Dealing with the long ones

BigJimmyB

Hi All,

I'm not a beginner roady as such, I ride a hybrid for fitness to help me do better in MTB.

Before you tell me to f-off out of your part of the forum, I have a serious question to ask which I'm sure some of you guys can help with.

Our current training consists of doing approx 20 miles, as quickly as poss - we normally do it in an hour.

I'd like to do longer rides (40-60 miles), albeit at a slightly slower pace (initially at least) but one thing I really, really struggle with is boredom.

Whilst the terrain etc in MTB changes frequently, and you have to vary your approach*, I find road riding pretty 'sameish' and struggle to stay motivated long enough to want to cover bigger distances.

Any help/advice?

*I mean no offence by this as I'm sure it's the same for road riding, but would really appreciate some insight/experience on this one.

Thanks in advance

BJB

danowat

Its rarely an issue for me, I can quite easily just switch my brain off and ride.

If I do get restless mentally, I do some mental calcs about the ride, like how long it should take me to get home, or try and work out some splits, either that or play games like trying to hit negative mile splits, or do intervals.

Failing that, I am lucky enough to have some very nice surroundings, so its easy to just enjoy the scenery.

My worklife is quite mentally demanding, so just being able to turn off is something of a luxury.

daviesee

I find cars and lorries occasionally resharpen my focus for me :evil:

I don't have time in normal life to get bored so escaping on the bike gives my brain a rest 8)

Rouge Penguin

Pick a nice route in the country side, make sure it has some gradient, ride with a friend or other forum member looking to do a circuit.

Its amazing the things you miss in a car, and wouldnt notice while runnning. Once you're going the miles fly by.

bobtbuilder

This will cause the usual argument to emerge, but.......

Music? I take my I-pod nano on any solo ride of more than 1 hour. I just have the left earbud in and keep the volume sensible.

ianlash

bobtbuilder wrote:

This will cause the usual argument to emerge, but.......

Music? I take my I-pod nano on any solo ride of more than 1 hour. I just have the left earbud in and keep the volume sensible.

I wish I had taken some music on Saturday as I had "i've got a brand new combine harvester" going round my brain for 80 miles! The scenery and trying to convert from kilometres to miles keeps me going.

Jaydoubleyou

You want to get yourself a couple of teenage daughters. Silence, an empty head and a stress free couple of hours are currently my idea of heaven!
Seriously I tend to take my ipod and leave it turned down. I think as long as it is not too loud it doesn't affect your awareness of traffic. That and my constant fiddling with my cateye for stats and regular rumaging around for spare energy (which can be quite ellusive IME) keeps me happy for hours.

Moaner

Pick lots of different routes - ideally ones you haven't used before.

stevie63

I haven't found boredom to be a problem. When I started to do longer rides I thought that I would but that simply hasn't been the case. In fact like others have said it's quite nice to think about as little as possible whilst just seeing how hard you can push yourself.

Philby

Avoiding the cars, lorries and potholes of roads around Bristol keeps your mind focussed. Also choosing a route with varying terrain helps - going down a nice decent at 30-40 mph is far from boring! Also change your routes, or explore roads you have never been down before.

anto164

Definately think about doing some nice rides, out of town. Normally plenty of things to look at whilst riding.

Buckled_Rims

Having worked in factories and offices (many times on 12 hour shifts) I have ingrained my brain never to be bored outside. I just love the outside. I do both road and MTB riding. I walk in the hills. I only get bored if I have to drive more them 3 hours.

I like to explore on the road bike. Going to different towns and hills. Unfortunately due to family commitments I can only do about 4 hours maximum and then the really boring housework needs to be done.

Rich Hcp

You need to pick your routes, a loop is always a good idea, and I avoid going along the same roads twice in either direction when possible

An outbreak of "I wonder whats down here" helps too

neeb

Others will probably disagree with this, but have you thought about getting a full-on road bike? I don't know why exactly, but a good road bike is just more fun and involving to ride than a hybrid. It's more jumpy and aggressive, you can accelerate better, tuck down into an aero position for descents, get a better weight distribution for cornering, climb better, etc.

Sounds like you are riding with a few mates - there's all sorts of fun to be had trying to out-sprint each other on long flats or racing to the tops of hills. But you definitely want to be out in the countryside for this, and to be doing rides longer than 20 miles. When you get more experienced you should be able to maintain average speeds that are only a little slower than your current ones over much longer distances, but because you are not going all out all of the time you still have power in reserve for short competitive efforts.

Pross

I don't find it an issue but then I'm blessed with beautiful countryside to explore. The only time I get bored is doing time trials on dual carriageways (I get the pointless tune in my head like someone else mentioned above!!) Also, I'm usually suffering too much to get bored.

tigerben

Boredom never an issue for me - I find that once I get into a decent rhythm I enter a semi-meditative state and my mind empties - with the only concerns being road traffic/ route.

Maybe it is because you are riding in an upright hybrid and are tending to go flat out that you never get the chance to relax as much on your rides?

MikeWW

Good question
Have never been bored on the road or the MTB but I guess I qet involved with both the scenery, other road users and just enjoying the feeling of riding.
Only time I have been bored has been indoors on a turbo and to a lesser extent rollers. However once I changed to watching sufferfest vids and trying to make myself sick even that became fun.

keef66

Try going out when it's blowing a gale, pi$$ing down, or the roads are covered in ice. Much more exciting then! And come summer, you'll really appreciate the calm, sunny weather, and miles of dry, grippy tarmac.

paul64

BJB, it's about creating the right mental approach.

My road rides can't compete with my off-road rides for the constantly changing surface, scenery, technical challenges and fun of the trails. Nor the pockets in the clothes, convenience of the Camelbak, ability to ride over surfaces and also the bits of tarmac with disdain, fantastic disc brakes, comfort of upright position, sociability between riders, horse-riders and walkers, lack of cars and roadies.

My off-road rides can't compete with my road rides for the speed, pure efficiency of every pedal turn, the feel of pedalling with good cadence, the miles covered, lack of baggage, lack of cuts and stings from the wilderness, lack of dust all over, in the mouth, mud on clothes, filthy bike. It's more about focusing on your rhythm, using maths or counting pedal turns on the climbs, making slight regular adjustments to gears, comfort in the same positions for long spells and escapism, shutting out the many unsociable roadies and constant threat of poor driving around you.

I can understand why off-roaders don't immediately tune in to the road but it s rewarding if you can.

BigJimmyB

Thanks all, some good insights/ideas there.

I think the key one for me changing the route, so that's what I'll do first.

I have the teenage daughters but they don't warrant a need for a distraction (they are very well-behaved).

I'm also considering a full-on road bike. I bought the hybrid on a bit of a whim and regretted no getting a properroad bike so maybe I'll make the switch...

Thanks again
BJB

Mastineo

iPod and take mental notes of new bridleways to explore on the MTB

BigJimmyB

Don't like music on-road (or off for that matter).

I need new MTB routes though, so wilkl look out for those!

MikeyC

Variety is indeed the spice of life and important to maintain your training motivation. It is also important if you want to improve your physical conditioning. Try riding different length routes at different paces - The sports science people call it interval training because our bodies soon adapt to constant training loads. Mix it up series of 1 minute sprints with 2 minute recoveries, hill work and don't forget the recovery rides - ambling along. These allow the body and muscles to recover and repair and get stronger.

Mike

brettjmcc

For me

1/ Learn to switch your brain off if you ride a route regularly

2/ Do a new route so you are constantly thinking if you've missed a turn. Don't do 1 and 2, other wise you end up doing longer like I did at the weekend :oops:

3/ Buy a computer and become Statto, set your self goals on certain points

4/ Maybe get some Shotbloks instead of gels, have them every 20 mins or so. That way you think about the time and also have something else to do every 20 mins

BigJimmyB

Thanks again for those pearls.

Brett, I find switching off very difficult, which is my main problemn.

I'll have to defo look for new routes - and vary the rides - that was a good suggestion. I'm sure my body is 'memorising' the rides....a new challenge is required.

Ta
BJB

brettjmcc

BigJimmy,
Well I don't always switch off. I have another hobby of building a replica car, so if I need to think of something else I start doing the maths, £s and engineering calcs in my head. Suddenly I am few miles down the road 8)

Brett

bnmcmhn

I find concentrating on my pedalling technique helps when I get bored. Just trying to be smooth and efficient as possible. The feel of the road underneath a decent roadbike can be enough to let the mind wonder.

Other than that I fall back on concentrating on my heart rate, and holding an exact effort, although some may think this data obssessed approach is unpure cycling. My new Garmin has just opened a whole new world of distractions!