waning motivation for long rides

TheGreatGatsby

please tell me its the time of the year and there's a period of adjustment to this type of weather? Anyone else finding it hard to get motivated to go out for rides in at the moment? It's not the rides really its the prospect of being cold, it just makes everything so miserable. I can go out for my 35mile commute and have on knee length socks, full assos bibs, thermals, intermediate, airblock jack, body shell and a gilet along with liners, als insulator winter gloves and lobster shells, lycra and winter plus over shoes and my hand and feet are still freezing within 30 mins.

I then find that as the ride goes on I get a sudden a noticeable drop in performance and was wondering of this is attributed to the body using more energy t try and keep warm?

It sucks - fact.
Gats

sylvanus

If you're getting that cold and seeing that sort of drop off in performance then the obvious culprit could be too little fuel which can also affect mood dramatically.

Are you having a proper breakfast before you leave and fuellling up enough for the ride? On a 35mile commute I'd presume you'd need to eat something intermitently on the bike too?

liversedge

my commute is 30 miles and I do not eat on it or before it. having said that I always have a hearty lunch to fuel the ride back.

motivation is low in the morning but I relish the ride home.

having said that, I only do it once a week - I can't imagine doing it daily. even in 25c.

brownbosh

Still drinking plenty?

jamieh5463

Same here mate ive been training all summer and the season before that when it was groggy, but now that its cold and wet i just cant get motivated, oh and also does anyone know if too much road spray will break my brakes on my road bike (normal 105 calipers).

ColinJ

Hi Gats.

One thing that you might like to look into is Seasonal Affective Disorder. If I don't use my lightbox regularly at this time of year, my energy levels hit rock bottom.

I'm talking:

August = sleep 6 hours a night; happy to do 125 mile rides in the Yorkshire Dales; feel great.

November = sleep 9 hours a night and then fall asleep mid-afternoon; struggle to get out on bike at all; can't even carry a couple of bag of shopping back the few hundred metres from the local market; feel like someone has sucked the life-force out of me.

Using my lightbox for about an hour around noon every day really makes a big difference.



(The weird looking box above my monitor is a home-made one that I used to use. The other one is the one I use now. You can get one of those for about £80 from Androv Medical)

The cold isn't good, but for me it's the depressing dreary gloom and short hours of daylight which do the damage. I went out on my bike the other day and it was bloody nippy, but because the sun was shining I felt really good.

Hope that helps,
ColinJ

ColinJ

jamieh5463 wrote:

...does anyone know if too much road spray will break my brakes on my road bike (normal 105 calipers).

I don't know about breaking brakes, but spray containing the salty grit that gets put on the roads at this time of year will seriously rot the metal parts of your bike if you don't wash it regularly. That's not to mention the grinding-paste-like qualities of it...

I went out for a quick ride once before Christmas dinner was served and was under strict instructions not to be late so I rushed home, had a quick wash but neglected to clean my bike. I didn't look at it again until the day after Boxing Day and by then, the chain was almost solid with rust.

I'd suggest getting into the habit of cleaning your bike immediately after every ride. You might not be able to do this if you commute into work, but at least do it after riding home again.

Mettan

The biggest problem (as ever) is the Wind (imho) (and there's more of it at this time of the year) - did a 48 miler yesterday, and well over half of it was blighted by headwinds (ended up with a 2:48, 1488 ft climbing). Sure, it's nice when the wind's either neutral or with you, but it makes the ride awful when you're riding into it constantly (for what seemed like 1.5 - 1.75 hrs solid).

3-5 deg temps are not exactly enjoyable (on the bike), but the Wind is vastly worse (than the Cold) (all imho).

redddraggon

When I'm in Manchester I don't seem to suffer from motivation from going out on the club rides, but I've been back home in North Wales this weekend, and having planned to go on a couple of rides this weekend I managed to go on zero......

......although I blame my lack of motivation on forgetting my winter jacket and not having a working computer/HRM on my good (only) bike at home. I didn't fancy going into the hills with the threat of snow with nothing more than a long sleeve jersey and tights.

TheGreatGatsby

ahh its good to see its not just me then! Its difficult cos work is particularly busy at the moment and I'm up at 4am t get there to get the work done so 35miles in and 25 miles home both in the dark and the wet and rarely being able t get out and I just find myself thinking that if I cut my ride down I can get in and get on with stuff but then know I'l feel guilty about not riding enough.

Even though the weather is crap I'm still managing between 3-400 miles a week which is ok I guess. ot great but ok.

Gats

andy83

glad i stumbled across this thread, have been finding the last week especially hard to cycle just my normal commute, not sure whether its lack of sleep or the weather changing but definitely not being able to ride as good as a few weeks ago. out for long ride on tuesday so guess i will jsut wait and see what happens then

chuckcork

TheGreatGatsby wrote:

Even though the weather is crap I'm still managing between 3-400 miles a week which is ok I guess. ot great but ok.

Gats

You guess!!!????

That is some serious mileage at any time of the year.

jamieh5463

Ok cheers for that ColinJ

Blonde

Some suggestions for motivation: Maybe you need a change of pace/direction. I have started track riding an can reccommend it. What about off road? MTB or cyclo-X? Try a different type of cycling and learn new skills, meet new people. Do you ride with a club or a cycling buddy? Do you build interesting routes/paces to visit into your rides? If you can get a day off, or have two whole days to spare at the weekend, you could plan a route to a B&B, Travelodge (£19 a night for family room in some) or a youth hotel with some mates and ride back next day.

Grinding yourself down with long miles in bad weather doesn't do much for health, fitness or your motivation. I ended up going slower and slower, getting run down, suffering endless viral infections and stress related health problems. You already have a good base, so don't force yourself out in poor weather for long rides, especially if all you are doing is riding at the same speed, on the same old routes over and over again. Perhaps just do some shorter, faster rides when weather is poor. I have planned to do a 200km audax ride this Sunday but I wont be doing it if the weather is bad - I'll just wait for a break in the weather and do a 30 mile loop from home instead. I ride to work nearly every day and find that my 26 mile round trip is enough to keep me fit, along with an hour or two on the track on a week night, even if I do miss a few weekend rides, so don't feel guilty - enjoy some well derserved rest on those days that just aren't conducive to quality long distance cycling. It's nice to have the choice - you can miss rides when you already have a good base, without losing any fitness or if you really HAVE to ride, you can build on speed instead - it's easy to use a short break in the weather to get a good quality training loop in. A few days off gives your muscles, heart and mind some much needed recovery though. You could always spend the extra time doing some much needed repair/maintenance work on your hard working bike(s) or getting your hard working body massaged!

BTW I too use a SAD light box - at work. I also use a dawn simulator clcok (no audio alarm) to wake me in the morning. I get up at 6:00 and leave the house at 7:00 and it's still quite dark even when I get to my desk at around 8:00. I can reccommend both the clock and the light box if you suffer low energy, lethargy, increased appetite and/or depression in winter.