mstateglfr 

My calendar for cycling is a series of peaks and valleys due to family responsibilities, a cycling mentor program I help oversee, and weather.

January- nope, not gonna ride. stupid cold and snow. hit the trainer or a spin class a few times a week.
February- nope, not gonna ride. stupid cold and snow. hit the trainer or a spin class a few times a week.
March- gonna ride a bit, mostly in the 2nd half of the month since daylight is longer and a better chance of decent weather. Most evenings are taken up with kids activities.
April- outdoor riding starts in earnest as the mentoring program rides 3x/week and i ride 2 of those per week plus usually an extra ride by myself or with my kids. Most evenings are taken up with kids activities.
May- 2x/week with mentor program and 1x/week by myself or with kids. Longer rides due to longer daylight and warmer temps. Most evenings are taken up with kids activities.
June- 2x/week with mentor program and 1x/week by myself or with kids. Even longer rides due to longer daylight and warmer temps.
July- 2x/week with mentor program and 1x/week by myself or with kids. Even longer rides and culminates with RAGBRAI for a week straight of riding.
August- I will ride 1-2x/week on my own or with my kids.
September- I will ride 1-2x/week on my own or with my kids. Most evenings are taken up with kids activities.
October- I will ride 1-2x/week on my own or with my kids. Most evenings are taken up with kids activities.
November- I will ride a few times in the month, but its limited due to temps, kids activities, and darkness.
December- nope, not gonna ride. stupid cold and snow. hit the trainer or a spin class a few times a week.


I am essentially forced to cycle 2x/week for the mentorship program because I made a commitment to local youth. That helps push me- commitment to others.
Then I do a gravel race the 3rd weekend of October every year, so that helps motivate me to ride when I can in September and October.
Typically I will do some singletrack mountain bike riding from September - December too as I like doing that for 60-90min and its a fun change of pace over road/gravel riding.
I just signed up for a gravel race the last weekend of February with a bunch of climb, so that will force me to use the trainer and spin classes more than usual over the coming 3 months when I am usually the least active.

So I 'kick start' myself with a few milestones thru the year. Obligation to ride to work with kids and train for RAGBRAI, train for the October gravel race, and train for the upcoming February gravel race.

I have found that I operate best when I have obligations. If I dont have plans and dont commit to something in my mind, its a 50-50 chance I will do it and I get really down on myself for not doing whatever it was that I chose to skip.
With this said, I dont even come close to many here in terms of miles ridden per year as I am too busy with other obligations. I manage 1800-2500 miles per year over the last handful of years. Heh, perhaps I am not the best example of how to stay motivated!