a no-fun angst-fest for you, with a bunch of preparatory steps that have turned it into a complicated chore. Is it practical for you to just take a nice leisurely ride with your wife a few times per week? Just sort of a low-stress way of getting moving a little bit.

Milton Keynes

Only time I have lack of motivation is when my alarm goes off at 5 AM and I'm still so tired I feel like I can barely get out of bed. I deal with it by resetting the alarm for 6 and taking a day off. But I don't let myself take too many off days. I'm usually not as motivated to do my morning 10 miles as I am to do my weekend 20, 30, 40 or whatever mile rides out in the country. But I think that has to do with the difference between making laps around town and actually going somewhere on my bike.

Joe Bikerider

One thing I do is to make the ride an errand. Like this morning I needed to go to the library to pick up the book that I had ordered. In fact I ordered it to be picked up to the branch that is a nice ride away instead of the branch that is less than a mile away. Other thing I have done is order my blood pressure pills from a pharmacy that's not that close but right along the MUP, another nice ride. I refuse to vote by mail because the walk (ride) in precinct is also along the MUP the other way. That's the way I do it, make each ride have a purpose and it's a lot easier to get out there.

ironwood

Entropy isn't what it used to be.

sjanzeir

It's complicated.

The surgeon who operated on my wife's spine in 2011 encouraged her to take up light-duty cycling as part of the years-long rehab process. We bought a stationary bike at the time, but it was still too early in her recuperation for it to be of any use, and she quickly lost interest.

Years later, seeing as how most everyone in the family were increasingly active cyclists, she seemed to have caught the bug herself. So I went out and bought her a little bmx-like thingy with 20-inch wheels (at 4"8', let's just say she's a little vertically challenged) and fitted a pair of training wheels to it. Given the nature of her condition and the lack of prior experience on two wheels, there was no way she could learn to balance herself on a two-wheel bike in a reasonable enough amount of time.

Hence the trike. At first I had her try out a trike with 12-inch wheels designed for special needs with an upright seat and special handlebars with multiple positions, but she wasn't too crazy about what she said was the stigma associated with it. Can't argue with that.

Then I had her try a full-sized trike, which she immediately took to heart.

There were a few problems, though. The first was that she didn't like to ride around our neighborhood, even though I would be riding with her at all times. She just didn't feel safe enough. She much preferred to ride her trike within the safer confines of one of the privately owned getaways dotting the coastline of the city's north.

That brought forth another problem: moving the heavy, bulky trike to and from where she and her family happened to be renting a place by the sea as they often do. There's no way it would fit into my brother-in-law's SUV, especially when he already has his and his family's own bikes to transport. Seeing as how renting one of those little Daihatsu/Suzuki/Chinese-copycat city trucks - along with a driver - is just too expensive, I tried perching the trike up on a cargo roof rack on top of my sedan.

Though I could tie the trike down securely enough, it was getting the thing on and off the roof of the car that was a chore, not to mention the minor damage the clumsiness of it all had caused the one time I attempted it. I told her we might be better off buying a minivan instead, but she wouldn't let me sell my old Benz, and we couldn't afford to own two vehicles at the time.

Then there were the few times she tipped over and fell on her head.

At one time, she was making her way up a short ramp when she turned too soon; one of the back wheels dropped off the side of the ramp and she tipped right over.

The second time, she suddenly swerved toward the curb because she wanted to avoid going over a speed bump. The right rear wheel climbed the curb and she and bike tipped over.

I was right behind her in both of these episodes.

I wasn't with her when she fell over a third time. She was riding around a getaway's paved paths with her nieces when she misjudged a turn. A back wheel slipped off into the dirt off to the side, and she found herself in the bushes.

Those episodes pretty much killed her interest in the sport. My attempts to get her back onto the saddle went nowhere so far, and the trike is only seeing grocery-getting duty - at least for the time being.

So here we are.