Does anyone ever just lose interest?

Agent57

Nope, never. That said, I've only had regular commutes of between 2 and 5 miles, so even in the wettest, windiest or coldest weather it's not too bad. I've got no car and have commuted by bike for most of the past 25 years when my journey hasn't been too far to cycle. Haven't got tired of it yet... At the moment my daily commute is a mere 2 miles, but soon I'll be moving somewhere about 6 miles away (or 9 miles if I take the more scenic hilly route). Looking forward to that.

rjsterry

I've lapsed rather badly this winter. A combination of long hours at work leaving me too tired to safely ride home; a string of minor ailments; a bike in serious need of an overhaul; and the utter clusterf*** of the north-south superhighway construction work have really taken some of the enjoyment out of it. That said, Thameslink seemed to be working hard to push their entire passenger base out onto bikes. A few bright mornings have also really helped.

rick_chasey

On_What wrote:

The thought of riding to work at the moment fills me with dread, I just can't seem to get any enthusiasm to do it anymore. Maybe it's the cold, maybe its the maniac drivers but I can't pin it on any one thing. Does anyone else go through this?

Which specific part of it do you dread?

roger_merriman

I suspect most if not all of you are riding far further and with far more on road, it's only 3 miles and 2 of those are Bushy Park the rest being quiet side roads.

I just now and then, take a loop home but not often. I do really enjoy the commute though a lot of it is not the cycling but the Park it's self.

rhodrich

I have to admit that fatigue does seem to be building up at the moment. Whilst I greatly enjoy riding fixed, it is harder work than with gears. In percentage terms though, I'm not sure what that actually means, but I'm generally knackered by the time it comes to the weekend. 'Pootling' is not generally possible on a fixed gear bike, into a headwind. I've even been cutting down on my lunchtime runs - haven't done any running this week, though I'll try and go out this lunchtime.

Have clocked up 3500 fixed gear miles since September last year. YTD I've clocked up 1400 miles, which is on course for an 8000 mile year, compared to 6500 last year. Having light mornings now is certainly helping, but I can't wait until things warm up a bit more, and we have light afternoons.

Onwards and upwards though. Much better than roughing it on South West Trains.....

seajays

Two things motivate me now:

• Like someone else mentioned, I love to log all my rides in Strava and see the miles increasing. Don't know why, it just gives me a sense of satisfaction to see what I've achieved (and nothing to do with KoMs or anything!)
• I have been commuting since June 2014. I haven't missed a day's commute yet. Ergo, if I miss a day now it will be a massive failure in my mind, so whenever I have any doubts I just think of my unbroken commute record and just get on with it!

j_mcd

I think it's the time of the year, for me the cold is really getting me down and so I've only been doing 3 days a week on the bike. At least it's getting lighter now. As soon as it's daylight at 6ish I'll be upping the commute from 20 miles to 35ish and the new scenery, hills and route should spur me on. Hopefully.

The big problem I have is that going by car/train is about an hour quicker and sometimes that just out weighs the health benefits.

CiB

I did - just lost interest a couple of years ago. I'd proved to myself could do regular 20 mile commutes, I did all that stats logging here & better on my own PC and Strava, I knew it was probably saving me money but for the best part of 2 years now I just cba. The savings are irrelevant, the effort in getting up early to ride in is outweighed by the thought of having to get all togged up and ride for what now is about 75-80 minutes mostly in the dark, in the cold and usually these days rain with a battery of lights fore & aft to stay safe.

It'd be nice to get back in to it, but it's a bit meh these days.

veronese68

I've been struggling this year. I was working from home 4 days a week until recently as my daughter hasn't been well. I'm now back in the office every day, but starting at 7:30 and having to go home in the middle of the day to sort the girl out. Driving is quicker than riding at that time and I need the car to ferry her about so I wind up driving a lot. As a result when I do cycle I find it harder work, if it's windy and rainy my motivation then drops even further so I may take the car even when I could cycle. I might start riding the old MTB as then I can accept going slower more easily. Plus it has a plastic aeroplane clipped to the handlebars with a propeller that spins as you ride along. If I can pass a roadie on that it will make my day.

johngti

I've had a run of migraines that resulted in a stage 1 review at work so they had an impact to start with. Now I've been put on propranolol (a beta blocker) to bring them under control and so far what they've managed to do is give me a thick head every morning and zapped any remaining energy/motivation to ride that I had left. They've got to go - the best way I've found to control them is plenty of exercise. Ironic really.

Snakebite the 2nd

In the depths of Winter I do struggle.

I don't have to cycle, but it is just bloody mindedness that keeps me going.

Sharkyssurfers

Yep I have a CBA attitude now, this was down to a number of things mileage was starting to take its toll, so I shortened my mileage, I then got fed up watching all and sundry jump lights be it a bike, car or other and also dodging mindless pedestrians walking in to a road, because they think that phone will save their life. I have now for the past 4 months been riding a 125 into work and back and loving it, you still get the same issues as you do whilst riding, but its a lot quicker to move out the way, and quicker to stop, as well as being a damn sight cheaper than taking public transport. I will ride but more of a weekend thing when I have the time, but for now scr, commuting etc... is over. The only bad thing is that I still eat the same amount when cycling and put on a spare tyre round the belly, so got to shift that.

rick_chasey

Beginning of March is always the toughest point. Winter's been going on for what feels like an eternity and the cold still hasn't gone yet.

roger_merriman

My health/condition means that the bike is the safest/least taxing choice.

riding the bike over such a short distance even in the cold and dark. no matter how tired, is easy brain work.

my balance system or rather one of them is fecked from the brain injury I picked up a few years ago, which gets worse the tired I am.

I can and do fall, walking about or on buses etc. so I try to avoid going in by bus, train is easier but ridiculously slow.

The car is slightly faster, but requires much more concentration and well brain, which is no longer a practically indefinite resource. I don't want to be a risk to myself or others.

essex-commuter

I'm at a bad stage at the moment, only ridden in twice in 2 months. Weather's not great, my Dad has gone into a care home and I like to visit him as often as I can and it's near work so driving is jut easier. I've put on weight, I'm stressing over my Dad's finances, cycling is the last thing on my mind. But I need to get back on the bike to sort myself out, it's just the doing it I'm struggling with.

johngti

Rode to work today. Almost enjoyed it! But its a start

That burning you get in your legs on a hill? Yeah, not so nice after a long break!!

fossyant

Yes. Since some tit in a car fractured my spine badly in November, I won't be commuting by bike any more. I'll be lucky to be able to ride again.

Fortunately, I've negotiated early starts so will be able to miss most of the traffic when I drive in. Time to retire !

keyser__soze

Due to various other things taking up time at weekends, I'm only cycling to commute, and as such it's dragging down my enjoyment of being out on a bike as I only really do it because it's the least-worst option for getting to work. My current route isn't much fun to ride, stop/start and lots of idiotic drivers, I don't really get the fitness benefit I did when I did a longer commute and I'm finding it increasingly more stressful. There're times I feel like I'm mentally preparing for a battle when I get kitted out in cycling gear, helmet etc when I'd just like to jump on the bike wearing civvies and pootle in, ideally on quiet roads or dedicated infra. Unfortunately that doesn't really exist on my route and I find the slower I go relative to traffic the more I feel at risk from bad driving.

smokey_bacon

fossyant wrote:

Yes. Since some tit in a car fractured my spine badly in November, I won't be commuting by bike any more. I'll be lucky to be able to ride again.

Fortunately, I've negotiated early starts so will be able to miss most of the traffic when I drive in. Time to retire !

Sh!t that sounds bad. Hope you get back on a bike soon!

pastryboy

Sorry to hear that fossyant. I took a whack from a van pulling out on me at a roundabout recently but no serious damage. I guess it's just luck in terms of how hard you get hit and how hard you fall.

daddy0

Commuting used to be my stress relief, but this year I let it become yet another burden.

I started racing last year, was too keen to keep the form going. So this winter I pushed myself a little bit more, but overdid it, got ill, jumped back on the bike too soon, got ill again, jumped back on the bike too soon, got ill, jumped back on the bike too soon, etc...

After 3 months of this I ended up dreading having to commute by bike. So I took a couple of weeks break from commuting - doesn't matter how easy you take it, 25 hilly miles each way hits ones immune system. Got a bit better, and instead of jumping back into commuting I went on some weekend social rides with some slower friends. I realised I'd been neglecting the fun part of riding a bike, and I'd forgotten to allocate myself any "me time".

Fitness is slowly creeping back up, but I'm still paying for overdoing it. After a week off the bike again last week I was dreading this mornings commute, but did enjoy it. I'm now considering when to enter my first race this year, and now I'm dreading that - I know its going to hurt and I'll be surprised if I finish in the bunch...

rick_chasey

Going to sound like a curmudgeon but the increase in popularity has only worsened the experience for me, on all fronts.

smokey_bacon

Rick Chasey wrote:

Going to sound like a curmudgeon but the increase in popularity has only worsened the experience for me, on all fronts.

Including club rides/runs etc?

roger_merriman

fossyant wrote:

Yes. Since some tit in a car fractured my spine badly in November, I won't be commuting by bike any more. I'll be lucky to be able to ride again.

Fortunately, I've negotiated early starts so will be able to miss most of the traffic when I drive in. Time to retire !

Hopefully you'll have a good recovery, fairly scarey stuff I'm sure.

rick_chasey

Smokey Bacon wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Going to sound like a curmudgeon but the increase in popularity has only worsened the experience for me, on all fronts.

Including club rides/runs etc?

Yeah absolutely.

Been doing it for 12 yrs more or less. Club running for various clubs for 8 years. Commuting on my bike for 21 years...

2012 changed it all.

itboffin

Well this is all very cheerful, jeez!

apreading

fossyant wrote:

Yes. Since some tit in a car fractured my spine badly in November, I won't be commuting by bike any more. I'll be lucky to be able to ride again.

Fortunately, I've negotiated early starts so will be able to miss most of the traffic when I drive in. Time to retire !

Sorry to hear that Fossy - puts my fractured collar-bone into perspective. I could myself as lucky that I walked away from the accident after a minibus taxi T-boned me...

nich

Yeah, I sometimes find it a slog and a drag, I think it's down to the weather, I'm really starting to the feel the cold these past couple of months so I wrap up, but then I overheat - be glad when I can just go out in shorts n tee again

If I'm struggling mentally, I just break my route down into a few segments in my head. Can't really beat that morning sun rising though, it's glorious, and it's still 10x better than PT

On_What

Well today was my first commute in after two weeks off the bike. Nice chilly -3 when I left so I wrapped up and didn't expect to break records but had a decent run. It goes to show that a break is sometimes better than training hard. We've got a 7month old and I've been commuting 110miles+ a week since he was born.

GiantDance

Hammered it over the festival period, started Jan with a bang then managed to pick up cold after cold. Haven't been on a club ride since 1st Jan due to other things going on at the weekend, work is really busy so can't make the Thursday night rides. Completely lost interest in commuting in from mid Feb due to more people in our building now cycling in. So from me being the only person to use the bike racks and shower there is not 8 other people meaning I had to leave just after 6 to make sure I got a spot and shower.

Still going travel in a month so be even less cycling.