Guilt issues over not riding.

[ton]

anyone else have guilt issues over not riding ?

since retiring a year ago, i have tried to ride my bike every day. it may only be a hour some days, other longer.
managed a few events last year.
so far this year i have also ridden most days, but for some idiotic reason, even when i a have a good reason not to ride, i feel guilty.
i find it very odd that i feel like this.

[Alpinum]

Nope.
I dislike regimes which work against irregular everyday life.

Free as a butterfly.

[Moder-dye]

Yup, but the same for exercise I general. Sometimes I hope for really really bad weather so that I have an excuse not to walk or ride.

But I have issues. I'm laying here knackered with aching wrists from a MTB ride yesterday and thinking I should get out before the forecast rain hits., but then thinking a light zwift might be good

With my various issues it doesn't take a much to knacker me up either. My wife's the opposite, has no urge to do anything much regularly. I need to find the middle ground.

[voodoo_simon]

I’m not the best with words, so if this is blunt I don’t mean it but I guess you’ve got to answer or question yourself why are you riding everyday? Is it for a fitness goal/self worth/boredom etc Maybe factor in 5 days per week and see how you go?

I rarely feel guilty for not riding but get frustrated instead of I don’t go out. My riding is about enjoyment and how I feel, never have goals or targets to my riding (except destinations or routes), so it means I can enjoy going out rather than feeling like I have

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm. Not guilt. Sometimes a feeling of missed opportunity. I also run, hike swim and gym though so I don't expect to do any of these AND ride on any given day.

An additional factor more recently has been dealing with Mrs S and just realising that there are more important things to be dealing with.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Nope - riding equals enjoyment. If I'm not enjoying it, I won't bother. However, that comes with the caveat that I hate wasting time (and opportunity as Colin says) so if I don't ride, I do like to feel as though I've still used my time in an enjoyable and constructive (that's important for me) manner.

My life is generally quite unstructured (although there are certain things that are routine) so I tend to do things as and when and also view 'goals' and 'targets' as a sure fire road towards disappointment

[woodsmith]

Not feelings of guilt as much as being annoyed with myself for not finding the motivation to get out. For me part of the problem is I'm so utterlry bored with riding in my local area having riden every BW within an hour's radius numerous times. This time of year the riding posibilities are even more restricted by the nature of the soil. I ride for fun and the added health benefits and general feeling of well being but when the weather is crap I just can't be bothered at all.

[Lazarus]

I get moody if I don't ride and that could be called guilt. I have never really tried to ride every day as I just don't have the time ( or the ride would be sub one hour ).
Perhaps set yourself a more realistic goal of time or distance ( per week or month )rather than days as there is more flexibility ?

[ScotRoutes]

For me part of the problem is I'm so utterlry bored with riding in my local area having riden every BW within an hour's radius numerous times. This time of year the riding posibilities are even more restricted by the nature of the soil. I ride for fun and the added health benefits and general feeling of well being but when the weather is crap I just can't be bothered at all.

I recognize much of this too. There is a huge range of riding hereabouts but at this time of year it tends to be the same tracks repeatedly. There are some advantages to this; seeing how things change through the seasons, spotting bits requiring trail maintenance, seeing where trees are down etc but I definitely get anxious for a chance to go further afield.

[Lazarus]

Think we can all understand that but personally I am just grateful there are some rides straight from my door that are not mud induced hell as any riding is better than no riding

[ton]

i can ride offroad or on road from home, got a couple of good route i can get up to 50 miles without much road. but with the wind and stuff we have been having, i havent fancied doing one.
roll on summer when hopefully it will dry up a bit.

[faustus]

Thanks for starting this thread. Guilt - yes, I suppose. It's more about annoyance with myself for missing opportunities, much as others have said. I should be easier on myself because I have a 4 year old and 22 month old and a full time job (and 2 fairly naughty cats!) so chances to ride/exercise for longer than an hour aren't often there. But I still feel bad about it, and I get frustrated when I can't do the things I need to enjoy myself - which happens A LOT. I've increasingly found that setting goals has been counter-productive, so maybe going with the flow - and your mood - is one way to go. I think it's perfectly reasonable (or it should be!?) to be unmotivated when it's cold/dark/windy, and it's been a fairly long stretch of it so lack of riding mojo is probably peak right now. Other interests and hobbies would probably help...

I hate seeing my lovely bikes under-used. But I do still do plenty of utility biking including taking kids to nursery, which is all second nature really that I often don't think of it as 'proper' riding when it is probably the very essence of it. I make a point of never logging these rides and only ever riding in civvies, so it's almost a different thing to the 'other' riding. It's a strange compartmentalisation when I think about it, just shows how indoctrinated many of us are about cycling as sport/distance/speed and not as fun and very efficient transport first and foremost.

[Johnallan]

I used to get this with running. I'd feel guilty for missing a session, so I'd plan the next session to be twice as intense. Then I'd dread that session and either miss that too, or really not enjoy it...

It started to feel like a chore and something I 'should' be doing, rather than something I'd want to do.. I don't run much anymore and although I cycle often, I only really do it when I want to.

However, I do commute by bike almost every day and if I'm feeling lazy/tired/soft in a morning and drive to work, I'm usually annoyed with myself when stuck in traffic on the way home.

[belugabob]

Ton,

I would love to retire - but can't afford it, right now - just so I can choose whether I ride (or do other activities) or just do nothing in particular, rather than having pretty much every minute of my life either planned out for me, inconvenienced or interrupted. (May just be a mid-life crisis and/or the pandemic, but I do feel like I'm not achieving much.)

Embrace your freedom, to do as you choose, with no guilt whatsoever

[Alpinum]

Hopefully some food for thought.

Use the bike as means of transport. For whatever it may be. Plants, tools, kids, groceries, bike frames.

My lovely better half and I live car free (not for much longer though) and using a bike for living is as normal for us as being on the motorway only once or twice a year.
For 2019, 2020 and 2021 I can count the times I was sat in car on two hands.

Working from home made me feel unsettled. Those near daily 2 x 7 km to the station were muchly missed.

So... perhaps that'd be a way to go. Make riding bikes a part of your daily life. Not just because you want to but also for 'bear' necessities.
As the song goes:
"Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life"

[fatbikephil]

Dave Barter wrote a good piece on 'not being arsed' which is worth a read.

[voodoo_simon]

Dave Barter wrote a good piece on 'not being arsed' which is worth a read.

Can you summarise for those who can’t b….

[fatbikephil]

Dave Barter wrote a good piece on 'not being arsed' which is worth a read.

Can you summarise for those who can’t b….

Better not plagurise the text as a) I don't know how and b) Dave will have his army of lawyers onto us!

Basically you can't be arsed going out on your bike, but you can't be arsed to do anything else and then you can't be arsed with the thought of putting on weight, and you can't be arsed going on a diet. So you go for a bike ride.

[JohnClimber]

I didn't find that I'm guilty for not riding, just annoying when my daily drive commute (too long to ride) and long hours in work killed any chance of riding in the week, leaving only Sunday mornings for riding as Saturday's are days with SWMBO.

I'm now very actively job hunting for a role where I can ride to and from work every day*

*I'll use the car if it's raining in the morning to get to work, I may be mad, but I'm not stupid

[Rob S]

No, but I could imagine feeling something similar if I was retired. I think it's human nature to want to make every day count, especially as we get older. I could see myself spending my week having a day climbing, a couple of days on the bike and doing a few jobs for family and friends when I retire. Should be enough to keep me out of mischief.

[RIP]

Should be enough to keep me out of mischief.

No no Rob, I can see you've missed the point of retirement entirely .

[Rob S]

Should be enough to keep me out of mischief.

No no Rob, I can see you've missed the point of retirement entirely .

I did say "should"!

Unlikely to happen in reality, mischief will come looking for me if I don't find it first

[redefined_cycles]

I started riding way back when (I was 20ish year old) to commute to work and back. 5 mile round trip to b and Q on my marina palisades trail. It was after that I got introduced via the CVMBC to properly(ish) off roading. Ridden to and from work ever since and the commutes just became longer Tony.

I usually have the satisfaction of arriving to work with a tough commute behind me so the shift goes a bit easier. Also the fact that I'm not polluting is a massive bonus and really fills me with lots of happiness, so the recent couple of months driving to work have (mildly) filled me with guilt.

I really appreciate them motorway speed restrictions of 60s aswell Tony that come with the info, 'for air quality'. Especially since the crap air I put out with my car affects the kids around these towns/cities. So yeah, feel guilty I do for not riding and will InshaAllah (God willing) ride it to work this Friday and then train it back

Thanks so much for the reminder and encouragement.

[PaulB2]

I’ve not ridden a bike for longer than ten minutes since September for a variety of reasons. I’ve been through all 5 stages until settling on acceptance. I still need to convince myself that a ride of under an hour is worthwhile but as it is I’ve taken up running.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I still need to convince myself that a ride of under an hour is worthwhile but as it is I’ve taken up running.

I struggle a bit with that. I kind of reached the point that if I wasn't out for two days or more, then it didn't seem worth it ... I've not taken up running though.