Someone kick my ass please!

[purplemoon]

Ok, it's now 4 days since my first proper bike ride and all my good intentions of going out everyday are slowly slipping down the pan

I'm finding any excuse not to just get on my bike and go, from not having anything to wear (solved that one for now); not having a basket to carry bits n pieces in (don't need to for a simple ride); it's too hot/cold; wrong time of day/night; roads are too busy etc - you get the idea

Simple reason is I'm getting anxious about going out there on my own in and around my home village - but WHY????

 

[Landslide]

*PUNT!*

Go on, you'll love it once you're out.

 

[fossyant]

Get out there - the hardest bit is going out. No such thing as bad weather ! GO GO GO...ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ !!!!

 

[purplemoon]

Ok, I'm gonna go for it

I know I'll feel so much better once I've done it and the first time is always the hardest. Just going to aim for a couple of miles to start, with the option of extending it by another 2-3 miles if I feel ok

Back soon!

 

[JohnRedcoRn]

its that old 'fight or flight' devil isnt it ---yes, the very same one that makes me avoid hills.

its a very fine line, i get home about six pm, if i dont get out straight away i have me tea, then go out about 8.00 to let food digest. then of course its the overwhelming urge to drink tea / wine and get comy on the sofa.
I dont half feel good when i get out there though...sometimes it takes about 10 miles before the feelgood chemicals in my brain fire up and i ALWAYS feel good when i'm done.
its especially hard when mrs redcorn gets the face on with all the nonsense about me 'itching to get out' - of course i bloody am, i have a 50 mile ride in cumbria in 2 weeks and its only a bloody hour or two a night i go cycling - at least my midlife crisis is a positive one, i'm not out with some young trophy tart drinking and being an arse !!
sorry, off on a tangent there, but my point was we all have obstacles and things / people determined to piss us off, and these things are hard work ,its a battle, but keep going, fight it and you really cant lose.
good luck

 

[Scoosh]

OP - Today, 11:35
It's now 1206 - and you're still online ???

Get going - or we'll send someone round to drag you out

 

[JohnRedcoRn]

PS; dont be too hard on yourself, true we all need to push ourselves a bit BUT you do as you damn well please lady and dont feel you have to prove anything - this is for you and no one else, some days you have to fight it and get out there, other days you have to say ' i dont feel like it, i'm going to do NOTHING and i'm not going to feel the slightest bit bad about it'
BALANCE is they key to success, and not being too rigid, go with the flow, there are no rules.
i know because i'm an 'all or nothing' type so i have to be wary of being too rigid and making eveything into a chore.

 

[Scoosh]

Well said, JohnRedcoRn.
When first starting to ride, it's easy to want to go out every day but often we are actually not fit enough to do it. We need to start with alternate days (say) and build up steadily - though not necessarily slowly.

I have also dicovered (the hard way ) that, at my over 50 age, I need more rest beween exercise - I just can't do everyday long rides . Really annoying, as I still think I'm the young, fit 20/30 yr old I once was. I now feel more like an old, fat 50yr old !

 

[domtyler]

The best way to get out every day is to get a routine going, it will then become automatic that, say, you watch some program on telly or listen to one on the radio and then as soon as it's finished off you go. Treat yourself with a nice cup of something hot and wet and a piece of cake maybe when you get back.

 

[purplemoon]

I'm back!!!!

Did the short route, just 3 miles, but it's a start!!!

Did it in 15 mins too, not sure whether that's good or bad, but I was cycling into the wind and uphill coming back and I'm cream crackered now otherwise I'd have carried on a bit further

 

[nilling]

Re-explore your village by bike - pootle about. Forget about routes, times, headwinds...

Cycle to the local park, shops, cafe, friends etc. Use the bike as a means of transport. Just go out and enjoy

 

[purplemoon]

Funny you say that but I did spot a farm track that I've never noticed before whilst whizzing past in the car. I wouldn't mind exploring it some time soon to see where it might lead to.

There's probably loads of little pathways and tracks around that I'm completely unaware of, and I doubt some of them would even show up on a map. I like exploring

 

[just jim]

I like this quotation:

"Once one knows what really matters, one ceases to be voluble. And what does really matter? That is easy: thinking and doing, doing and thinking---and these are the sum of all wisdom...Both must move ever onward in life, to and fro, like breathing in and breathing out. Whoever makes it a rule to test action by thought, thought by action, cannot falter, and if he does, will soon find his way back to the right road."

Not that I'm suggesting you are in any way voluble!

That's Goethe for ye.....

 

[JohnRedcoRn]

uphill in the wind !!!! hard work for sure. i think you may just be underestimating your potential.

 

[shimano]

the getting out the door is the hard bit - once you've been out there and done it you'll feel sooooooooo good. ok you might be wet, cold and tired but you'll have done it!