The mental side of cycling (how do you push yourself?)

oxoneil

capilinconnemara wrote:

Late nght rants can often speak the whole truth.Sounds like your gone stale
You seem to have forotten the most important thing.
Why do you ride the bike.
You must have had confidence in your ability to do it in the first place so go back and find your initial reasoning for starting out.If you have a mtb maybe a few rides just in a differet enviorment ,testing yourself in a different skill zone will relight the road spark.

Stale, a good way to describe what I read into the initial post. Your description of yourself sounds just like me a few years ago when I was making a big change in my life and lost all motivation to train hard and race. I gave up racing and just started cycling because I wanted to. It worked for me and now, nearly 3 years later I'm getting some good fitness back and may even race again next year.

a_n_t

a_n_t wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

sub 26 min 10TT,

thats one of mine too! Did 27.34 for the first one [in the wet] so should get there.

didn't realise this was an old thread till I saw this.

Managed 24.55 by the end of the season but then I dont mind a bit of pain!

markos1963

a_n_t wrote:

a_n_t wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

sub 26 min 10TT,

thats one of mine too! Did 27.34 for the first one [in the wet] so should get there.

didn't realise this was an old thread till I saw this.

Managed 24.55 by the end of the season but then I dont mind a bit of pain!

26.25 Just missed! Next year sub 25 mins.

Takis61

"brownbosh
Riding in agony IS fun. If you don't enjoy it give up and do something you do enjoy. You don't want it enough if you are not prepared to suffer"


Sorry, what hardman bollocks.
There are days when you train hard, yes, but it is good now & then just to get out, ride, smell the fresh air, enjoy the scenery, and oops strangely you've had a good ride at a high avg. speed.

guv001

NapoleonD wrote:

Regarding pushing myself or maintaining a training level -

I got myself a power meter just before christmas. Oh my word. Improvements were unbelievable! I improved my power output by 1 watt per kilo in 3 months, the difference in my riding was amazing. This was due to the fact that the numbers were always relevant, they were a target for me and the incredibly structured training was very easy to follow.

However, there were also times when I just went out and rode my bike, for nothing more than pleasure / looking at scenery / social reasons. These were equally important to me. I didn't take a computer on these rides at all...

+1 I find by logging and studying rides you are motivated to keep bettering yourself...

vorsprung

I have a goal for the year to do at least one 100 miler or 200 mile ride a month

On January 1st I rode 100 miles. I had to stop in a pub half way and defrost my feet.
In May I rode two 600km rides, which are effectively a 200 miler then a 100 mile the next day
I was on holiday for most of August but managed a 400km ride right at the end of the month.

Last weekend, the weather was good. I had a sandwich in my vast saddlebag. I had lights and extra clothing. It was 4pm and I was in Dulverton. I was going to go to South Molton over Exmoor and back. This would have made the distance up to 100 miles and my goal for the month would be done. I am quite busy at the moment so it is difficult to work in time to ride like this. But the opportunity was there..

However, i didn't feel like it. It's hard to say why. But the thought of not getting back until 8pm or so depressed me. So I just cut the ride short and headed for home.

My legs were good, I had the opportunity, the motive and the equipment. But without gumption this all counts for nothing

nolf

I find that sometimes I get very like that as well. Especially before what I know are going to be hard sessions.

It's strange I find nowadays that I still really worry about getting dropped from the chaingang, despite the fact I'm one of the strongest riders there and spend a heck of a lot of time at the front. Even a simple 100k group ride with a cafe stop can worry me a bit, despite the fact I do these all the time.

I think the best solution is to start riding your bike for fun for a bit. Maybe remind yourself that actually you're already really quite fit, and better than the vast majority of people.

Go out on a solo cafe ride at the weekend, like 50 miles with a cafe stop after 30. Take it slow and reward yourself with a really nice coffee and cake. Don't push the pace uless you want to and don't fee you have to go fast. Choose a route thats scenic.

I find that the main challenge is starting riding as others have said.
Once I'm out I'm fine. Force yourself out of the house, then go and say hi to the club ride, then before you know it, you're on the club ride, and probably fine.

dave milne

I really struggle to motivate myself for interval sessions. I have given up even attempting them on the turbo I find it too boring and painful.

Instead I just do hill repeats or a short hilly route as hard as I can, I find it much more motivating.

kingrollo

brownbosh wrote:

Riding in agony IS fun. If you don't enjoy it give up and do something you do enjoy. You don't want it enough if you are not prepared to suffer,

I hope this wasn't a serious reply.

to the original poster, you need base miles before speed comes - at least 600 cumaltive miles. Don't worry to much about speed - just enjoy the miles - keep riding, at your own pace throughout winter, then come next april you can up the ante a bit.

vorsprung

kingrollo wrote:

you need base miles before speed comes - at least 600 cumaltive miles. Don't worry to much about speed - just enjoy the miles - keep riding, at your own pace throughout winter, then come next april you can up the ante a bit.

Where did the magical figure of 600 miles come from?

Bhima

Wow, old thread!

brownbosh wrote:

Riding in agony IS fun.

Sort of agree.

When i'm in agony, it's usually no fun at the time, but afterwards when i'm recovering at home with some food, I do tend to look back on the ride and think "yeah, that painful bit was really fun actually". It helps if you're on the flat, as the real pain zone usually pushes you to quite fast speeds.

Pokerface

vorsprung wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

you need base miles before speed comes - at least 600 cumaltive miles. Don't worry to much about speed - just enjoy the miles - keep riding, at your own pace throughout winter, then come next april you can up the ante a bit.

Where did the magical figure of 600 miles come from?

And over what period of time? A week? A month? Or just once you hit 600 miles full stop?

ride_whenever

just get yourself addicted to endorphins...


works ever time, training as a team also makes it more fun.

cj504

Think how many calories you're spending compared with the people in their cars,

Treat climbing as 'coiling a spring', once up you've earned all that momentum for going down the other side and imo it's worth every ounce(how do you measure pain?) of pain,

Breaking the ride up is a great one, try racing between villages. Take it easy in the villages (where you're more likely to get pulled out on, general traffic etc...) and gun it between - it's great fun!

Anonymous

I just saw my body fat % and how poor my endurance base is in a full test.

That has inspired me!