So, Mrs RopeyReignRider gets made redundant and the resultant financial fall-out means I have to sell my beloved bouncy bike frame and forks.

All's OK though as I still have the hardtail after all… then some pikey scumbag nicks it from my back garden while I'm in the s0dding kitchen (nipped upstairs for 30 secs, doh).

Anyhoo, not ridden since March, feel unfit and like I'll never regain any technical skill 🙁

Anyone else?

Yup but through laziness & mojo loss. You make me feel so bad I'd almost lend you a bike.

Not ridden since March due to traveling abroad. Can't complain but also I have 2 months free to bike in Scotland August and September but I have a pretty bag leg problem and so may not be able do that much 🙁

Not ridden since last August to being bikeless after my Fuel snapped.

Then I get half way through building up a new bike and my ACL repair gives way putting me out of action again.

4th time Ive tried to get into riding, 4th time its all turned to shit

almost lend you a bike.

You're all heart c-a 🙂

a combination of broken bones, change of job and a house move have completely taken over my life just lately. last rode my mountain bike around the start of May 😳

There is a reason I've only inhabitted the Chat Forum for the past couple of years.

Blame babies (ours and other peoples), lack of time, moving house, and mainly lack of willpower.

Blmey Creg, that's pretty unfortunate! Hope you recover soon..

I'm rapidly turning into a right miserable f3cker too… I now end up doing nothing at the weekends and to make matters worse I live about a mile from the edge of the Peaks and get bikers zooming down the hill past my front room window, on their lovely expensive bouncy bikes :-/

Get on the bike and have a poodle-got to start then you won't stop.

(Haven't ridden for a while due to injury)

Dislocated shoulder at cyb last feb and caused me lots of problems. Gave up job and ended up working a new job with appalling hours from oct, then second child arrived in nov. On top of that I can't get another job so the wife has had to go and work away so I am now 24/7 dad with no time to myself. Put on 2.5 st and a serious lack of fitness.

Just built up a ti ht though and hopefully back on bike again from next week 🙂

fit and injury free, but left my seatpost in my frame after a muddy ride in march and would not budge even after visit to a machine shop. frame destined for skip. scrimping for a new frame ever since but promised holiday with gf pinched funds. found out i was safe from redundancy today so hopefully the end of bikelessness is in sight 🙂

I feel for you. I couldn't ride for 18 months a couple of years ago after a broken collarbone refused to mend…
Any chance you could build something up cheap from classifieds?

and i was feeling bad for not going out this evening…

lack of time, moving house,

😕 They have got to be the two worst excuses ever !
………for not having been on your bike for a "couple of years" 😀

And yeah, there's a reason why "I've only inhabited the Chat Forum for the past couple of years" too ……because if I spend time on bike forums and reading too many bike mags, I end up having lots of "really good ideas". Which invariably means spending lots of money on stuff that I didn't realise I needed/wanted. And 8 bikes and loads of stuff, much of which hardly gets used, is more than enough

Having said that, I don't go on bike rides as much as I would like to, which is every weekend. I probably average 2 or 3 per month at the moment. Did go out yesterday though.

antennae – I take it you've tried the heating frame with hot water then using a hammer to smack the cr@p out of the seatpost head in the direction away from the frame, approach?

It's the only thing that worked for me, after a week trying..

Blmey Creg, that's pretty unfortunate! Hope you recover soon..

Thanks, got an appointment with a consultant in 6 weeks, hopefully Ill get a surgical referral pretty quick. Although last time it took 18 months to get the surgery done.

If you want a cheap frame and forks to build something up then my current project is up for grabs. Not looking for much as I just want rid of it.

I,ve a ht frame you can have if ya like.

20 month old twins are fairly demanding, mtb has taken a back burner this year. Have had the trailer on the bike a few times this year but I prefer to run with it. I've just sold the last of the fs bikes too. All a big change from the riding I used to do, when I wasn't racing DH I was riding where ever and whatever I could.

In 3-4 months I've only been out 3-4 times. Between my mum dying, buying a house, work, children and keeping a smile on my missus' face I've had **** all time or energy. Still, picked up the last piece of a new build this morning, the house move is completed on Wednesday, and we've moved to somewhere with a fair bit of riding close by (funny that lol) sop hopefully things will change soon.

They have got to be the two worst excuses ever !
………for not having been on your bike for a
"couple of years"

Agreed, but it's just the way it is.

I was riding pretty regularly when I lived in Edinburgh and had mates around.

But commitments caught up. Mates had babies and no longer had time to come out.
My own weekends became time for visiting families, or lost to the drudgery of housework.
Then we moved down here so I no longer have any mates to drag me out. And then we had a baby so spare time is a long forgotten country.

Like I said though, lack of willpower is the main factor.

I live in london and my off road bike is in leeds. Only get to ride every few months or so. Building a bike for down here though.

Managed to cut through a few tendons in my fingers with a circular saw so am off the bike for 8 weeks til my fingers work again………. hopefully 😐

Antennae – never mind hot water, heatguns or WD40 – chop the seatpost off as close as you can to the tube and attack the remaining part with a hacksaw blade, HSS drill bit and whatever else is in your toolbox.

Worked for me… And I tried everything before getting mediaeval on its ass. Just remember to remove the BB and get all the metal filings out before you go for a ride…

Laziness is my only excuse for not riding more recently. And it's been quite hot.

All this makes me feel much better, i've not ridden for nearly 4 weeks due to being in Argentina with work.

Not since I broke Frank broke my arm (intra articular distal radius)6 weeks ago. Could be grounded for another 4months+ 😥 My bike keeps looking at me, daring me – but I've only got about 25% movement in my wrist and I'm just about strong enough to lift a half-full cup of tea!

I'm too busy due to family stuff and too skint to afford the add on that riding my bike entails – I haven't serviced my Fox forks in three years.

I ride maybe once every two months, but my riding is of the day long XC marathon type when I do.

The days of having a window where I could just nip out for a two hour hack are long gone.

not ridden for 3 years, hips are ****

Or as a riding friend of mine said, when invited out for the nth time.

"I've lots of commitments!"

He's single with no kids, lives on his own, works mon-fri and can ride out from his garage…

"Yeah", said a another riding buddy – "committed to his front room"

Pregnant, not ridden for about 9 weeks now, no idea when I'll be back on the bike.

20 month old twins are fairly demanding, mtb has taken a back burner this year.

13 month old twins here, not ridden much for same reason, save for a couple of commutes and a couple of days out in the last 18 months. One day I will get back into it regularly.

new kid and new house have killed it for me but inthe last couple of months I've had a few glimmers of hope, few rides on the mtb and 4 hours over the last week on the road it's starting to look like the balance might be coming back, just a case of seizing the chance when I get it (I usually fart about until I've wasted any free time I get and then whinge about it for the rest of the week)

a) lazy, b) lack of mojo and c) busy doing band stuff. #

I last rode my bike only yesterday, but it was only 2 miles to pick up my car from its annual service.

Last proper ride was about 3-4 weeks ago, and before that must have been last November

Haven't ridden properly in about a year, aside from general mooching around the local trails and commuting on a 6 inch full suss.

The reason? I've fallen out with my biking mates because one of them has been an ubercnut.

Last rode early June.

Holiday, illness, weather and lack of will have kept me indoors since.

I should be out tomorrow though!

(I usually fart about until I've wasted any free time I get and then whinge about it for the rest of the week)

I empathise with that one 🙂

Blimey, so I'm not alone!

If you want a cheap frame and forks to build something up then my current project is up for grabs. Not looking for much as I just want rid of it.

Interesting Creg – what are they and what size is the frame??

My mate has temporarily lent me and old frame and forks so once I've built it up I might get to ride… still, would much prefer to have something of my own!

Graham S – rubbish excuses….. Plenty of people around where you live who'll drag your sorry ass out for a ride.

Chopwell next Tuesday evening for a pootle??

Steve

I haven't riden since Thursday and I feel fat and slow and lazy and feminine. You'd think all this ^^^^ would make me feel better, but no. I want to ride. Maybe sneak out on the road bike for a bit tomorrow..

I rode a lot until 2003 when I changed jobs, 6 day 60+ hour weeks left me knackered and with no time, then changed jobs again 4 years ago, got 6 months riding in then I knackered my knee, got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and had two kids. Probably ridden less than 10miles in the last 3 years.

and here's me feeling guilty coz i've not ridden since sunday night 😳