Thanks for starting this thread, Jay. I had considered voicing some similar feelings but never started a thread.
As far as my riding goes, I do anything I can by bike. I can get pretty much everything done in less than six miles, round trip. Most errands under two miles. I work from home but with groceries, post office, job site visits, stopping by the office, I'm riding every day, often four or five trips. I do road rides throughout the week and average about 100 miles per week. Longer rides on the weekends out in the mountains if I can find the time (more on this below). The things I feel keep me from riding more: Oppressive heat and humidity; not great riding from my door; better riding being a long drive from home; not having other people to ride with. I'm in Virginia. By August I am throughly exhausted by the weather. We've had some nice bits here and there but the overall heat and humidity situation seems to never end. Until it does! The riding from my front door is not great. Lots of stroads and highways and it takes some work to get out to where the riding is better and the traffic is more calm. I'm limited in where I feel safe riding and going the same routes over and over gets a bit tiresome. I'm not interested in doing dozens of miles on the shoulder of a two-lane road where the posted speed is 45 mph. We have some multi-use paths that are separated from car traffic but they add up to less than six miles and they're pretty dinky. I ride solo functionally 100% of the time. It seems having a riding partner or group would make it a lot more fun and easier to get out the door. The riding that I love (on quiet roads in the foothills of the mountains) requires at *least *three hours of driving to access and doing a 35 or 50 mile ride takes up the entire day. I've often thought that if there were better roads around me I'd ride a lot more! I think aeroperf's suggestion to read about riding is a great one. I recently read Ray Hosler's Once Upon a Ride (thanks again for the rec, Rich!) and that was fun and inspiring. Reading Bicycle Quarterly and old Readers is pretty fun and inspiring, too. Whenever I really don't feel like riding and I force myself to go I am *always* glad that I did. Sometimes it's hard to keep that in mind and sometimes I forget and talk myself out of it. But for me, riding is almost always the right choice. On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 7:10:26 PM UTC-4 Scott wrote: > Jay: > > I must say I found comfort in you sharing your state of doldrums. It's > comforting knowing I'm not alone. I'm 53 and have been in same state for a > few years now. It's unsettling. I have to really push to scare-up desire > and passion towards hobbies/adventures that used to be abundant and readily > available. I develop levels of self-frustration because I'm largely a > content, happy person. That is to say, I have much to be thankful for and > don't struggle to make ends meet. Before this spell I always found joy in > the contagious nature of my enthusiasm towards my recreational activities. > Where it went exactly, I don't know. Simply said, I'm not a depressive > person, so it's not that. I'm a productive person. It's just that I've > noticed I have more of a "chore" view towards considering new adventures. I > look back at the level of effort and enthusiasm I used to put forth into > planning, prepping for, and successfully completing adventures and it tires > me out. > > For me, I think it's a phase in life thing: kids moving on to start their > own lives, career, monotony, etc. > Again, I've had a great life: much to be grateful and thankful for. I > resigned from a long-held position 4 months ago and have been intentionally > unemployed since, taking some time to refocus. I find the enthusiasm and > passion cups gradually refilling. > > Anyways, I don't want to ramble on. But I felt compelled to reply. You're > not alone. It's a life philosophy tour. For me it's a lot about the > unsettled phase in life I find myself in and locating the desire/courage to > MAKE change in the interest of destroying monotony. > > I never regret partaking in my hobbies: gravel rides, dirt biking, wing > shooting. I just get frustrated being the impediment to doing same. > > Over the past few months, I get the feeling it's beginning pass, which is > welcome. > > Best of luck my friend! Everyone has to deeply consider their own sources > and solutions. Force yourself to do what you KNOW you love. Recognition is > a great start! I'm getting better at conquering myself. > > Best, > > Scott in Montana > > On Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 11:52:57 AM MDT, Jay Lonner < > jay.l...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Over the years my cycling has increasingly tended toward > commuting/utility. Bike-centered vacations/tours remain on the menu, and > are still very enjoyable to me, but the day-in, day-out feels like a chore. > Part of this is seasonal — I have an easier time dealing with cool, wet > conditions than hot, sticky weather. So maybe this problem will solve > itself with the autumn rains imminent. But I’m wondering whether others > ever get a case of cycling burnout, and maybe have some tips to work > through it. > > Jay Lonner > Bellingham, WA > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/77d0469b-5dc1-4647-97b0-624f3018916dn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/77d0469b-5dc1-4647-97b0-624f3018916dn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/df137e5a-4bd2-45f4-bf70-20c35ffe7f9dn%40googlegroups.com.
