What motivates you?

[jameso]

New places. That's what I ride for, that and the simple buzz of riding but the buzz can be dulled by overly familiar surroundings. Familiarity can breed contempt, it's true. I love my local short singletrack loops but the fire for riding further has to come from new places. I was out the other day on new roads, new smells and surroundings, new temperatures etc (near 30 deg at 6.30 am?) and I had to slow down to take it in. Just being somewhere new, fitting it into the rest of life that's often too predictable, it's great. Bikes are for exploring and the problem is the longer-distance type of rider can ride-out the possibilities in a 100-odd mile perimeter from home in a few years. A new bike that lets you cover more ground, a new area to explore, a trip away (a night with beer and google earth can map out a future ride, that gets others interested, trip gets booked?) or something like a dyno hub to let you try riding at odd hours, it's all good because new surroundings take us back to being child-like, that sense of interest or wonder in the new and unseen-before? Goes well with the simple fun of flying along on a bike or camping out. F--- the new wheel standards debates or 'what bike' stuff, new in cycling should be about where not what. Rambling, I've had a beer and I'm jetlag-knackered but at 6am tomorrow I'll be riding over the mountain foothills here in the heat and it's great. Felt pretty demotivated on and off over the last year or so, so I do hear where you're coming from. But it comes back. tbh when I feel it fading I worry, I love what the fire can do for us. Reading about travel can help spark it back to life. Got a book about Eric Shipton's travels here and I really want to go to India all of a sudden.

[Taylor]

New places. That's what I ride for, that and the simple buzz of riding but the buzz can be dulled by overly familiar surroundings. Familiarity can breed contempt, it's true. I love my local short singletrack loops but the fire for riding further has to come from new places.

I think James may have hit the nail on the head.

Why not create a road/bridleway/etc trip around the UK, using routes and bivi vistas suggested by forum dwellers. See where other people ride. Maybe you'll see why some, especially those from the southeast, will spend 5/6/7 hours driving to a soggy field in Mid Wales to ride around your neck of the woods.

[JohnClimber]

This https://flic.kr/p/uRfPPh

[Ian]

James does speak the truth. I've spent nearly the whole day riding trails I've never ridden before.

First half of the day was just fantastic - Shropshire Hills and sunshine. The main thing that motivated me towards the end was the pub, which is where I am now

[The Boss]

Well I have a theory which has helped a few people over the years get some perspective of their low ebb. You have three parts to your life: home, work and play. If you're having a tough time at work, home and play see you through, tough time at home etc etc. When all three parts of your life are giving you grief, that's when depression has a feeding ground. Normally my advice is, pick the part that is more easily sorted out and work hard at getting it back to normal or even better. The other two parts usually follow track. The point is - only you can switch the light on at the end of the tunnel and it's easier to switch on one light at a time.

I think your main problem is that all three areas are the same for you. You live, work and play at home so it is difficult to distinguish just what is bothering you. Perhaps complacency has set in - you need to spend some time visiting friends in the big smoke, that'll get you pining for the hills again. Maybe my inability to ride for more than an hour is infectious. Hows about getting a proper job that takes you away from the farm? Think of all the bikes you could buy with the money you earn

Anyway, I'm hoping the £12k I've just spent on a new van will give you a new sense of freedom, now we don't have to share one vehicle. It would have been much cheaper to have bought that rocket though

[Zippy]

It would have been much cheaper to have bought that rocket though

Snetterton 300 Trackday April 17th 2011 opentrack DSC_3222 by Tony Harrison, on Flickr

Should have got it

That's a rocket by light car company for those who don't know what I'm on about.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Well, I'm happy to report that my motivation has recovered and I bimbled off to try and come to terms with this 'ere fat bike. Sadly I was on my way up rather than down this ... trust me, it's a long way up from the valley bottom, around 420m in a single shove. At the top, I discovered a 20 yard long boggy stretch that I was able to ride over / across, whch obviously made the previous hours exertion well worth it

[Ray Young]

^^^

[FLV]

Looks like a nice day for it too