Seems from the weekend photos thread and others that some of us here manage at least one proper ride every week, some even multiple times a week. How do you find the time?
Somehow I've not been out on my MTB for over a month, but I have managed to get in a couple of weeknight rigid MTB rides about a hour long mostly cycle paths and a few short boring tracks. I don't even have kids. Due to distance from good riding, a proper ride for me can only happen on a weekend day, and a 4 hour ride pretty much takes 7 hours in winter with all travel and pre/post ride faff. One of my weekend days every weekend tends to be taken up by general faff, overheads of things that need doing to keep on top of life and being responsible for a house. Then the other day provided I'm not tired, there's no family/friend something on, etc.... I can go for a ride.
Bit of a rant really. Just lots of things that need doing on, the main part of 6 sometimes 7 days just goes by without doing much of what I like. I do have free time but somehow find it hard to block out a day and say the daylight hours that day will be spent riding.
I ride every week. Though not necessarily for 4 hours. Gravel from the house has helped a lot. So a three hour ride takes 4 hours in winter.
I live somewhere where I can ride from home so I rarely have to drive to ride, if I do it's 30/40 mins each way.
If I couldn’t ride straight from the house then it would be difficult, and I don’t manage it quite every week since I got another band going - but I do have 3 children aged 4-11 and no extended family locally to help.
A lot of my riding historically has been night rides - pedal from the house at 1840ish, get home at 2130ish. Minimum faff, I refuse to clean bikes unless they’re so muddy they don’t work.
Even if driving to race, I never get 7 hours for a ride. You need to be able to ride from your door and make time for 2, 3 or 4 hours. Plan it into your weekend...if you've stuff on try get the ride in early in the morning. Bike and gear ready the night before and when you return keep bike washing to the minimum.
Finding the time hasn't been a problem since '17, but over the last ~17 months, energy (long covid) and the weather has. Don't think I've done a road bike ride since first week of Oct '23, not done anything close a 50+ mile ride since Liz's funeral day in Sept '22. Hoping this winter's turbo sessions might have improved my stamina a bit for this year, albeit I'm still 13Kg chubbier than pre-covid.
When I was young free and single I'd ride as often as possible, weeknights in the dark in February, weekends away in Wales, as much as possible.
Now with the dog and two kids and chores to do my best bet is to go early, 7 - 7.30 on a Sat or Sun morning, has the added bonus of missing most of the ramblers and dog walkers. Lay the gear out the night before, get an early night, just get up and go. Back by 10:30 - 11.
Decided its a bike & car maintenance weekend as its hard enough walking the dog round the saturated fields without falling over
Night rides do it for me. Since the kids arrived (10 years ago tomorrow) for many years that's the only spare time I've had.
Usually a 6.30 start, every Thursday unless it's absolutely hosing down. Can be anything from 3 miles to 20 miles of sweet singletrack.
Helps that I can ride from my door though
I'm Lucky in that I mainly work from home, so I try to use my lunch break for a brief ride. I have my clothes ready to get changed into and then don't bother cleaning the hardtail afterwards. It isn't the best quality/length of ride but it's sure better than sitting around watching YouTube aimlessly.
I also try to grab a few hours each weekend whether that's from home on a gravel bike or meeting mates for MTB. If it's raining I'll use that time for turbo in the garage (and simultaneously aimlessly watching the YouTube I couldn't on my lunch breaks!)
1) Ride from home - I wouldn't live somewhere I couldn't ride from my door.
2) Get up and out early - went out for a ride at 8am this morning, did 45km on the mountain bike, back by 11.
3) Ignore the weather and ride anyway.
4) Ride the gravel bike for a bit of variety occasionally.
Prep the night before and ride from the door. I hardly ride my MTB because its at least 1hr each way to where I'd like to be.
Loads of stuff available out the door on road or 'gravel' around me (SE London).
Also embrace the faff. After a day of home admin (tip run and shopping), I spent half an hour with a glass of wine in the garage earlier cleaning the drivetrain and swapping wheels over on the gravel bike. Quality time 🙂
Tomorrow, post ride, I've got to build a sofa bed and fit a new loo seat...
Good times.
I manage a couple of rides a week , mostly a couple of hours sometimes I manage I bit more . Wednesday nights and I'll get up early on a Sunday to get a ride in so I have the rest of the day for family stuff.
One of the main reasons I do enduros and other events is it gets a day sorted where I can guarantee a slightly bigger day out on the bike and it can normally be organised pretty far in advance .
The thing I've found is if you don't do regular big days out you have to make sure you do something else that's a bit more time efficient like weights or running so when you get the chance to ride a bigger day it's not so much of a struggle fitness wise .
Similar to the OP, if I want to ride anywhere remotely hilly I'm looking at over an hour each way in the car. Add in the faff of loading/unloading the car at each end, getting changed, getting stuff ready and then putting it all back away and it's really hard despite having an understanding OH and no kids or other commitments beyond work to get rides in. E.g. I did a ride recently of just under 2.5 hours. But the day was:
7:30 - out of bed for breakfast while I finish packing up (started the night before),
Load the car up and drive it round to the back to put the rack on and then put the bike on the rack.
Pick up mate on the way out (en route so didn't add any distance, but is another 10 minutes)
Drive 1 hour 20 mins to start of ride
Unload car. Get kitted up and ride.
*FUN*
Back to car.
Get out of muddy kit, get bikes back on rack.
Finish coffee bought while we were doing that
Back on the road home
Drop mate off
Find a petrol station with a working jet wash as we don't have an outside tap and the bike is filthy
Eventually find one, get the bike cleaned and get home
Unload the bike, rack and bag of muddy stuff
Park car round the front, into the house and relube the bike, then sort out dirty kit, hydration pack, bag it was all kept in etc
Go for a shower and get changed
Ride and associated admin finally finished at gone 16:30, so 9 hours of time for a 2.5 hour ride. In the winter I could leave in the dark, do a pretty short ride and come home in the dark, and that's half my weekend gone! All that means i think I've done 9 'proper' mountain bike rides (i.e. More then 200m of climb) in the last 12 months.
At least with zwift an hour's 'ride' takes about and hour and ten minutes from deciding I'm going to do it to my HR recovering afterwards.
Mrs STR has a barber shop and works Saturday mornings, so I tend to get out then
Her old man invites himself round every Sunday morning, so she tells me to bugger off on the bike/go to the gym etc if I want
I'd I'm around in the week and not working away, there's generally a group ride Thursday nights, or I'll hook up with a mate Wednesday night depending on his shift pattern
I'm just about to do a typical Sunday morning ride which goes like this for me.Get up,coffee,porridge,cycle 6 miles from front door at 8 to meet friends for 8.30,chat ,have fun and ride around our local woods for around 3 hrs or so , 20 to 25 miles later return home,prop bike up against garden wall,hang muddy outer clothes on it and spend and effortless 10 mins jetwashing all the lovely mud off it all as if it didn't happen and all ready for next ride. So typically riding is all over by around 11.30 to 12.30 each Sunday.
Like the previous two posters, up at 6am Sunday.
Was going to do a Fox House run with others, which would mean out of bed now, bike rack on, gear up, drive 30 mins to be there for 8. 3hrs riding, post ride (soft) drink, back for 12-1, de-kit/shower, would realistically be 2'ish when I was available to do anything with the Mrs. So sacked it off this morning and going to do a local loop after I've finished my coffee in bed
I don't define a proper ride the same as you do. I tailor my riding to what is available from my door along with time I ride and would not and possibly could not commit 7 hours of spare time to a single ride.
I therefore ride 3-4 times a week for 1-2 hours at a time very early in the morning.
As long as I am on a bike, riding something somewhere I am happy.
No kids and a wife that also bikes. Plus we moved house 18 months ago to be within 10-20 minute drive of good riding. I normally get 2-3 decent mtb rides and a couple of road rides a week.
We moved to an area that's renowned for great riding.
I don't work.
It's simple for me to just grab a bike and head out which I do about 4 times a week. More in the summer.
Mrsstu and I made some choices which allowed this to happen.
It also helps that she rides too.
Though TBF I always used to ride at least twice a week before we moved here.
The riding wasn't bad but in comparison to here no where near as good or as much choice.
This time of year, I tend to stick to gravel and bike paths and do sort of "urban MTB with the odd woody track or canal path thrown in" which means I can go from the door, it's 'mostly' less muddy, so the strain on my kit and the bike isn't as great, and I'm not driving to somewhere that's saturated, won't necessarily be a fantastic ride, but I'll still have a wash load of kit and a 1/2hr bike-wash and lube job when I get back home. By now it kinda sucks, but it keeps my legs turning, I get out and it doesn't take up the whole day.
Gravel and road bikes for me, plus being part of an active club as a ride leader.
What i used to ride from the door on an MTB is now rideable on a gravel bike. I rarely have time/inclination to travel an hour for an MTB ride.
Monday night is an easy couple of hours on the gravel - lots of towpaths and bridleways to link up locally. April to Oct is the Thirsty Thursday 20 mile road loop to the pub. Saturday or Sunday a 3-4 hour road or gravel ride.
I've also finally got my head round the fact that a 1 hour pootle round the nearby country park is way better for me than sitting at home wishing i was out on a 3 hour "proper" ride.
Admittedly, the house and garden are a bit of a tip....
OP - sounds to me like you need a road bike. A couple of hours in the early morning down some quiet lanes is a wonderful de-stresser. Might not get the blood rushing in quite the same way as an mtb can, but it is still great to get out (from the door) and work on your fitness a little.
I almost always ride from the door which helps a lot.
I've somehow managed to stake a claim on Sunday morning as ride time: doesn't always happen due to Life Stuff but it's my mainstay ride. Usually back around lunch then I've the afternoon for other things.
Other than that I WFH so can sometimes get a lunch hour ride in. That's usually trickier at this time of year as it's easy for a ride to cost an hour in faff!
In the summer sometimes I do an early ride pre-work: up at 0530 and straight out, gives me an hour and a bit which is enough for a whizz up and down my nearest hill. It's a bit of a work out plus a bit of fun, and assuming the bike is clean pretty much zero overhead. I'm usually back before everyone else is even stirring.
If I had to factor in travelling to ride I'm not sure I could make it work tbh.
I’ve also finally got my head round the fact that a 1 hour pootle round the nearby country park is way better for me than sitting at home wishing i was out on a 3 hour “proper” ride.
^^^+1
usually on a Sunday morning when there's not much stirring in the household...
I haven't been on what I would call a proper MTB ride for ages. My son loves the smooth, jumpy, bermy bike park type stuff so we've been going to Grenoside pretty much every week for the last few months. I'd rather be out in the peak or something but you have to take what you can sometimes. I'm still loving it.
Apart from that, it's xc/gravel.from the door for a couple of hours.
“ Admittedly, the house and garden are a bit of a tip….”
I forgot to mention this crucial target……
I live where I can ride/walk/paddle.
Prioritising is also important. As a couple we fight hard to keep time / days / weekends free to actually look at the forecast and then make plans. Even when the kids were here we felt the value in our family heading for rides/walks/paddles, but also in us two adults heading for walks/rides/paddles at our level. It's easy to get sucked into endless activities and clubs for the kids - but we sought a balance. My garden is less neat than the neighbours, my house more basically decorated, and we tend to visit family in the winter weekends. My life admin is done on an evening. We rarely go 'shopping' for clothes etc.
So prioritise riding.
I should add: family and friends can be a real drain on 'outdoor time'. I've family who can spend a whole day sat on thier butts drinking tea in one room. They have no interest in going outdoors.
We've got friends who tend to be outdoory - we've four weekends and a week holiday planned with active / outdoor pals this year already. Choose friends wisely.
Being able to ride from the door, no kids, working part time and sharing all the chores of running life with a partner mean I can ride twice a week (well when the weather is good as I'm a Fairweather rider)
Ride from the door (solo) whilst my wife looks after the kids, then reciprocate the arrangement (whilst she goes for a run), or take a kid with me - my eldest is getting into mountain biking in a big way so I'm fortunate to be able to combine family and MTB.
Probably a lot down to time management and how high up biking is on the priority list.
The less things you have i.e. partner(s), kids, family (ageing parents), weekend work, jobs needing done round the house, then the easier it is.
If you have other commitments then if they can be worked on during other times it reduces the impact of a day out...having an understanding family about what does for you also helps.
Surely a balancing act but everything that gets done has an impact on other stuff, so I'm pretty sure it is about finding the balance.
Or it might have nothing to do with that and come down to how selfish you can be (I suspect that is a very small percentage though)...
That's where early retirement comes in 😂.
And living somewhere with direct trail access 😂.
Despite that I only ride April to October 😂.
But 4 times a week then 😂.
I just can't do the winter pre and post ride faff anymore, soul (and bearing) destroying.
OP – sounds to me like you need a road bike. A couple of hours in the early morning down some quiet lanes is a wonderful de-stresser. Might not get the blood rushing in quite the same way as an mtb can, but it is still great to get out (from the door) and work on your fitness a little."
Simpler to run? That's why for me, road cycling is just running on a bike compared to the laughs of MTB.
I'm really focusing on going out for a proper ride every weekend. Helps that I have reasonable cycling from the doorstep. About 20 minutes and I'm in the proper countryside.
Also helps that the kids are older now so pretty independent, and since we moved I'm no longer working on doing up an old house or fixing things as they break.
That being said this weekend we've had family visiting since Friday and I need to plant some hedges so may have to grab a ride towards the end of the day.
I have a 2 year old and an understanding wife.
I ride all day one day of the weekend the other day is family day. The following weekend me and the wife ride together and little one had a day out with grandparents again the other day is a family day.
So works like that week in week out - obviously life takes over so it doesn’t always work but it certainly works a a base for us.
Also, the house is never 100% and there’s always jobs that don’t get done….but we’re ok with that 🙂
No doubt things will change as our daughter gets older (dance classes etc) but it’s about at least trying to give each of us more of a life than just work/chores and fitting in fun as an afterthought - wife loves biking but her passion is yoga, so I don’t pull my face when she goes on a crystal retreat and she doesn’t pull hers when I have an overnight doing antur stiniog etc
Road bike helps a lot if there's no decent local riding. Not as fun obviously but it's better than moping around at home wishing you were out riding. Good for bike fitness too which helps when you do have time for a proper ride. I usually don't ride much in the winter (other than rollers) as I can't be bothered with the faff or dark roads. Summer evenings are where I seem to get most of my riding done since having kids. I work near Woburn so I'll occasionally take my bike in the car to work and go for a post work ride up there in the evening. Great if you've had a busy/stressful day.
For a proper MTB ride I usually just book a day off work or fit it into a rare child free weekend. We have a couple of nice local-ish "bike parks" now so I've started going there more often to get the adrenaline rush without having to spend so long in the car. The trails are shorter but it's still fun and I can get a lot more laps in.
Gravel bike, no kids, and a very accommodating fiancée helps.
I commute 20 mile return 3-4 days a week in all weathers (every day when in the office) and when its not piddling down I'll pop out at lunch when working from home.
Weekends its ride from home, usually road or gravel but for a couple of hours. I rarely drive anywhere to ride, just a couple of times a year.
Usually do 4 activities a week. 2 runs after work near the biginning of the week. Then 2 rides whenever I can. Most rides are limited to about 3 hours due to having other things to do. No kids, but house related stuff to do. In the summer usually have time for longer rides. Biggest hurdle at the moment though is the biblical rain.
I’m lucky in that my wife rides as well and we have no kids. As a result we organise our weekend around the weekly group ride and are happy for it to take up the day
It was things like not being able to get out and clear my head with a good long ride / windsurf / run / etc that lead to me having a bit of crisis where I ended up in hospital having fainted just sat at my desk.
TLDR - I've switched to a 4 day week, am much happier and get to do great long rides in the 9-3ish window after seeing the kids off to school.
The simple answer is decent bike lights... lots of decent bike lights
They have made the available riding time effectively infinite, or close enough for a punter like me.
2 pm January, Manchester.... Let's do Snowdon today. Tick
9:30 pm langdale.... Let's do little wrynose, wrynose, hardnott and back. Tick
Weather forecast shit till 6pm. Beinn a Bhuird no problem
Got to do a family ride up Morronne during the day.... Then tea. Set off at 5pm and you can still get 6 Munros done.
Want to do Lord of the Loops, but need a lie in beforehand so it's 11:20 before you set off..
Etc
I think bike lights are the single biggest advance in bike tech in the last 30 years. Fair enough, I often carry 4 front lights on a ride, but it takes so much stress away and allows you to extend the day enormously
Even being retired time a plenty but this Winter it’s been the weather. We are on course for double the average rainfall this Winter . My usual days out are Quantocks or Mendips , well you can forget the latter until about August 🙄 Qs will be running with water everywhere, I went last week and took the HT but had to choose my route wisely to avoid spending god knows how long cleaning everything up when I got home .
My riding from the door has been impacted by the weather as well , we have flooded roads that severely limit your choice of routes which are mostly green lanes , it’s like lockdown all over again 😞
By this time of the year it’s usually long past being frustrating but this Winter has been especially bad, I’m guessing because of El Niño and living in the SW we are in the firing line . Even our go to destinations like Ashton Court and Haldon have been affected.
I forgot to add being a teacher to my list earlier 😉
It's nice getting a week or two every so often where you can get 3 or 4 decent rides in a week (weather permitting!)
No doubt things will change as our daughter gets older ([s]dance classes[/s][b]kids mountain bike club[/b] etc)
FTFY
I aim for a decent length ride every Sunday, but it is an aim not a hard and fast rule. I think it is better to avoid stressing over fitting it in when life throws up obstacles. This morning I just did an hour on the turbo because my energy levels just seem to have crashed.
While I can get on some mountain bike trails virtually straight from my door, I think for a lot of people a gravel bike is also a good solution to covering ground quickly on the roads then getting out of traffic when possible rather than needing to drive to a place to get on the trails.
Prioritise riding and other things have to fit around it. Does help we both ride and have no kids. Mid week rides tend to be limited to the summer but otherwise we try and fit in some combination of climbing, badminton, gym in the week. Weekends: in general other things can wait. Shopping is done on a Sunday evening Sainsbury order to arrive Monday; house is kept tidy as default (cleaners do come in and do the bathrooms/hoovering); bikes/van are only washed when they really need it; other jobs are saved for the dark/bad weather days. I do like doing gardening so thats something I make time for, but the garden is only small so relatively easy to keep on top of. We do a reasonable number of gravel rides from the door.
All that said, we did end up doing some long awaited DIY due to being off the bikes following covid, so off bike time can be beneficial.
Does help we both ride and have no kids
yes I am sure that does help!!
my teenage son's always out on his bike but he's too fit for me to keep up with him these days... it was trying to do that back in the autumn that gave me an injury I am still trying to shake off 🙁
I ride every Saturday and also Wednesday nights, though it's more weather dependant that it used to be. We've lived just off the (reasonable) local trails for the best part of 18 years now, but I was happy commuting 30-45minutes to get to ride, as it got me out of the damned city I used to live in. My partner had a horse when we met, so she was aware of committing to doing your chosen sport/activity at least one full day a weekend (if not more with a horse), and it's still how I chose to continue. I do have some limitations in that I need to walk our dogs at the weekends, and be home to help cook at some point, so don't tend to travel more than an hour to ride.
PS: we have no kids..
I'm finding it difficult, too, but that's mostly due to dark nights and local trails that aren't very weather proof.
Now that the lighter nights and (hopefully) better weather is almost here, I'll be ding som 'long way home from work' rides, in order to maximise riding time. This also avoids the delays that inevitably happen between getting home and heading out again.
Get up and go out. Ride what you have. If it is pan flat, buy a gravel or road bike.
Apart from weekends away biking, I don't ride on the weekend, unless it's with the family (3 kids)
I generally ride weekday evenings only, all through the year. At least once, though aim for twice with the rare time I can manage three. Two things help massively
- riding with others - makes you get on with it as you don't want to miss it or let them down
- good lights. Easy to ride in the dark then
I generally ride from home but most of the people I ride with don't. Driving adds a bit more hassle but very mamageable
I’d second a road bike or a gravel bike if you’re really not into road riding. I only road ride these days and I’d never bother doing rides I couldn’t start from my front door except on special occasions of some sort.
Also I don’t want to sound too preachy but I’ve found that a weekly planner really helps- if you google “168 hour week” there’s a template spreadsheet with 7 days split into 15min increments and it really helps to see it in black and white if you mark down all your busy time and see what’s left- it’s usually quite surprising.
I normally get 3 rides a week some at 6.30am before work at 9am normally around 10 -15 miles weather pending and moral .
Or after work when I finish early again home for evening meal .. And a day through the weekend normally Saturday but this years been busy of a weekend and I think ive manages just one ride of a weekend over 20 miles. This needs to change asap!
With older teenage kids nowadays I'm finding it a lot easier to get riding windows, especially at the weekend, where most weekends I am lucky enough to be able to get at least a half day out riding.
It helps that I have great riding of all types from the door, and excellent riding a short distance in the car (<1h)
When the kids were younger and time was a lot tighter I use to make full use of
- extended cycle commutes
- night rides
- riding very, very early on a weekend in the summer (like up at 4.30, out at 5, drive 1 hr, ride 4 hrs, drive 1 hr, back by 11am)
That last one was totally worth it, but an absolute killer for the remainder of the day!
Oh and as above
- plan your week out so you aren't just drifting though the week. When are your free time windows? When are the good weather windows? - arrange other things to line up!
- have your bike ready and your gear ready. Don't burn riding time doing bike and kit prep. You could have done that beforehand! This is a huge one.
- Also you don't necessarily need to sort your gear out as soon as you get home. Although preferable & easier to sort it straight away....Even if you just dump it all in the garage (or wherever) it will be fine if just left for a day or so.
- MTB is of course best...but Gravel riding, Road riding, Running & even walking (...pump track/ jump bike/ BMX/ Street MTB??) are also all really good. Use each one appropriately!
If you wanted to ride properly every weekend then you'd have already moved to somewhere where you can ride from your doorstep.
Got divorced
OP – sounds to me like you need a road bike. A couple of hours in the early morning down some quiet lanes is a wonderful de-stresser. Might not get the blood rushing in quite the same way as an mtb can, but it is still great to get out (from the door) and work on your fitness a little.
I started looking for a gravel bike for this reason, didn't like it so got a rigid MTB with full mudguards. It's great for doorstep rides but those don't make proper rides.
Prioritising is also important. As a couple we fight hard to keep time / days / weekends free to actually look at the forecast and then make plans.
Also, the house is never 100% and there’s always jobs that don’t get done….but we’re ok with that 🙂
Prioritise riding and other things have to fit around it.
That's interesting. My mindset tends to be that things I want to do always come after things I have to and should be doing. So if I'm looking at my to do list towards the end of the week, I'm thinking ah should get on and do this stuff.
If you wanted to ride properly every weekend then you’d have already moved to somewhere where you can ride from your doorstep.
Quintessential STW middle class luxury there! Unfortunately like many I have constraints, mainly to do with work, money, and housing.
I don't!
Despite not having to worry about which day of the week it is I can't always motivate myself for a ride.
Was in Finale for apart three months and rode twice. Go figure.
To ride weekly I have to sacrifice. I rarely go out in the evening on weekends and if I do it’s difficult to get a ride in.
Also, it helps hugely to have more than one bike if you can justify it. Having multiple bikes, each dedicated to a discipline means you have more options to fit in cheeky rides as you can be spontaneous.
For me the key is to force myself to do chores after work to make the weekend free, even if I just want to vegitate instead. It makes a huge difference and often invigorates me more than being a couch potato. But maybe you're less lazy than me and already doing that...
The difficult bit for me is maintaining a bike in winter without a garage.
1 day, jeez that'd be a bloody luxury to only do one ride/day at weekends. 12 hour days both Sat and Sun most weekends lol
@bikesandboots how do you define a "proper ride"? A proper ride means different things to different people.
1 day, jeez that’d be a bloody luxury to only do one ride/day at weekends. 12 hour days both Sat and Sun most weekends lol
So how do you manage it? You must have some adult human responsibilities...
how do you define a “proper ride”? A proper ride means different things to different people
- 30km, 600m ascent
- on terrain mostly worthy of a FS trail bike and its tyres
Where are you based?
What are you doing with your time at weekends down to the minute that is stopping you riding?
Sure everyone here can come up with ideas or excuses to help you free time for a ride.
So how do you manage it? You must have some adult human responsibilities…
Not really. Mrs Weeksy takes care of house stuff and understands the situation regarding racing. So often we'll go out Friday at 3.30 and return Sunday evening.
It's great and bloody tough in equal measures
That’s interesting. My mindset tends to be that things I want to do always come after things I have to and should be doing. So if I’m looking at my to do list towards the end of the week, I’m thinking ah should get on and do this stuff.
Do you work to live or live to work?
As for having a full day of 'life admin' and tasks at a weekend, you need to both move them to evenings and/or learn to let things go or reduce the faff around them.
Genuinely it took years to really find our way of fighting for weekend day/days - they went on the calendar, and nothing can be booked over them.
It works. As a family we've amazing memories and experiences which have shaped us and our kids. I wouldn't swap it for more money or a better mown grass for anything.
It’s all about priorities 🙂
Yes. Sorry I didn't mean to sound dismissive, I was a bit defensive about your suggestion that I haven't moved because I don't actually want to do a proper ride every week enough. The obvious thing to deprioritise would be work, and while not feasible to spend fewer days doing it (good luck finding a 4 day job), I could perhaps do it somewhere out of the city for less money so I can live closer to good riding. Not sure if that really works nowadays though with the WFH people on city salaries living in rural towns and villages.
Where are you based?
North, in a city. My current job would allow moving out, but the next one might not so it'd be risky to move much away from a well-served rail station.
For me the key is to force myself to do chores after work to make the weekend free
As for having a full day of ‘life admin’ and tasks at a weekend, you need to both move them to evenings and/or learn to let things go or reduce the faff around them.
I need to do this. Part of the problem is it bothers me to have things not "right", or to rush jobs and not do them properly - many of the things in that "how broken is your house" thread a while back would give me shivers.
What are you doing with your time at weekends down to the minute that is stopping you riding?
I have time, just it isn't in the 7 hour long contiguous blocks to match my level of ambition. Granted, I could probably make more effort but everything seems to need a lot of effort nowadays.
Do you work to live or live to work?
Probably the latter tbh. I mostly live for the 5 weeks and bank holidays a year I get off work, but if you count the days and consider life choices, they're optimised for work.
North as in above Manchester or in Scotland or above Aviemore in Scotland?
I'm guessing some people were going to be offering a few bike rides but can't without a slightly better location - the city would do...
As others have said it's about priorities.
I've 2 kids under 10, oh and I work full time. I spend 5 hours a week coaching football as well. I'm out all Tuesday, Thursday evening, Sat pm riding, oh at the gym Monday, Wednesday evening, sat am.
What isn't in the list is alcohol, friends, watching TV for any length of time. It's either work, things with the kids, riding or housework. There's really nothing else.
My new bike is cursed, I used to have Thursday nights for riding with the boys. Since I got the new bike i've not been out.
Monday, Middle kid, swimming and cubs where i'm now a leader.
Tuesday, Youngest at footballuntil 6:30, middle one has his tutoring and wife has pilates at 8:30 or something
Wednesday, Kids at tennis and it's one of my days in the office, at least i get to ride in and home! Wife and eldest probably horse riding
Thursday, This used to be my riding night, now youngest has swimming followed by beavers
Friday, who know, i'm knackered by this point, rock climbing with the eldest as it's the only thing she'll leave the house for
Saurday, BMX with the middle one, I learned to fly this week and cleared the big tabletop so i can't really complain, but it's a cheeky stolen hour as i'd just be stood at the side of that coaching session watching if i wasn't riding!
Sunday, "Family time" we'll normally end up doing something that needs to be done because there's no sodding time the rest of the week.
Throw in the fact that i'm on call a bit for work as well which resulted in my Sunday morning dawn raid being cancelled and i've been a very grumpy version of myself.
Sanity has been rescued, nay, salvaged by doing some Yoga/pilates stuff at home. It's definitely made me better and stronger on a bmx
Kids (or other family commitments) are definitely one of the biggest barriers to a weekly ride. But a 7-hour riding trip every week would be tough to swing in a lot of household situations - kids, dogs, other half etc.
For me what worked pre kids was booking it in mentally earlier in the week - so by about Tuesday I'd know that I was going riding and which day (Saturday/ Sunday). So Thursday/ Friday night are spent getting the bike and gear ready, making sure I know what I'm taking, kitwise and for weather etc. And any other plans are made around it too, so there's no clashes.
Definitely getting everything ready the night before, including all kit out and packed, everything ready to go in the car first thing, food/ drink all packed etc. And making sure the household faff stuff is under control or can wait until after the ride. Setting out first thing on the day, too - out by 8 or 9am, cause otherwise by the time I get up, have breakfast etc I might not actually get out.
Finally, I'd say being realistic about how much time you have spare. 7 hours is most of a full day, especially if you're a bit knackered when you get back; and can't be done every weekend. But a 4 or 5-hour riding session (1 hour driving each way, 2-3 hours riding?) is easier to fit in; and maybe do 1x 7-hour session a month?