At what point do you give up on biking?

Bikes have been sat in the shed pretty much all year.

I did two canal rides in the summer when it was a nice evening. And about 5 rides in total over 2 years.

Family rides are now out – wife can’t ride anymore due to a back problem, and my daughter is well err 14(!), and has no interest in riding.

Might be time to clear the shed and possibly keep one bike just in case.

When the love has gone. I’ve not ridden most of my bikes for a while, and didn’t ride the MTB at all for months but still enjoy it when I get out.

Just go for a ride?

Why are you not riding? I doubt the family rides are all you used to do

What about getting the Mrs an E bike, would that help?

Not riding because you don’t want to, or because you don’t get a chance to? I don’t see much of road these days. If you fancy meeting up for an easy potter, I’m not far away. Email in profile. But rather busy for the next couple of weeks!

Seem to remember you’d built your daughter a decent looking bike as well. My 13yo has a lovely Inbred seeing not much use!

Why are you not riding?

I think it’s just down to free time. We both work full time, daughters other sports take up a lot of our time, aging parents on both sides.

I’m of the mindset that if I can’t do it properly (fast in my case), I’d rather not do it. I’m not one for bimbling around or sessioning. More old school XC.

What about getting the Mrs an E bike, would that help?

It’s the riding position, not the fitness aspect.

Seem to remember you’d built your daughter a decent looking bike as well.

I did – but riding doesn’t excite her. She’s ridden it 3 times!

Tae Kwon Do is her main thing, mixed in with gymnastics and trampolining. So she’s not lazy.

I couldnt ride for 5 years due to injury. Now I can manage couple of hours a week. I get a bit fitter then get annoyed I cant actually get fit, but riding a little is a **** sight better than not at all!

Maybe you need to relax your mindset a bit. I was very much that – or even more extreme, every ride was a training ride or a race. Which is maybe why I don’t ride so much now, but as mentioned above I do enjoy getting out and have learned it doesn’t have to be like that to be fun. Not that I’ve started bimbling around or sessioning – it’s still very much old school XC, I simply don’t care so much how fast I’m going.

thing is it’s like anything, bikes aren’t going to ride themselves and nobody will do it for you… get your kit on and go for a ride, i know that’s over simplifying things but if you don’t, it simply won’t happen… or don’t, it’s your choice

Nike have a great moto for this you know:

You’ve forgotten that it can be just fun. Arrange a night ride with some mates. You won’t impede on family time then. Pick some fun/technical trails, razz around with your mates for a few hours then hit the pub for last orders.

Very hard to see how that won’t be fun.

I’m in the same boat. I’m incredibly lucky to have a nice mountain and road bike in the garage but no real desire to ride them. The full sus was last ridden in June at Mayhem and I’ve not ridden it since. I rode the road bike a couple of weeks ago but I’ve not ridden since. I’ve just come out of a pretty poor 18months at work which killed all of my interest in getting out. I’m in a new position and I’m much happier at work and at home, but I find going for a ride an effort. I’ve booked a weekend in north wales next summer and need to train but it’s getting my head back into it I find hard.

the-muffin-man – Member

Seem to remember you’d built your daughter a decent looking bike as well.

I did – but riding doesn’t excite her. She’s ridden it 3 times!

Tae Kwon Do is her main thing, mixed in with gymnastics and trampolining. So she’s not lazy.

I know that feeling, I dearly wanted my Eldest to love riding, bought him a few nice bikes, taken him to BPW, Afan, Brechfa even the Alps – but it’s not his thing, He loved in-door climbing but that seems to have run it’s course now, he wants to do Parkour next.

As for the OP, I suspect you’ve already given up – you’re just not letting go of the kit. Personally, because I’m a ruthless money obsessed loon I’d sell up rather than hold onto a pile of depreciating metal and plastic, if the urge returns you can always rent a bike for the day and if it sticks buy another one.

I’d kindof given up around 2002-2003

One day the mrs lost something on the Chase and I got the bike out to go and find it.

Found it and carried on 🙂

Have been off the bike for 99% of the last two years due to injury, care commitments and house move/s. All I can think about is riding again. Prior to this the only times I ever found motivation for biking seriously difficult have been when ill, overweight and/or depressed. I fixed those (by trying swimming and diet) and the desire to ride/walk (and now swim) returned.

1. Identify and then clear whichever blockages.
2. Make time get out and bimble or ride solo or join a group with an open mind.
3. If you still don’t wish to ride then ask what other type exercise do you wish to do? If none then go back to (1.)

*Edit Sometimes a new/different bike will do it, but I got caught in a trap/addicting cycle of changing bikes and not changing myself – consequently robbing me of time and money while they sat in the garage.

Ridden two or three times this year. Love of the gym and starting running take up a good chunk of my spare time. My son is a keen rugby player so taking him training and to games accounts for a little more. However he has asked for a bike for Christmas so I’m hoping that will encourage me to get out with him, something he is keen to do.

Go for a walk, maybe with a camera?

Have done quite a bit of cycling this year, enjoying mixing it up at the moment.

See zwift thread. It’s made a huge difference for my motivation to ride bikes and made it so easy to just do it, instead of using weather/sociable hours/family time/cleaning faff as an excuse

Kind of in same boat. Got dog in spring and not really ridden since. 11 yr old daughter has, and she has told me, no interest in riding a bike anymore. I’ve been out running with dog and I enjoy just being out walking him as much as riding a bike, and he gets me out twice a day every day. I’m hoping to try and get the love back in the spring.

“Just go for a ride…”.
Sometimes, even that is difficult.
It needn’t always be something physical stopping you.
😕

I’m sure from reading the comments I’m not the only person on here who already gets that, taki. I’ve been through long periods where it was a real struggle getting out of the house, but actually got into a regular road riding habit earlier this year which got me going again. As I mentioned above, I’ve hardly ridden a bike for a few months now, but the really cool thing now is that I’m comfortable with that – I’m doing other things I’m enjoying more, but the bikes are always there if I need them as an easy way to go out when I feel the urge again, as I’m sure I will at some point.

Get a road bike. I was the world’s most obesessed mountain biker for 21 years until I began to drift out of love with it. Then one day I found a carbon road bike dumped in a river; took it to the Police who gave it back to me after a month. Seven years later I am the world’s most obsessed road cyclist and getting fitter and stronger with each year that passes. For my 60th birthday I bought myself a Bianchi super-bike and now the obsession has become even deeper, if that’s possible, as it’s such a joy to ride.

I love to ride but don’t get to very often (non counting commuting). I find the riding near me to be very dull so don’t bother with local stuff. But the thing about bikes is it is so diverse. I am getting back into bmx and that is something I can do locally.

between 2007 and 2012 i think i only rode about 5 times…just didnt have the time nor the motivation. kept the bikes as i knew that selling them and realising how much i’d lost on them in addition to how much i spent on them would have been too much to take.

Give up when you don’t want to do it anymore. If for you the family rides where a big draw then maybe that’s a sign. Maybe go down to one bike, eg the one you can ride from the door or the one you can take on a holiday.

I have had a pretty bad last 4 years, knee injury meant I didn’t ride at all for 9 months then it’s been sporadic based upon mostly living in a city 60-90 min plus drive to any sort of decent riding. This year I have ridden less than 500km, averaged one ride every 6 weeks.

Unless you can ride from your front door on the mtb, what about a road bike? Are there some pretty / interesting lanes you can explore for an hour or two? Get Strava, set some KOM targets and hey presto…

Never.

I’ve given up on MTB. If I lived near good trails I’d still do it but I don’t and I have no interest in driving to ride my bike. So road bike it is then with the odd but of towpath cruising.

However, I’ve started running recently and that is quite nice too, I can go out for 45 minutes and be absolutely blowing whereas on a bike that’s barely enough time to want up.

I’d say never, just you sometimes put it aside for a bit.

You don’t have to ride, it’s your choice, but it sounds like you still self identify as a mountain biker and you’d like to enjoy it again.

Do it with as little pressure as possible. If you’re dodging family time, say you’ll take an hour longer than you think possible for the trails you’ll be doing. If you decide to commute, set off really early so you can go as fast (or slow) as you want.

I have a young family, I’ve been lucky with how much riding I’ve managed to continue to do, but rushing back for things and always feeling like I’m squeezing a ride in does reduce the enjoyment. The best rides from my youth are still those where me and my mates just got out and rode for ever in the middle of summer, no worry of it getting dark or having to be back for anything.

They say the hardest bit of the ride is the walk to the bike.

Maybe take that walk one day and see how you feel after a ride. If it doesn’t stir something in you then perhaps it’s time to let the bikes go, but if you still get a bit of a buzz, albeit just a small one, then keep them.

I know that I can get a bit negative sometimes with things that I enjoy but feel life impacts on me doing. It is very easy to find reasons to justify not doing something rather than doing a bit of MTFU and making yourself do it when you know in your heart you want to.

Rich.

I used to get so hung up on what type of bike it was, what bars stem seat post shifters blah blah blah. Then something clicked and I just started riding for ridings sake. Enjoy just getting out and seeing the countryside. Not interested in Strava. Couldn’t care how fast or slow I am. I know people who wouldn’t ride if their bike just wasn’t so! FFS!