Please share your tips on how to enjoy getting back in the saddle

[acornsandnuts]

I've returned to cycling after a few years off and recent hip surgery. I'm unfit which doesn't help as I'm not enjoying any of it like I used to.

It's pretty hilly around here which doesn't help. My heart sinks at the slightest incline.

This week I've done 20miles Flatish, 30 miles hilly and today I managed 3 miles before I turned around and came home..I just couldn't face it.

I want to enjoy it again but it doesn't feel that I ever will

[Mumski45]

I think the key will be not to try to do too much too soon. Maybe keep the speed and mileage down and do little and often until you feel your fitness coming back.
Good luck 🚴‍♀️

[BarchesterFlowers]

I had the winter off with my dodgy chest acorns and was seriously lacking motivation when I was well enough to ride again.

I hate the traffic, really hate it much more than I did before. Winding rural roads, not massively busy thankfully, but still I hate the close/fast passing that I am subjected to every time I ride my bike.

Remember that there is no shame in pushing your bike up a hill either, I had to do that in the Lakes the other week. I have currently got a health issue and probably shouldn't have been doing it anyway .... which is not that different to making yourself ride up another hill when you have had a few years off and hip surgery is it.

Would you be able to ride with a relaxed club? I don't bother because by the time I have put my bike on the car and driven there I could be 35-40 mins into a ride - but the right group could be motivating.

[acornsandnuts]

Thank you both. I think you right about speed, I'm pushing all the time and feel the hills impossible.

My DH is a member of the local cycle club and the dramas and bitching is quite alarming so I'm not planning on getting into that.

I think I need to plan short routes with cafe stops for the coming months to get my mojo back and look to next year to progress with fitness.

[ragged]

nice groups that go to nice cafes?

[TheLongRider]

I found functional cycling a good way back to fitness. By that I mean using your bike to go to the shops or just to get around. If you have the reward of getting something done as well as getting a ride in it can feel more empowering.

Sometimes feeling as if you have to go out on a training ride, going on the ride and hating every minute of it, is more detrimental to your state of mind and fitness. Particularly if you're comparing how you're riding now with how you used to be in the past.

Be nice to yourself, it took time to lose your fitness, it'll take time to get it back. The hills will always be there waiting for you, you just have to be ready for them. You will get better.

[ShotsFired]

I have one route that I fall back on about 95% of the time. I know it, I know the lumps and bumps (mercifully few) and I know how it "feels". I can ride it almost without thinking.

Do you have one of those, or can you start making one?

(The added bonus is that I can easily track my progress on like for like)

[BarchesterFlowers]

So do I shots, it goes to a lovely pub 😂, seriously. 13.5 miles or 10.9 depending on which way you go. Sometimes I just call in for some Bombay mix and a cold drink, others we will have a sandwich.

They refill my water bottles with water, ice and a slice of lemon 🍋.

[BarchesterFlowers]

Must add no tracking here 😁, esp as 27 miles can take hours with a nice lunch thrown in!

[CMOTDibbler]

I think 3 miles is a great start. In 2014 we went for our first cycle as a family, and we did 2 miles and dh had to turn round. In 2016 he rode 3500 miles in total...

We like to pop out for a cream tea or an ice cream - or to go to a local fete or whatever where parking would be a pain. No more objective than going there at whatever speed

[Summertimejingles2017]

I've cycled on and off for years but never really saw any improvement as I was only cycling once a month or so. This year I decided to cycle more and see if I can improve so I can cycle with DH without holding him back toooooo much.

Two things have made me enjoy cycling much more - 1 is joining a local women's group. The ability is very mixed and we have a WhatsApp group which we use to arrange rides. It's helped me massively having other women in the same boat as me to ride with.

1. Is getting Strava. It gives me motivation as I want to beat my previous times over certain stretches of road and also tracks my totals for the year and it's really satisfying seeing the miles stack up.
   

Good luck op

[ExConstance]

OP, you sound quite advanced for a returner compared with me!
I have a new cycle on order and haven't ridden my old one for maybe 10 years. DH has decided I need lots of practice before the new bike arrives to ensure I just don't give up. So, a trip down to the canal was planned, maybe 3 miles each way. Firstly I was very wobbly secondly very frightened of traffic and thirdly I'd forgotten how gears work and how to use them. I got sneered at by a lycra clad gentleman sitting on his bike on a canal bridge. DH told me to imagine he had driven down there in his car and positioned himself purely to sneer at people like me. I think one lot of gears have a fault but I did feel a bit better on the way back but was quite hot and bothered. We will be off for a cup of tea at a little town in the other direction next weekend - early- so I don't meet any other cyclists. I can't give up, I do quite want to achieve proficiency again!

[Summertimejingles2017]

Please ignore anyone who sneers at you! They are clearly a loser if they have nothing better to do than sneer at other cyclists!

[haggisaggis]

I got a recumbent trike to get me into cycling! It's brill (though tough on hills). Poor dh has to arrange routes allowing for loo stops, coastal views and ice cream / tea opportunities! He got on so much further before I joined him! (but it's great fun and I actually look forward to it now)