The end of the road?

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OP
OP
yello

yello

back and brave
Location
France
My suggestion is to give yourself an official 3 month break...no guilt, no questioning and definitely no riding

I've more-or-less had that through illness.

I think maybe my answer is to not think about it, just head out with no expectations and see what happens. If I get 1km down the road and just turn and head home then so be it. That said, it usually takes me a good half hour before I'm feeling it - so it'll be a slow 1km then!

There's a ride I do, around 60 to 80km all told depending, that's absolutely brilliant this time of year. I suspect, in the back of my mind, I'm aware that I'm not up to it and that's possibly saddening me - making me think it's all over. Yes, I am a catastrophy thinker!
 

CentralCommuter

Über Member
I struggle with the motivation, but to echo SpokeyDokey it is the desire to exercise that drives me to get back on the bike. I never cycle with others, so much like the gym it has only ever been a solitary, occasionally lonely, pastime. Although once out I really do enjoy it.

Golf on the other hand …. I have played that consistently, obsessively for the last 16 years. If only it caused me to lose weight!!!!
 
OP
OP
yello

yello

back and brave
Location
France
My conclusion is to leave it until next Spring and if it happens it happens

Thank you. I think you've unintentionally hit on something there. That along with other comments about autumn riding. It might be season related. I think the fact that it is autumn is triggering me, if I can put it like that. I'm translating that I'm not riding in my favourite time of year as somehow being the end of the world... well, cycling anyway...when maybe I'm just fatigued.

Edit: added, when maybe I'm just fatigued.
 
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N0bodyOfTheGoat

Senior Member
Location
Hampshire, UK
I have considered the possibility that I'm still ill. Energy levels have been low for a few months now but no other real symptoms. As I had covid earlier this year I did wonder if there was a long covid-like residual.

It's certainly a possibility, different people can suffer different long covid symptoms.

My power numbers and Lactate Threshold Heart Rate fell off a cliff; along with exercise stamina; while fatigue and brain fog went off the scale. My breathing while doing exercise, including simply carrying individiual trays of food shopping delivery upstairs went wonky for months. I went from bike training ~10 hours per week on top of being a postie to struggling to do ~2.5 hours of gentle exercise a week and taking ill health retirement.

But there could be other explanations for your low energy, for example low iron and/or low Vitamin B levels.

Maybe chat to your doctor, if you haven't already.
 
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Has anyone made the decision to stop cycling? That is, if it is/was something you do/did for pleasure rather than necessity, i.e. commuting. Because I think I'm maybe close to making that decision. If I wasn't so invested in it, in terms of equipment, I think it'd possibly be a 'no-brainer' and I'd pack it in, but I have a garage and a wardrobe full of cycling stuff.

Now admittedly I've had health issues these last 3 months, and I've had periods in the past where I've taken a break, but it feels different today. Like it's 'not there' anymore. I find myself looking at my cycling gear, not feeling motivation but simply thinking it's time to sell up.

Curious, as it's been such a part of my life.

I intent to keep riding my trike right up to the end. I tell people that at 102 years old, they will find me pulled off the bike path cooling out. :smile:
 

Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
I got back into cycling in maybe 2008, loved it. Did many miles on a MTB, roadie and e bike. Commuted for a solid year on the ebike and then decided it was too dangerous and stressful commuting, so gave it up. I got a motorcycle license so have been doing that since 2015ish. I feel safer but had it not been for motorcycles then I would probably miss two wheels a lot. I keep meaning to take my partner's old Trek out, but not having a garage makes it very hard to get motivated. I.e I never fancy bringing it up 2 flights of steps then through the house!
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Try a week of commuting off the bike and see how you feel. Contrast and compare.
I don't just mean while commuting, I mean while at work. I always felt better at work when I cycled in compared to when I drove in.

Now and again I have to get the train all the way to work rather then a train/Bike. That tells me all I need to know that cycling is a no brainer.
Like others have said, just getting out can be tough, especially in the colder and darker months, but a few yards down the road and its all forgotten.
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
I don't have a choice because other than walking, cycling is my primary mode of transport. I'm currently off the bike for a while whilst I recover from my hernia operation, which is slightly infuriating because I hate waiting for buses. Learning to drive and owning a car is an expensive hobby whereas the cost of cycling for someone like me is negligible... so carrying on is a no brainer.
 

All uphill

Still rolling along
Location
Somerset
I'd urge caution and delay.

Earlier this year I had some heart problems and was absolutely sure I was finished with cycling. If I could have found buyers I would have sold the bikes.

I now know that the fatigue I felt was not linked in any simple way to my heart, and I'm loving the freedom I've regained with an ebike.
 
OP
OP
yello

yello

back and brave
Location
France
I'd urge caution and delay.

Earlier this year I had some heart problems and was absolutely sure I was finished with cycling. If I could have found buyers I would have sold the bikes.

I now know that the fatigue I felt was not linked in any simple way to my heart, and I'm loving the freedom I've regained with an ebike.

I hear you. I'm naturally conservative/cautious so tend not to take risks. The fatigue I'm feeling, or rather for the period of time that I've felt it, is concerning. I have spoken to my doc but the standard range of blood tests revealed nothing (other than slightly elevated cholesterol which is, I suspect, due to my reduced activity levels) I had a heart scare a few years back (I was misdiagnosed) but it may well still be lurking, at the back of my mind, as a concern.

Did you get the ebike because of the heart problems?
 
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brommieinkorea

Senior Member
Location
'Merica darnit
There definitely is a long COVID, that hangs in for 3 or more years. Been there done that.
Since I've always cycled,I can't imagine a time when I didn't . I can't really say for people who got into cycling for purely recreational reasons. I ride for fun, to go places, for the fitness , never competitively. If you're one who goes out on a ride for a certain amount of time, or Stravas everything, that doesn't sound fun. Heart rate monitor? You actually know your average speed? You have to dress up in skin tight whatever to cycle? Won't leave on a bike without a ventilated picnic cooler on your head? I don't do any of the aforementioned, and every bike ride is better than whatever else I probably should be doing.
 
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