Just curious really of when you all find time to ride and fit it in around family life as I’m struggling a bit with it at the moment!

I don’t work the regular 9-5 as am self employed and sometimes have to work evenings and the odd Saturday. Some days I work from home and others am in an office. Commuting by bike is not an option as no changing facilities in the office plus I quite often need my car during the day to get to and from out of office meetings.

I’ve never been a fan of night riding on my own in case of an off plus there is always an axe murderer just lurking behind the next tree 😉

So when do you fit your riding in around the family?

So when do you fit your riding in around the family?

Erm… commuting!

And family pootles as well (kids trailers etc).

Commuting by bike is not an option as no changing facilities in the office

Poor excuse. I’d say most commuters don’t have proper changing facilities.

plus I quite often need my car during the day to get to and from out of office meetings.

Leave it at the office? Is a pool car available?

I couldn’t find the time (well not to the level I wanted to be at), so I started running.

I’m really enjoying it and haven’t been on any of my bikes since May!

Get used to solo night riding. Get a tracker app for your phone and let people know where you’ll be. Ride a little slower than you would in a group and you’ll be fine.

Top tip: always ride with a bloody axe strapped to your back – the chances of their being two axe murderers in the woods on any given night must be vanishingly small 🙂

I don’t even have a family and I struggle to find the time, to be honest.

There are always jobs that need doing and I end up feeling guilty when I do go out that those jobs are not getting done. But, I cycling is about the only thing I ‘do’ that is my time when I can do what I want, so I have started being a bit more selfish about it and getting out regularly to try and improve my fitness.

If we ever have a kid, I think I will really struggle to ride at all!

the chances of their being two axe murderers in the woods on any given night must be vanishingly small

That’s the night the monsters will get you 🙂

man up on the night ride thing.

nothing in the woods that isnt there in the day time.

Solo night rides, 7am Sunday morning rides, 6am midweek rides are all part of the mix for me.

Night rides, commuting and getting up early on weekend is all the time I really get with the family/work.

just do one hour when you get home a few times a week, get your gear ready in the morning , really push it and have a nice well earned shower afterwards.
in the winter you dont have much choice as the it gets darker earlier, so its either night rides or weekends

havent you got a mate who can do night rides with you. im doing a night ride tonight in epping.

GrahamS – Not a poor excuse but a fact, I work in a sales environment in a small office where it is expected that you enter and leave the office in a suit as the public image of the company is very important. Agree with it or not that is what is expected so commuting is just not possible which is a shame as I used to do it and enjoyed it. No car pool as I’m a self employed sole trader and some meetings are 20-30 miles from the office in clients homes and not near public transport.

Already do the family pootles but riding with a 10 and 8 year old isn’t really pushing myself in terms of keeping any form of fitness!

T-M-M. Can’t get in to running to be honest. Have done loads of in a previous life as part of my training but have never enjoyed it if I’m honest. Although i can see I might have to bite the bullet and just pull on the running shoes again as fitness is quickly disappearing!

What wwaswas said re night riding. A mid length ride on familiar terrain is more than good enough to keep things ticking over mid week and a couple of hours should be easy enough to fit in once a week.

Add to that one long weekend ride (that’s the biggest time sacrifice) and some short sessions on a turbo (yes really!) and that is a lot of riding you can cram in to a week whether your goal is just to keep the legs going ready for Summer or actually makes some gains in fitness over the Winter.

If you are self employed do you not have the flexibility to schedule in even one mid length mid week ride in to the daytime if you hate night riding and just work a bit later in the evening? It all depends just how much you want to ride and what your biggest goals are with work/ riding

Huge problem – no easy answer – +1 for commuting to keep fit and then grab a chance to ride for fun when I can. Its not easy I hadly ever get to do an all day type ride any more, its usually a few hours or an afternoon at best.

heres the answer

9-5 days here, with every other Saturday morning aswell.

Sunday morning I try and get out for 6am but it’s tough sometimes dragging my ass out of bed. Always worth it in the end though.
I need to be back by 10 but I have a few local rides that are good and cut down on travelling time.

Rides from the doorstep is the way to go.

As noted above solo night rides aren’t too bad as long as you stick to trails you already know and take it easier on the bits you know are trickier.

I was out on one last night and was spooked by an owl that sounded like it was right next to me!

I felt like I really earned my shower when I came home, ha ha!

if i cycle on my own at night in the woods,
i dont leave my rear light on
i have a loud mp3
i constantly shout “there are 10 of us”

and i dont ride up brokeback mountain

Looks fun Lester but I’m not Danny Mac and have no desire to see the inside of my local A&E dept just yet!

There is an answer but you’re probably not going to like it much… turbo (or rollers.)

Doesn’t help much if you just want to get out on the bike, but if it’s winter training you want then i find late night turbo can be fit in around family/work.

Edit: oh and cheeky lunchtime rides when working from home that push the boundaries of the lunch “hour” somewhat 🙂

Last time i did a solo night ride my MP3 was on shuffle and War of the Worlds came on. Freaked my right out i tell thee 😯

definitely not as you are self employed.
cant you work longer hours one day and a shorter next day so that you can get a ride in?

i constantly shout “there are 10 of us”

“but the other 9 forgot their lights”

?

a helmet lamp is a very useful way of dispelling any mental image of a slavering beast running 2ft behind you as you can glance over your shoulder to check whilst still speeding up ‘just in case’.

One of my early night rides was punctuated by a large branch falling 30ft to the ground just one side of the trail I was riding. If you scream in the woods and no one hears it then it didn’t happen, right?

Pretend commute from house and return?

Night ride as above.

It’s not great and I’m a poor example, but discipline to “just get out” will take you far!

nothing in the woods that isnt there in the day time.

Not true.

I had one of these T’s;

which has ‘the face’ I always see in amongst the trees on it.

What they don’t tell you is that the face is actually printed in luminous ink. so when you go into your child’s dark bedroom when she wakes up from a nightmare all they can see is a green face hovering in the air and coming towards them. It wasn’t my most successful attempt at comforting her, it has to be said.

i constantly shout “there are 10 of us”

“but the other 9 forgot their lights”

i know, but it makes me feel better shouting it 🙂
(dont forget there isnt actually anyone there, except Badgers, foxes, wolfs, and maybe a Yeti ho ho)

if you are worried about anyone hearing you, keep your free minutes phone on and report in every 30 mins

I take my bike to work with me and leave it in the car.
Nip out everyday for a 30 min lunch ride either on the fixed or MTB. OK I guess I am lucky I live and work close to off road but most days are 30 min rides on the roads.

One evening a week (tuesdays normally) I do a turbo session in the garage too. So yesterday I rode for 30 mins at lunch (also doing some errands on the way round dropping some money off somewhere and calling at a shop for something) then on the turbo for a 40 mins session when I got home from work while the mrs was having a bath. Then saturday morning I do a 2.5 hour or so ride. I fit this around the mrs and other stuff. I’m quite happy to get up very early and do the ride so the weekend is ours or fit it in later if I have things to be done. If I have a race I’ll skip the saturday ride for it. I aim for one race a month maximum to keep the goals to train for there but not so much that it takes over everything.

Also prepared to drop the duration of the weekend ride if I really must (even though I see it as my most important one of the week) if needs be or can it altogether on occasion. I will try all options though to fit the 2.5 hours in and drop the time or miss completely are last options.

Another thing I have done in the past is agreed shorter lunches or a longer working day one day to get a two hour lunch another and get out for an hour and a bit.

All up I get about 5.5 hours a week on a really good week but accept I may get less.

Night riding and a quick lunch hour blast when I can, I have a young family so choose not to do long rides on the weekends unless they are out or busy with something else.

Hadn’t thought of a turbo to be honest but I can see how that would work. Setting up the laptop in the garage with a sufferfest streaming could work I guess. Anyone fancy selling me one in the Sussex/Surrey area? lol.

Another reason for not doing night rides is that the local trails are unfamiliar to me as I’ve only just moved to the area and not had a chance to suss them out plus this explains the lack of local riding buddies 🙄

it is expected that you enter and leave the office in a suit as the public image of the company is very important. Agree with it or not that is what is expected

It’s odd innit?

I’d personally prefer the “public image” of a company that encourages their staff to be healthy and active, as well as supporting sustainable transport.

But then I don’t work in sales and I don’t wear a suit. 😀

Pretend commute from house and return?

I’ve done that before. On the days when you’re working from home, get out early and “commute” to work. I found it actually set me up better for the day rather than staggering downstairs, getting a coffee then going to the office (well, spare bedroom).

Try calculating how much time is spent just sitting around. It’s sometimes hard to adjust the mind to getting home from work and going straight out – I used to find that if I sat down and had “just a quick pre-ride coffee” it’s end up an hour later me still sitting there surfing the net or watching TV then thinking “oh it’s too late”. Get in from work, get out for an hour immediately.

This is where road riding wins out – ride from the door, no mess, no need for loads of kit or to spend hours cleaning the bike after.

I’ve done crack of dawn rides in summer before – get out at 4am, finish by 9am, rest of day with family or whatever. Maybe with a little afternoon nap thrown in. 😉

Some days I wish i didn’t GrahamS 😉

Can you find a mate? I mean, can you find a like minded MTB’er that wants to do some nightrides?

I’ve got a regular night riding mate, and we’re out at least twice a week Monday to Friday. Some days it’s useful to have someone helping your motivation to get out there. You also don’t have to worry about the monsters or the implications of having a big off if there’s more than one of you.

I’m sure if you posted your rough location on here, they’d be someone or a regular group you could tag along with.

fatladridesbikes email me – I may well have a turbo that’ll be fine for you.

Sent cheers Luke 😉

Early morning and late night rides are all I ever do.

Sometimes I’ll go exploring in the dark, just take it easy and take your phone with you so you can work out where you are.

Riding in the dark is scary as, but at least it’s riding. You could always go to the gym *shudders*

Try single speed when with the family – another bike opportunity;) or just use one gear on your regular bike – then you’ll have to work harder to do what the family is gearing down for or spinning like crazy when they’re gearing up. It works well for me when I go with OH. It’s also less irritating for them than you doing intervals up and down hills that they’re struggling to do at all!

I try to do join one of my posse’s regular night rides each week, it’s become a nice habit. Not like I get many other escapes from work or family! I prefer riding in a group, enjoy the good-natured competition and knowing there’s someone to pick me up if I push it too hard… Weekend group rides seem to be proving more elusive but occasional weekends away seem to get family approval if planned well in advance.

Commuting is always an option – every office has a toilet, carry wet wipes, deodorant, work clothes on and ready to go. The only limit is distance/time and being organised with kit.

Ask on here for someone to night ride with. There’s 2-3 of us in our village that get out most Wednesday nights, even if it is just enough to justify the pub afterwards. There are a couple of others who work shifts etc and either ride with us or make their own arrangements

Get used to riding in bad weather, when it is too unpleasant to have a family day/morning out! The regular Friday night conversation in our house goes:

MrsMoreCash: The forecast for Sunday looks good – lets take the kids to xyz. You can ride Saturday if you want.

Me: Yes,dear

Or ride to a family day out – arrange to meet wherever and the other half can drive with the kids (assuming she drives)

It’s hard, but there are times when you can slip out for an hour or two – mine is when the wife and kids watch the X-Factor or such, kids at some function or wife out shopping. You just have to have bike and kit ready to go at all times and seize the chance. Helps that I’m a Billy No Mates of course, so don’t have a life….