adlai

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.

veganbikes

Then you need to find better routes and potentially do some good stretching before hand and make sure your bike is properly adjusted for you ideally by someone who knows what they are doing IE: a fitter. Cycling shouldn't be boring and if it is maybe it just isn't for you or you are just riding the same route over and over and over and over again it wasn't a good one to begin with. I commuted daily by bike and didn't get bored with the route ever and I didn't vary it much if at all, it was a decent route. Because the route wasn't heavily traveled at the times I was on it by other cyclists I did tend to play music so I wasn't bored unless it was a song that had played a few too many times recently. The route was good because it was varied, some hills some flats plenty of turns some traffic, some lite or no traffic, a decent number of trees and the ability to stop and get a beverage if needed or groceries or something and plenty of places to get off and hop on a train or a bus if needed be or plenty of little variations I could make if I ever needed it.

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.

rumrunn6

I have an annual ritual to ride a certain trail end to end. it's pretty much the longest ride I do. bringing a camera makes it a little less monotonous for me. but I have to be "mentally" prepared

I missed last year due to my Dad's summer passing. should have no excuse this summer

Lombard

Different strokes.

I find indoor exercise painfully boring, but love biking outdoors.

indyfabz

To aid in my rehab I recently searched the basement for my trainer and came to the conclusion that I sold it many years ago because I hated it.

Eric F 

Zwift has significantly changed my attitude about trainer rides. For training purposes, it can be some of the most effective work I do.

Ironfish653

+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

tFUnK

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.

tFUnK

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.).

Lombard

30 minutes on the trainer? You're much more disciplined than I am, LOL! I can ride outdoors for hours as the scenery changes. I never tried Zwift or any of those other programs. Seems like it would be like a video game. That's a lot to spend on something I may use a few times and lose interest.

Herzlos

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.

rsbob 

Perhaps the enemy of boredom is cycling.

Eric F 

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.

indyfabz

I don’t Zwift, Strava, Wahoo, Peloton or order from places that require you to use a computer screen.

Eric F 

No worries. I'll do what works for me. You do what works for you.

wolfchild

As long as that cycling is done outdoors, because all forms of indoor cycling including Zwift sucks in comparison to riding outdoors.

Eric F 

Is this opinion based on your extensive experience with Zwift?

Koyote

With woflboy, I always mentally insert the words "in my opinion" at the end of each post. It may not be his intent, but it makes him less irritating and laughable.

Eric F 

Fair enough. My question remains unchanged.

Ironfish653

This is true. I think it’s my ADD, but I can maintain a noticeably higher level of effort for far longer when I have something to interact with, even if it’s just avatars, than I can when I only have the numbers on the power meter to keep my attention.

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.

wolfchild

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.

Trakhak

Agreed. Just as dumb as working out with weights indoors, when you can dig ditches in the fresh air.

Lombard

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.

CAT7RDR

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.

Daniel4

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.