DogBoy

I like to ride, and was looking forward to doing a brevet series this year, but after figuring out how much riding I'd have to do to get ready for one, I bailed. I will probably do a 200k, but I don't feel like I have the time to do the whole shebang with a 2.5 YO and a 4 MO, and I guess I'm figuring I'm not the only person in this boat. Do any of the rest of you balance work/life & riding? How do you do it? I've resigned myself to weekend morning rides in the 60-80 mile range, and an occasional weekday ride of 30ish miles. My wife even thinks this is excessive, and to some degree I agree with her.

Anyone have any terrific advice that will solve my problem...(in such a way that won't end up with me being single again)?

GamecockTaco

no good advice as I'm in the same boat as you except that I have 4 kids (8 down to 2).

typically, I only get one of those weekend rides in and it's usually no more than 50.

If you find an answer, please let me know.

merlinman

I think this is why so many of us stopped riding for many years and can only start again when time frees up. I'm at other end of family spectrum - kids are teens with one off to college this fall. I can carve out 12 or so good hours a week for training - plus the time for the actual event (all day in many cases). So I am still not going for huge hours/miles - just high quality intervals and hills. But compare that to going to the gym 3-4 times a week for one hour - your wife has a point.

so maybe get one of those trailers and haul the kids!

dirtyphotons

i don't have kids but i do have a lot of trouble fitting riding time in between other obligations. my best advice is to train smart.

first, i'd suggest cross training. jogging and weight lifting are much faster workouts than cycling. even if you're not going as hard as you can you're going to get a good workout in less than an hour. plus you're resting some of the cycling-specific muscles and tendons so that they get a chance to fully recover, while your lungs still get a workout.

also , try and work rides into your regular activities. i'm lucky in that i am able to commute via bike, but even if you can't do that you might be able to ride to the store, or find some way to make the bike ride a part of your day, not something where you have to put your life on hold.

anyway, just a few thoughts, good luck having your cake and eating it too.

lemurhouse

This is exactly why I got out of endurance racing 20 years ago. The training load, on top of a career, didn't leave enough time for my family which included two young children. I made efficient use of my time, but even so there wasn't enough time for all three. Ultimately you have to choose what your priorities are going to be.

That's the way it was for me anyway.

My youngest is off to college this fall, so now I have more time to ride. Might have too much time on my hands in a few months!

hammond9705

This is a problem with me also. A couple of weeks ago I woke up early on a Sat morning and was waiting for the sun to come up to go riding. Started thinking about it, and realized that I had a set of lights and didn't need to wait for daylight.

Since then I try to wake up early on weekends and get started on longer rides while the rest of the family is sleeping.

Bob

SharpT

I try to ride as much as possible while my family is sleeping. Early morning long way commutes to work before the sun comes up. Once in awhile do a long afterwork ride. Also hit the hills during lunchtime for a 45 minute workout from time to time, we have a nice 10 mile loop with two 400' climbs.

We also have a 1000ft 10%+ climb a mile away that I will be conquering soon.

SharpT
-Endurance riding wanabee-

Machka 

I don't have kids but this season I am working anywhere from 51 to 61 hours a week, plus night classes. Last year I was in University full time and working part-time till the end of April, and then I worked about 60 hours a week all summer.

It can be tough to get the kms in there. Last year I aimed for 10,000 kms but only reached about 8,000 kms. I pulled off an SR series, most of a 1200K, and a 24-hour race .... but it was NOT easy!!

I can't wait till I get my degree!!!

zonatandem

Get a tandem for you and the Mrs. Add a trailabike and/or child trailer and hook 'em to the tandem and become a long choo-choo train. Wife and kids'll like it; short rides in the beginning and make sure to stop for playtime/icecream/whatever for the kids.
Good training, good family time and eventually longer rides with all!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Red Rider

Make the choice that best aligns with your beliefs and priorities. You've chosen to have a wife & children; make them the focus of your attention. The road will always be there. Your children won't.

Years ago my husband made a similar choice between his passion (hang gliding) and his family. He missed his sport, sure. He didn't miss a minute of our kids' adventures, awards, activities, achievements. And when the kids were more independent, the hang glider was waiting for him.

Another thought: Modify your goals so you still have a focus for your training and dad time. (I believe in an "and/both" approach.)

Good luck!

JoeOxfordCT

I have a Burly Solo for my 2 year old and it at least adds an option for me when I want to get a ride and the little one needs some stimulation beyond the boob tube.....haven't gone more that about 30 miles with her (2 hours) though. It's best to put some snacks and small toys in with her (or him) and to plan on making some planned stops so they don't get bored. If you're lucky they will sleep for much of the ride. My little one loves it and it doesn't hurt that it frees up the wife to also be able to get some thing done too !!! Good Luck !!

danimal123

I have a child (1 year old) and I work 50+ hrs./week. It's tough to get training in, but I'm able to get 20-25 miles a day in commuting to works and then I go on a club ride or a long ride on either Sat. or Sun., taking the other day to spend with the family and/or let my wife have some time on her own.

It helps to have a very understanding partner, and it also helps to keep your priorities straight. For me, it's the family first, then riding.

.....it also helps to be able to wake up REALLY early on weekends so you can get a few hours of riding in before anyone in the house is awake. It's sort of like "bonus time."

lukathonic

This is a good way to go, but not a cure-all. I've been pulling my daughter for bike rides in a Chariot trailer since she could hold her head up (two years ago). Longest ride so far was 45 miles ... my legs say that equals a century. That was 5 hrs, with breaks. They DO like it. But any longer than that and I wouldn't feel good about dragging anyone along with me. Even that long was questionable, but I really wanted to do the Portland bridge pedal (+ ride to and from start). So, no answers from me regarding long rides.

Training? Waking up early is an option. Just not my favorite time of day unfortunately. The best I've been able to do is to ride to and from errands, even when they are far. 40 miles to a job interview ... and they offered me the job! Sometimes by riding it takes me 3 hrs instead of 1.5, but I consider that a pretty good deal. It's like buy one get one free - carve out 1.5 hrs of riding time, get extra 1.5 just because you combine it with an errand.

Good luck to all of us!

Paul L.

Well, I have a 3 year old, 2 4 year olds, and a 7 year old. Last year I was able to complete a series and this year I had to bail at about 250k on the 600 due to weather and a bunch of other factors but I could have finished it had things been a little more favorable (and had I not been riding it solo a week before).

Here are the facts- You can have a family or you can be a fast distance rider. The two as far as I am concerned are not compatible. Now, that being said, if you don't mind dropping off the elite crew in the first group and riding your own ride, it is doable with a lot less training than many people recommend. Every weekend long training rides are useful for going fast, however, I find that I do well with a few shorter rides (100 miles and under) between the 300-400-600. I do many rides that start a few hours before dawn so I am back not too far after sunup on Saturday and I take Sundays off. My work commute is 25 miles one way so I get a nice hour+ ride in most mornings (get a ride home with father inlaw). So, it is possible but you need to really know what you can do and how to maintain the balance of family and cycling. Truthfully your family will be with you always but long distance cycling comes and goes (I know I am speaking blasphemy here, what I mean to say is that if you break a leg, lose an arm, or have any other health problem that ends a long distance career your family will still be there hopefully if you have not excluded them, otherwise you will be left with nothing). I used to do some training with a trailer on the back of the bike and a kid or two inside, talk about hill training! Anyway, it is possible, just not easy. I would ere on the side of family personally.

Incidentally, I figure in about 7-8 years I will have my own little 5 person paceline on the 200ks so there are perks I guess if you can tough it out!

kleinboyz

I have trained for a few 24 solo MTN bike races and I have three boys and a wife. I usually try to plan a year in advance for a race and sit down with my wife to talk about the time frame. I try to do it when I'm not coaching my boys sports. I live in AZ so I can pretty much ride year round. Big advantage. Then I ride in the early 4 AM with a nice HID light, I go to bed early so I can get up and changemy internal clock. Then I start riding twice during the weekday to just add miles I go easy at night and only do a few at night. Then I ride long one weekend and average and very early before church on the other weekend. Then after the race I stay off the bike for solid month and give back to the family. Has been working OK but again I can ride in Dec at 4AM much of the country can'tdo that. Hope that helps.

Chad

By the way I came to this site to learn how to train for a 252 mi Cochise Classic in Oct on the road. The 24 hrs races Ive done sole have breaks in the laps, on the road I need to learn how the race goes, do you stop, and if so how often. I use Hammer nutrition and other luck on others?

Paul L.

The Cochise Ride requires a support vehicle devoted to you so you can stop when ever you want. There are stations to prove you passed that way but I believe many people have their support vehicle take care of the admin responsiblities here so the rider can keep moving. Technically you could stop wherever you want, there just isn't any refreshment stands on the 252 like many other shorter rides have. One of these years I am going to give it a whirl I think, trouble is finding two people to operate a support vehicle for me.

tbrown524

I go for rides at 4:00am and usually arrive home before the wife and kid wakes up.....

Fixedwheelnut

I have four daughters the youngest is disabled and the missus works some weekends aswell so finding time to Audax is a real juggling act, but really only a 400 and 600 involve a whole weekend away.

For training I commute to work and get out most Tuesday evenings on the club run, in summer I top this up by having a long commute home whenever I get the chance and ride it as fast as I can, and sneak out on the odd Sunday morning when I can.

Eyeseeu

Unfortunately the most effective for me is to supplement my outside rides with using a trainer in the house. I have my kids (7 and 8) while my wife is working on the weekends, so usually my Sat and Sunday rides are indoors with them. I do those rides starting in the early morning and the kids can still play. If they need anything I can easily stop to take care of it. They think it is cool to refill my water bottles also, plus on occasion want me to do some sprints etc. "to make the trainer go loud".

Weekdays if I am not travelling I do early morning rides and my long one for the week is usually Friday. Luckily my work schedule is flexible and I don't go to an office, or this would be difficult.

derath

I have run into the same problem, and I am not even training for any long distance rides. A friend talked me into an Olympic Triathlon. I have since backed out as I had a hard enough time training for one sport. I have a 4yo and a 1yo. My wife is very supportive, but life is just busy. My new goal is the Cheat Mountain Challenge, a tough century IMO. Some things I have done to get miles in are:

1. I usually work from home. But on my office days I try to commute to work 62 mile round trip
2. I got some nice lights and ride at night. Kids are in bed by 8:30 and I am on the road by 8:45. I can usually get in a 90min ride and use this for targetted training.
3. I combine activities wherever I can. I bike to and from church sunday mornings (30miles RT). When the kids go to the park, I bike there and back. Any time I can ride to meet them somewhere I do.
4. I ride rollers and use my norditrack indoors. I limit this tho because it is SO BORING. But for times that I am house bound it is better than nothing.
5. I got good bad weather gear. I bike in the rain, the cold, the snow (mountain bike). I have enough things that get in the way of my riding. Weather is not one of them.
6. We have a tandem and trailer. My wife likes riding (not as much as I do) so we make it a family affair as much as we can. When I need more work I tow the trailer solo and my wife rides her own.

-D

calf man

We have 3 and 6 year old boys.
If I am going to sit down for an hour and watch TV, then I will sit on the stationary trainer and do a real workout (HR 140 to 160 ish), wearing headphones so I can hear the TV sound (the designated sweaty headphones).

Also, commuting to work instead of driving can be a great use of time while getting a workout in.

I have found that with this approach, one long club ride on Saturday morining in the 50 to 70 mile range is enough to maintain a decent level of fitness.