Boredom is the enemy of extending your distance?
#51
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Yes, boredom is a problem. Also a problem is that if I bike for 40 miles I get very tired and muscles that I don’t usually feel start aching.
#52
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Obviously over long rides a fatigue is not out of the question and maybe a little minor pain if you haven't ridden those distances before or regularly but frequent pain from riding is not a good thing.
Indoor cycling I guess but outdoor cycling shouldn't have that boring factor. Maybe it is a lack of spatial awareness which I see a lot of these days where people don't know where they are and what is going on and very much sometimes to a fault. Look around enjoy your surroundings or find better surroundings.
Obviously in the case of the OP cycling really isn't for them.
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After about 8 miles, I get bored and do not motivate to keep riding. Hell, sometimes, after 3 miles I get bored, and end the ride.
The problem temptation is that my riding loop allows me the option of cutting it short instead of forcing a longer distance.
The obvious remedy would be to ride straight out for 1/2 the desired distance, thereby forcing you to complete the full distance.
What other strategies do you employ to combat cutting rides short and/or not extending them due to boredom?
The problem temptation is that my riding loop allows me the option of cutting it short instead of forcing a longer distance.
The obvious remedy would be to ride straight out for 1/2 the desired distance, thereby forcing you to complete the full distance.
What other strategies do you employ to combat cutting rides short and/or not extending them due to boredom?
I missed last year due to my Dad's summer passing. should have no excuse this summer
Last edited by rumrunn6; 06-19-23 at 01:31 PM.
#54
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Different strokes.
I find indoor exercise painfully boring, but love biking outdoors.
I find indoor exercise painfully boring, but love biking outdoors.
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#56
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Zwift has significantly changed my attitude about trainer rides. For training purposes, it can be some of the most effective work I do.
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Interactive training, whether it’s Zwift, Peloton or whatever, are certainly the key difference when it comes to indoor training.
It takes a certain level of discipline to grind away on a turbo in the garage or the basement with not much more than a training plan and a stopwatch; I for one, sure don’t have enough to stick with it for more than about 30-40 minutes before I’m looking for a reason to get off and do something else.
Watching TV or a movie, I go a lot longer, but I’m usually just mindlessly spinning away, doing “junk miles “
Zwifting, or the like, takes the mental load off of trying to set up the next interval and just lets you chase the next goal/ target
I find I can do a lot more effective work that way, especially at the end of a longer session, when I’m starting to get tired
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Where I live there are basically 3 routes that I do if I don't feel like 1) doing any sustained or steep climbing, or 2) driving out somewhere (not feasible for post-work rides during the week). Thus, I do get really bored and unmotivated. My way to combat this is to ride the same routes on different bikes (roadies, gravel, different frame materials) or by swapping out different wheels/tires, etc. I'll even lower and raise my stem to mix it up though now most of my bikes are relatively slammed (until I get sick of looking at the ugly extended steerers and raise them back up a cm or two). My most recent experiment was converting one of my gravel bikes from drop bar to flat bar, then to flat + inline bar ends. But I still ride the same 3 main routes.
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Same here. There is something unbearable about indoor cycling that prevents me from doing it for longer than 30 mins or so. I think it's the fact that I'm sweating so much and dripping all over my bike and my floor (even with a fan) as well as the lack of organic variations in body posture that results in sore contact points after just a short session (whereas during the course of a typical outdoor ride I might be standing, coasting, aero tucked, gesturing to my friend, etc.).
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Same here. There is something unbearable about indoor cycling that prevents me from doing it for longer than 30 mins or so. I think it's the fact that I'm sweating so much and dripping all over my bike and my floor (even with a fan) as well as the lack of organic variations in body posture that results in sore contact points after just a short session (whereas during the course of a typical outdoor ride I might be standing, coasting, aero tucked, gesturing to my friend, etc.).
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I quite like cycling indoors because I can stick a movie on and watch whilst I'm spinning away. I couldn't handle it otherwise, even with music it'd get dull after an hour or so.
Outside it's different, since it's more peaceful but with some varying scenery.
Outside it's different, since it's more peaceful but with some varying scenery.
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Perhaps the enemy of boredom is cycling.
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+1
Interactive training, whether it’s Zwift, Peloton or whatever, are certainly the key difference when it comes to indoor training.
It takes a certain level of discipline to grind away on a turbo in the garage or the basement with not much more than a training plan and a stopwatch; I for one, sure don’t have enough to stick with it for more than about 30-40 minutes before I’m looking for a reason to get off and do something else.
Watching TV or a movie, I go a lot longer, but I’m usually just mindlessly spinning away, doing “junk miles “
Zwifting, or the like, takes the mental load off of trying to set up the next interval and just lets you chase the next goal/ target
I find I can do a lot more effective work that way, especially at the end of a longer session, when I’m starting to get tired
Interactive training, whether it’s Zwift, Peloton or whatever, are certainly the key difference when it comes to indoor training.
It takes a certain level of discipline to grind away on a turbo in the garage or the basement with not much more than a training plan and a stopwatch; I for one, sure don’t have enough to stick with it for more than about 30-40 minutes before I’m looking for a reason to get off and do something else.
Watching TV or a movie, I go a lot longer, but I’m usually just mindlessly spinning away, doing “junk miles “
Zwifting, or the like, takes the mental load off of trying to set up the next interval and just lets you chase the next goal/ target
I find I can do a lot more effective work that way, especially at the end of a longer session, when I’m starting to get tired
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#67
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Is this opinion based on your extensive experience with Zwift?
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#69
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Fair enough. My question remains unchanged.
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For me, the biggest thing about Zwift is real-time interaction with other riders. I use structured workouts on occasion, but I generally prefer group rides at a specific w/kg level, depending on what I'm trying to do that day. In my area, it's not easy to find a place where I can ride at a steady effort level for an extended length of time. That kind of work is helpful for the kind of fitness I'm trying to build. On Zwift, it's easy.
I don’t always have the option to go for a ride outside much of the time, and while indoor trainers are the cycling equivalent to non-alcoholic beer, it’s less of a struggle to get the work done in front of a screen; than when only staring at the walls of the exercise room.
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Aside from riding velodrome which is done indoors which I understand, cycling to me is an outdoor activity. Getting outdoors is what makes cycling so enjoyable and fulfilling. I have no experience with Zwift and no desire to even try one.. To enjoy a bike ride I need to be out in the real world and actually be moving and going somewhere and not just spin in one place in front of a computer screen.
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Aside from riding velodrome which is done indoors which I understand, cycling to me is an outdoor activity. Getting outdoors is what makes cycling so enjoyable and fulfilling. I have no experience with Zwift and no desire to even try one.. To enjoy a bike ride I need to be out in the real world and actually be moving and going somewhere and not just spin in one place in front of a computer screen.
#73
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I have to agree with wolfchild . Being outdoors is part what makes cycling so enjoyable. If it's too cold to cycle, I will walk, hike or xc ski if I can find snow.
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To my amazement, I found out I enjoy outdoor physical labor that included landscaping and gardening. There is a creative aspect that I tapped into at 60 y/o that makes me proud of completing DIY projects.
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#75
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I don't use indoor trainers. The only time I get bored is on park trails where everything looks the same.
I never get bored riding in the streets, bike lane or not.
I never get bored riding in the streets, bike lane or not.