Lost the love?

Has anyone lost the love of riding?

Been going through some tough times recently, physically and mentally and I can’t seem to bring myself to get out on the MTB any more. I used to ride multiple times a week and the weekend would always have a ride, no matter the weather, booked in. I really looked forward to a ride out, even if it was an evening spin for an hour.

My riding buddies have carried on and when I do ride with them I’m “that guy”, way behind and struggling up the hill, only for them to blast off again when I catch up. The end of the ride is not an “great ride” any more, but “that was horrific” and then I feel bad for slowing up their ride and day. The last few group rides (2 months ago) I have found myself hating the “pack mentality” and it has been a case of “going because” rather than “because I want to”

At the moment there is nothing more unappealing than getting on the bike or packing up my kit to get in the car and head to the trails. I have genuinely been considering shifting on my bikes and kit and putting it all behind me.

Maybe things will look up when the weather gets better, but I also fear fitness has suffered fairly badly.

Anyone else had something similar? How did you get over it?

Find something else to do for a while. Come back to it if or when you want to.

Been there – my riding has come and gone over the years (last 12 months I’ve ridden more than ever though). Usually takes something to kickstart it – try going out for a ride on your own when the weather is nice.

The group thing (working away a lot interfered with my riding) I was in the same situation – not enjoyable. No one seems to understand, or tolerate different fitness levels if they themselves are fit. That’s what led me to get an ebike 5.5 years ago – transformed the miserable group rides into something enjoyable. I like going out on my own too though.

The past few months I’ve pushed myself to do more leg powered rides though to get that fitness back

Been there, done that. Losing fitness makes it harder to get back on it, but not restarting means losing more fitness.

Take a break and try something else? It’s a hobby, not a lifestyle.

Take a break and try something else? It’s a hobby, not a lifestyle.

Good advice, I think I’ve moved it from lifestyle to hobby in recent years. Though I don’t think it particularly should be either.

How have solo rides been working for you OP?

Maybe take up running for fitness as well, then you’ll appreciate how good riding really is 😀

Its clearly something you want to do as you are persisting with it up to now. Perhaps chasing an ideal – memories of lovely trails in the sun when you were at your physical peak. And now every ride just getting disappointed about being left behind in the mud and slop.

Can you change your riding to try to find the love again. If you love speedy descents, maybe a day of bikepark wales to enjoy some fairly weatherproof trails and remove the fitness aspect.

If you love the pedalling freedom, maybe a road or gravel bike ridden alone will give that outdoor excerise enjoyment back, avoid the worst of the weather/slop and also build the fitness which will help on the group rides. Being able to jump on and head out from the door might help the motivation too.

If you’re not enjoying it, you’re not enjoying it. Can’t force it.

However, mtb is much more enjoyable when you’re fit – as when you get to tricky bits of climb you have the go to get through it – and you get to the top of climbs not broken for the downhill fun bits.

Maybe work on your fitness away from the group ride. Get some miles in on easy flow terrain / road / turbo training structured plan. Now I’m fit I’m enjoying my riding so much more than when I was heavier / less fit. Can’t wait to go out on my bikes these days.

Another vote for do something different.  I have been walking a lot over winter, the bike has not had a look in.  Then recently while walking I started thinking “this area would be nice on a bike” and I knew it was time to get back on two wheels.

Lost the love about 8 years ago.

Tried again last spring but it just doesn’t excite me anymore.

Move on and try other stuff, for some it’s a life-long love, not so for others.

Mix it up. The thing with riding with others, you’ve got to get the miles in to keep the fitness, which then makes it a horrible experience.

Got a couple of mates who don’t get to ride much, and it’s a nightmare for them when they come out with us that are riding most days (commuting and fun). They end up wasted, even though we wait.

How did you get over it?

Rode on my own.

Had my own spate of fitness issues a few years ago, everyone was getting on at me about “riding more”, “train harder”. Turns out i was quite ill. So i couldn’t. So i rode on my own, at my own pace. Doing my own thing.

I’m “that guy”, way behind and struggling up the hill

I’m there as well at the moment, and have been for 2 years solid. Multiple injuries and illnesses breaking any chance to be properly fit.

Don’t let it spoil your ride… if you feel it does, ride with different people. Or solo.

Or get an ebike to ride with current buddies not on ebikes. Works for one of our guys really well.

Broke my collarbone two years ago and have found myself in a very similar headspace since.

What worked for me was rather than slogging up a fireroad, with no fitness, to squid my way down trails that I’ve ridden a hundred times, absolutely terrified and hating every minute, was picking a fun, but semi challenging section of trail, and just session it until I got it feeling nice.

I spent 3 hours riding 5 corners a few weeks ago and really enjoyed myself for the first time in over a year. Found it totally reset my feelings on riding.

Not the cheapest solution by any stretch, but built a rigid 29er recently too. And just the going out plodding, super sedate and taking in the views and the shear novelty of a very silly bike helped me massively.

Just need to shift this never ending cough/cold which has kept me off the bike for 3 weeks now!

You have a rigid 29er and a silly bike?

Do something else for a bit, but don’t sell your gear. Then when you get the itch, head out for a pootle alone, or with someone that’s a beginner. Just take in the scenery, or a beer, or the sunshine. Don’t have an agenda or a goal beyond finding something to smile about. As Scotroutes says, it’s a hobby. It can be a lifestyle, but it doesn’t have to be, and I think that when your own life gets in the way of time on the bike the idea that it has to be all in is unhelpful. Pretty sure I’ve written a newsletter on this somewhere, I’ll see if I can dig it out.

I regularly lose the love and regularly find it again.

I’ll ride four days a week and then suddenly not want to ride at all. So I’ll switch to climbing and not touch a bike for 6 months, a year, whatever. Then one day I fancy a ride and nothing else gets a look in.

Seems to have worked, 25 years on and I’m currently as psyched for riding (and climbing) as ever. Sometimes wish I could be a bit more balanced but hey ho, I’m having fun.

(What I’m trying to say is don’t worry about it and don’t force it. It can just come and go naturally.)

I think the love can come and go.

You might need to find some different people to ride with – people a little bit more understanding and compassionate.   I have ridden with the majority of my riding buddies – for nearly 30 years. During that time I have gone from very fit to physically compromised.  No matter who was the fittest or most capable, we never left people behind.  Even now – they put up with me riding an e-bike.

I see it that consideration is king and rule #1 definitely applies.  I hope that you riding without having to put up with people racing off, makes riding a great option again.

nagging injury has affected my bike fitness over the past few months plus the rubbish weather has not helped me get out much so I fully sympathise with the OP–my riding has been sustained over the winter by doing short local outings off road, just pottering about on the bike, keeping on moving however slowly, it helps clear my mind a bit when I am out in the fresh air, and motivates me to keep at it to build up strength and fitness again.

I think the group you ride with and where can have a hugely different effect on how you feel.

A group ride on a canal can sometimes be a very relaxing affair, great scenery , slow pace and usually quite gentle with very few steep inclines and a pint at the end.  This type of ride against a few of you heading to Bike Park Wales for a full on day out with body armour and full face helmet are both very different.  Both on Mountain Bikes, both outdoors and both in groups but the general vibe can be different.

It could be worth going back to basics, i.e. the canal ride or the gentle ride in the park, and finding out why you first enjoyed MTB and get the buzz back.  I doubt many of us went out for our first ever MTB ride went to a hardcore trail centre but probably around the local park.  I spent many a weekend in Sutton Park in the ’90s well before trail centres were thing.

Go for a walk. Ride on your own. What you have lost is the love of group riding with people with higher fitness than yourself. The “Just Riding Along” love is still there. So try that instead. And go for a walk.

I was off the bike over two years with COVID. I missed it and am back training hard, but not really riding off road yet. But I enjoyed walking very much.

spent many a weekend in Sutton Park in the ’90s well before trail centres were thing.

Me too – although starting in the 1980’s.  Still do in fact!

Hardly ridden in two years due to knee problems/hernia/life getting in the way.

Things seem to be on the mend, so I’m going to make an effort to get back into it.

Turns out I write about just bimbling around and not keeping up with the rad squad quite a lot. Here’s a couple.

Start With A Feather

Riding bikes is like sex: it should be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. Yes, there are all sorts of niches and interests that mix pain, or risk, or thrill, or just watching the action happening into the mix. But fundamentally, it should be fun: fun for you, and fun for those you’re with.

Not everyone is a great match for having fun together in bed, but if you’re into bikes I think it should be possible to find common ground out on the trails or bike paths. Whether your preferred niche is gap-jump shape throwing, endurance marathon racing, or even road riding, you’ll all recognise the happiness that’s to be had in feeling the transfer of leg power into forward motion, of hearing the wind in your ears and feeling it on your face. You’ll all know the sensation of smelling and hearing the world that you pass through, of feeling the heat in a sunny spot, or the cool in a wooded corner.

No matter what size or speed your tyres, these common experiences of riding bikes add up to a common language of fun and joy. And, as someone who knows those delights, it’s up to you to share them with those that don’t. Pootling along and having fun, whooping at a first hill climbed, or descent survived – this is the foreplay of bike riding.

As we hit spring, and bank holidays, there will be the inevitable digging out of rarely used bikes from sheds. Family rides, couples rides, friends on a camping trip adventures. Mismatched groups of experience and enthusiasm. As a rider who knows what fun is, resist the urge to dive straight into your niche version of fun. Keep it simple, focus on the basic building blocks of fun on a bike. Tickle them with the feathers of fun, don’t force the whole chicken on them.

If they’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. Shift your focus to those you’re with. Get it right, and you might just find yourself with a new riding buddy.

Bimbling is Awesome

Years ago now I wrote about the pleasures of stopping on a ride, and of taking in your surroundings. This week, I was pleased to discover that there may actually be some science to back this up.

I’m a prolific listener of podcasts, and Hidden Brain is a regular favourite. It’s recently been running a ‘Happiness’ series, which I highly recommend. This week, the guest, Dacher Keltner, was talking about ‘awe’ and its role in well-being. At one point, the discussion turns to an experiment where people were invited to head outdoors for walks. One group just headed out for the exercise, while the other expressly went out looking for ‘awe’ – things to marvel at. The ‘awe’ group reported higher levels of happiness and well-being than the exercise. Which, I think, gives hope – or maybe justification – to all us pootlers and bimblers.

Especially if we’ve not been out for a while, or all our mates have spent the winter thrashing themselves on a turbo trainer, it’s easy to dismiss your ride as being somehow inadequate. Not fast enough. Not technical enough. Not far enough. But shake your head and empty such thoughts on the floor. Take your thoughts out of your head and notice the world around you, find awe to inspire you, and you may well find that your pleasant bimble does you just as much good as an hour of thrashing in the pain cave. Forget watts per kilo, glycogen levels, and training zones. The only zone you need is outdoors, zoned out from life, zoomed in on the wonders of the world.

Thanks all. For the last few years MTB has been / was a lifestyle and to my riding buddies it is very much what they still do. There is an element of “you’re not committed enough” to it all, which in hindsight has put me off a lot and I think upon reflection I really dislike the “pack mentality” of it all.

Any free time, you have to be riding or preparing to do it, spare cash – more bike kit, plus bikes are not cheap! If you’re at the back you’re not fit enough and should be working harder to get fit. When there is a ride it is focused, competitive and you have to be “on it”.

The fitness thing does get to me, both physically and mentally. Riding from my doorstep is easy, gearing the car up with kit, clothes and having to spend an hour cleaning the bike and then the car interior after is less attractive, and harder to find the time. So maybe summer where less cleaning etc is needed will reinvigorate things.

@ scotroutes I suspect I am not all in on the “lifestyle” really. It is a hobby and I love sharing hobbies, but it doesn’t define me.

@stwhannah – great article! I think the I have lost the feeling of being outside and none of my buddies know how or want to bimble. It’s all about the PB or KOM and if you’re not on board with that idea, get off the train. Perhaps some people to bimble with would be a welcome change.

I have a shed full of bikes and kit and do feel sometimes that it is all a bit of a waste just sitting there and it could do some aspiring mtb-er some good.

@ Jamj1974 used to be great place, although not been for years as no longer local.  Was probably about 1990 for me.

Riding around on our 26inch fully rigid hardtails, 3×7 with thumbshifters… ahh they were the days!!  or were they?

An injury has put paid to my serious mtb’ing for a while and the evening rides were getting to the ‘this isn’t fun’ type of ride, but I joined a cycle club and now really enjoy the group road rides – some a bit faster where they disappear into the distance as soon as the hills appear – they wait and keep telling me they don’t mind waiting so I’ll have to believe that for the moment, or go out with a slower group where it’s a little bit more relaxed. The important thing for me is that I’m out and enjoying the countryside which really helps keep my head clear of life’s challenges.

Bimbling on a canal path is good for the soul. Maybe buy a gravel bike? Try a different group, they’ll be people on here probably not too far from you who would love a bimble.

Ride on your own at your own pace.

Sounds like you’re more fed up with your mates than with riding?

You didn’t say whether you’ve been doing any solo rides, did you?

Where I’ve not ever lost the love of riding (even for a ‘roadie at heart), I didn’t ride alot when my kids were young, having gone from a Time Trialist and racing all season.  Picked it back up about 17 years ago, and started commuting to work again. After a number of months fitness was good, and just got better. Didn’t do lots of weekend riding, just an hour or so. Roll on until 8 years ago – got my spine broken badly on my commute.

Back on the bike after 4 months, but off road. Mileage/time was way off what I had been doing and lost a tonne of fitness. But I was out and pedalling doing different routes and scenery. Started to get that back again when I started commuting again, but off road mainly, and I’ve got it back.

I don’t feel I have to get out at weekend, but it’s nice not to be riding to ‘work’. I’ve actually hardly touched the FS bike since summer with weather, and I’ve been using a CX bike for my weekend rides, and in winter with road wheels and tyres. So try mixing it up, but make sure you enjoy it.

I have been struggling with motivation for any physical activity for the past 2 or 3  months. Personaly I am in need of those organised rides to get out the door. But at other times I have drifted away from group rides and just getting outside on the bike with some headphones has been the solution.

Ride on your own mate. It sounds like your mates are all about fitness and speed.

I’m more about views, plodding and a beer at the end. And thats fine for me.

Luckily my riding buddies are the same.

Riding on your own?
Maybe even changing the discipline a bit, I like a Gravel bike these days myself, covers ground more efficiently than an MTB, better off-road than a Road bike.

It reads very much like its riding with a faster (maybe a bit competitive?) group that is part of what’s sucking some joy out of riding perhaps.

Going at your own pace, and picking your own route/distance means your still turning your legs over, keeping active and liberating some endorphins even if it’s not as high paced, without feeling like you have to “keep up” with a group which can obviously take the shine off a ride.
The goal is to finish up feeling like you’ve enjoyed yourself.

Just take a break.

Yep totally fell out of love for it.
Bought an ebike (light/ half fat) to start riding more peak stuff that I love.
Not a month later two discs in my back went, one took a nerve with it in the flounce.
6 weeks laid up and no strength in my right foot (can’t calf raise) so pedaling flexes my foot, needing a more mid foot pedal.
Couple that with lost fitness, weight gain as I can’t run, cycle etc plus it seems to have rained constantly since last April I’ve barley been on a bike ride this year.

Yeah, been there a few times and there now too. Work taking up too much time, illnesses, time pressures and frankly the seemingly endless 9 months of dark, cold, wet and miserable weather has killed the joy. Got out of the habit and now it feels like an effort. Mates are all on zwift banging out training rides, all about the w/kg and I’m just not interested. Club rides have become a vile smash fest fueled by the racer and no social aspect, so I’ve bailed out of those too.

WFH today, first sunny day in ages but still blowing a hoolie. Took the gravel bike out at lunch. Felt hard, but warm. Stopped on climbs and said hello to lambs, sniffed the gorse, didn’t chase anyone or anything, no numbers. 90 minutes of solitude and fresh air. Starting to think I might try again at the weekend, but only if its bimbling and if the weathers nice.

Take it one day at a time, and just focus on the good things. Frankly who cares if you’re a bit slower up the hill, it’s supposed to be fun, not penance. The guilt free pint after tastes better too.

@chakaping – no I’ve not managed any solo rides, time has been at a bit of a premium, but when I have some free time the last thing I want to do is get on the bike. I can find a million and one things to do that are not getting on the bike.

At the moment the thought of getting out to the trails, (I do have trails locally, but I don’t really know them, so there is a 1000% chance I will get lost), and to get to the good trails it is getting in the car, actually gives me a little bit of anxiety.

So some of it is physical, some mental and some social. Hence sort of losing the love.

At the moment the thought of getting out to the trails, (I do have trails locally, but I don’t really know them, so there is a 1000% chance I will get lost), and to get to the good trails it is getting in the car, actually gives me a little bit of anxiety.

Can get on board with this. I’ve not been on my MTB in ages, and part of it is the faff of packing it up, driving somewhere, riding in a swamp, then packing the muddy bike back into the van and dealing with all the messy kit when I get home and I just cba with or get motivated for any of that.

Not sure if you’ve just got MTBs or any other sort of bike, but a local 1 hour bimble along a cycle path/woodland track in the sun to a cafe and back works wonders as a starting point. Just about getting the wheels turning, doesn’t have to be gnarr or far. In many cases, it’s best to keep it easy or local as you don’t get as disheartened about “I used to ride this much faster”

@bjhedley – this is it. Find a variety of kit for the weather, find kit to change into, find clean covers for the interior or the car, pack the bike, do the ride, clean the bike enough to get it in the car, back and clean the bike again, clean the car, tiptoe around the flat to not drop mud everywhere, then try and clean my kit.

For years I would be straight out, no matter the weather and the bike would be cleaned and lubed on the same day, before or after work.

Recently, same CBA.

Go for a walk. Ride on your own. What you have lost is the love of group riding with people with higher fitness than yourself.

Sound advice.

But it’s bloody hard right now because conditions are so terrible. Set yourself some modest goals, don’t beat yourself up if you miss them. Spring will turn up eventually, hopefully, and if you’ve got a few weeks of turning pedals behind you at that point, you might wake up actually wanting to get out there.

If you’ve lost the love, sack it off for a while, bikes aren’t the most important thing in anyone’s life.

go for a walk, go for a short pootle, go for a cup of tea/coffee/whatever, it’s all good, but it’s not compulsory.

maybe use google maps and make yourself a 3-5 mile loop, or don’t.
the love might return, or it might not, either way it aint the end of the world.

Sertraline is very good for reducing anxiety, my outlook on life in general has improved a fair bit since I’ve been using it, perhaps it’s worth talking with your GP?

whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you.

Martin.