Originally Posted by Vintage Schwinn

I would suggest that you drive to an area in La Jolla that is both scenic, calm with little to no traffic. Park your car, unload your bike, and ride casually after work. Exactly what I mean by casually is "unhurried" at a calm relaxed speed, and just soak in the sights, sounds, and smells, and bask in the sunshine! Don't try to haul ass because the aim is not to try to roll-up so many miles within a 90 min or a couple of hours.
I would recommend that you do aim for riding at least between six to seven miles. If you are outta-shape right now and cannot do so, (remember that yall are experiencing a heat wave that perhaps hasn't occurred in 40 years)----------ride a couple of miles, and then rest in the shade, enjoying the scenery etc while drinking Gatorade, water, or whatever brand of sports drink that you like. YOU GOTTA STAY HYDRATED! Don't push it immediately.....what I mean here is don't think that hey this is nothing because hell I was riding 15 miles plus before with no rest-breaks. IT IS ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN! You aren't trying to qualify for the Olympics next week, or being picked to substitute for one of the injured Tour de France riders.

I suggest that you do this (DRIVE TO La Jolla , PARK THE CAR, Unload the Bike.....RIDE) because a change of scenery will do you good.
Heck, maybe cue up Sheryl Crow - A CHANGE WILL DO YOU GOOD while driving to park the car and ride after work.
Any upbeat 4/4 time rock n roll with a good rhythmic groove will be motivational on the drive there......suggested examples: The WHO Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
The BEATLES- Get Back - & Ticket To Ride - & Can't Buy Me Love- & The Night Before - & Anytime At All.....(MAYBE NOT: 'If I Fell' or 'The Long and Winding Road'....)
The ROLLING STONES - She Said Yeah-- & It's All Over Now- & Tumbling Dice - & ***** Tonk Women
J. Geils Band- Whammer Jammer, Wet Willie-Keep On Smilin, The Faces-Stay With Me, Creedence Clearwater Revival- I Heard It Through The Grapevine- & Up Around The Bend, The Allman Brothers Band- Ramblin' Man - & Southbound--& One Way Out---- TEN YEARS AFTER- I've Been There Too, LEE MICHAELS- Do You Know What I Mean, --- JOHNNY RIVERS - Rockin Pneumonia....
...........those are just a few suggestions to add to your Car's playlist for the drive and commute.

Make it fun! You have worked a long day, and you've got to get back into shape. Don't try and kill yourself by trying to emulate a Tour de France participant just trying to grunt out as many miles as fast as your feet can fly! That is just completely dumb. You've gotta enjoy the ride!
Get your wife to join you and just ride a bit and enjoy the sights, sounds and being outdoors in the sunshine.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE A COOLER FULL OF ADDITIONAL Gatorade & Water INSIDE OF YOUR PARKED CAR SO THAT YOU'LL HAVE MORE THAN YOU'LL NEED WHEN YOU COMPLETE YOUR RIDE. It is also a good idea to use the parked car location as the fixed geographic point to use to base your few mile laps around so that you can call it a day when you feel like doing so ----OR/and should you experience tire/tube issues or other mechanical problems that you don't wish to or cannot deal with on the spot, that you are not very far from the car.
Hey, I like to keep bananas, sliced fuji & red delicious apples in a ziplock baggie in the cooler inside the parked car, and often a naval orange...orange slices in a baggie in the ICE filled cooler inside the car too.......also peanuts but yeah that's me.....
CARRY Water or Gatorade in a bike water bottle on your bike when you ride, and always a fully charged Phone, and WEAR A HELMET!!!
Don't try to carry everything including the kitchen sink on your bike. That is just a dumb! You see too many idiots that use their bikes for shopping trips and they are ill-equipped to carry what they purchased and they sometimes crash because they drop something/or load shifts---bag goes into spokes, etc....
DON'T BE THAT GUY. Yeah, there are those that have no other choice but to use their bike for shopping trips due to economic circumstances. Trying to carry a huge shopping cart load of goods and balancing them like the Flying Wallendas doing a family high wire pyramid act is just stupid. At least if you are gonna transport stuff, you should become reasonably skilled at doing so, before tackling transporting enough that could be seriously hazardous to someone not so skilled.

The change of scenery will get you in the mood and slightly more motivated.
Have fun! Don't tire yourself out after a long day. Do ride enough but not enough to wear you out, because you've got to get up and go to work in morning and you have to be recovered and functional, not a zombie who is suffering from the ride yesterday evening.
Scout out other potential local areas to drive to and Park the Car, and Ride.
You want calm, light traffic areas that, are nice areas. Near the Wastewater Treatment Plant or the Federal Maximum Security Prison, or near the Dump or Scrap Junkyards or blighted areas such as the land that time forgot, could be light traffic, and otherwise calm areas but are definitely not areas where you should be riding because the sights and sounds and smells are not going to stimulate your bicycling experience in a positive way!
If you do what I suggest just a few times, I am sure that you'll enjoy each ride and you will want to ride more.
Don't let riding become a PITA (pain in the a--). Your rear end must adjust to your saddle and the length of time spent riding the bike. Enough cannot be said on finding a saddle that works best for you. That varies for every individual rider. What I am saying is that you do not want to initially go for so long a period of time riding without taking a break or stopping that your rear end experiences any discomfort!!!!
Use your best judgement. Remember that you are not 18 years old. You've got to get proper rest and eat better than a young buck. Be cognizant of the extreme summer heat, and always carry a water bottle with you, whether walking, driving the car, riding the bike, or working in the yard. Drinking Alcoholic beverages and caffeinated beverages can leave you closer to being dehydrated if you do not otherwise drink enough water. Consuming too many alcoholic beverages and caffeinated beverages is not good and is worse during in the Summertime heat. Common sense is the word of the day. What would your doctor say? What would your neighbor friend who is medical doctor say to you if you asked him/her?
Don't try to go out and try to be the yellow jersey guy, setting a new world record on the bike, because you saw the Tour de France on television yesterday.
That is about as stupid as going to the Stihl chainsaw dealer or Home Depot / Lowes and buying three identical new chainsaws because you saw someone juggling chainsaws on television or on the youtube.

Definitely do get outside and off of the damn couch!
You live in one of the nicest areas in the United States as far as daily weather is concerned!
SAN DIEGO
You are probably "spoiled", perhaps that isn't the best word choice, but anyway many in SD and southern cali, are so used to the same great daily weather, and really the lack of seasonal change in temps etc that they take it for granted......and perhaps they need a seasonal change from time to time.
My sister-in-law, who worked at Scripps for two decades in the 80's and 90's says SD is great but she grew up in Ohio in the fifties and sixties before her parents moved their family to LA in 1964 when she was 15, and she says that LA had mild seasonal changes but changes, where SD was nearly the same everyday of the year, and that was great until it wasn't, and you felt like you needed a vacation away from that where whatever it was, was something different, if that makes sense. She now lives in Pointe Vedra Beach, Florida (near Jacksonville...northeast Florida on the Atlantic Ocean) because it offers seasonal changes but warm enough during winter and the area is nice and even more importantly that Florida has no state income tax, and that is a biggie if you are wealthy.
San Diego is great. I've been there many times. My wife has done the IRONMAN Oceanside 70.3
You don't realize just how good that you do have it as far as S.D. daily weather year-round and quality of life-outside/outdoor recreation in DEC/JAN/FEB as well as every other month of the year! The SAN DIEGO area is a National Treasure!!! Enjoy what you do have. Get outside and get off of the couch, at least while it's still daylight and the sun is shining! You can still do the video game thing if you want to while it is dark outside.
Get out and ride some. You will want to ride more often after you have three or four enjoyable leisure rides with nice scenery and little to no traffic.
IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN, THEN YOU MUST BE DOING IT WRONG!
The above are the simply suggestions from that old dumbass known as Vintage Schwinn, so, do take that into consideration, and remember that everybody is different, such that they may want to make an olympic team and set new world records.