# The downside of commuting more



## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

I've been working hard this summer to drive less. It's been pretty awesome, if a little sweaty. My wife is even starting to ride more- she bike commuted twice this week, even though that means she's got to pull the trailer with our daughter up the hill home, the hardest led of the trip. But I've driven less than 3000 miles this year so far and that includes a long drive to Michigan and back for vacation. I'm getting about a month to a tank of gas. 

There has been one downside- I've found that all this short distance riding pulling 50+ pounds of trailer leaves me very much mentally drained for going out for long solo rides on the weekend. Even though pulling a trailer has made me a whole lot stronger this year, I'm less inclined to use that strength. Booooooo.

Any suggestions?


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

do you have any other motivations for commuting to work other than saving gas? do you race? perhaps there is motivation there. 

I too find solo rides boring and find at times I don't enjoy it AS much as I do when I'm with friends. What about hooking up with some friends or a local bike group?


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

c-lo said:


> do you have any other motivations for commuting to work other than saving gas? do you race? perhaps there is motivation there.
> 
> I too find solo rides boring and find at times I don't enjoy it AS much as I do when I'm with friends. What about hooking up with some friends or a local bike group?


My big motivation for commuting to work is that since we had our daughter, I don't have a whole lot of time to ride, so riding to work is sometimes the only riding I get. Plus I really enjoy it- it's a great way to start and end the day. The ecological benefits are just the icing on the cake. The other benefit for me is showing my daughter that bikes are a perfectly valid method of transport. 

I don't race and really don't want to. Not a huge fan of riding with other people either. Most group rides around here are populated with racers, and there's not a whole lot of fun in that for me. 

I think yer right though, I may have to find some people to ride with.


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

maybe break it up too with some other fun outdoor activity?


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I've encountered a similar issue. I still have the motivation to ride on weekends, but find that my legs are kind of shot for fast Saturday morning rides if I ride a lot during the week. My solution is to ride easy recovery pace on Thursdays-Fridays, or take that as my day off commuting when possible. Often I end up just suffering through my Saturday rides with my friends, or riding on Sundays instead.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

c-lo said:


> maybe break it up too with some other fun outdoor activity?


Or with some other kind of riding? If you don't want to do group rides, and don't feel motivated for long solo rides, try some short intense ones? Find a nasty hill and do repeats? Measure out a 10-mile time trial course and test yourself against it on the weekend? 

Just don't take up golf. We can forgive almost anything else ;-)


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

Or maybe this?

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=221419


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## Slim Again Soon (Oct 25, 2005)

Same here. My commutes have gotten me tuned into 10-mile rides!


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

tarwheel2 said:


> I've encountered a similar issue. I still have the motivation to ride on weekends, but find that my legs are kind of shot for fast Saturday morning rides if I ride a lot during the week. My solution is to ride easy recovery pace on Thursdays-Fridays, or take that as my day off commuting when possible. Often I end up just suffering through my Saturday rides with my friends, or riding on Sundays instead.



this sounds like it could be a diet issue. I had a similar issue until I added more green veggies and other good carb sources to my diet. Once I did that recovery was no longer an issue.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

wooglin said:


> Or maybe this?
> 
> http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=221419


If I have to put a bike on the car, chances are really good it's just not going to happen. 

Mtn biking has really fallen off for me. Used to go every weekend and a couple nights a week, but lately, driving an hour to go ride for an hour and then driving back for an hour seems kinda lame when I could just ride out of my driveway and get 2 hours of riding... which I'm not doing because I'm kinda burnt out... 

Maybe what I need to do is convince my wife to come with me to blue mounds- there's a pool where she and my daughter could hang out while I ride the trails. Then the hour and a half of driving doesn't feel like such a waste...


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## rockcrusher (Sep 26, 2005)

singlespeed mountain bike on the weekend. Good workout, shorter duration ride and new skills to learn.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

rockcrusher said:


> singlespeed mountain bike on the weekend. Good workout, shorter duration ride and new skills to learn.


Had that same idea a couple years ago. I cannot tell you how much I hated singlespeed Mountain biking...


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

how old is your daughter?



buck-50 said:



> If I have to put a bike on the car, chances are really good it's just not going to happen.
> 
> Mtn biking has really fallen off for me. Used to go every weekend and a couple nights a week, but lately, driving an hour to go ride for an hour and then driving back for an hour seems kinda lame when I could just ride out of my driveway and get 2 hours of riding... which I'm not doing because I'm kinda burnt out...
> 
> Maybe what I need to do is convince my wife to come with me to blue mounds- there's a pool where she and my daughter could hang out while I ride the trails. Then the hour and a half of driving doesn't feel like such a waste...


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

c-lo said:


> how old is your daughter?


Man, there is no way to ask that on the internet without sounding creepy... 

She's almost 3. If she's good tonight, she'll be getting her first big girl bike on saturday.:thumbsup:


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

yeah, I know.....but you answered my question. couple more years and you'll have some motivation for the weekends... 

doesn't help you now though!


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Funny, I singlespeed _road_ ride since flipping the fixie hub. Feels perfectly normal, and is surprisingly able to climb.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*yup*



Slim Again said:


> Same here. My commutes have gotten me tuned into 10-mile rides!


After 4 years of commuting 13 miles each way in the city, I've become very good at sprinting from 20-30 mph to make lights, 0-20 mph accelleration, and holding a nice pace for 1/2 mile at a time, then repeating after 60 seconds rest.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

Fixed said:


> After 4 years of commuting 13 miles each way in the city, I've become very good at sprinting from 20-30 mph to make lights, 0-20 mph accelleration, and holding a nice pace for 1/2 mile at a time, then repeating after 60 seconds rest.


Yeah, I've got that stuff down pat...

now I just don't feel like riding the rest of the time. :cryin:


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

The very same thing happened to me when I was commuting 15+ miles each way every day. During that time, I would normally only take a relatively short ride one day on the weekend. Accumulated fatigue was another issue for me. Personally, I never found a fix for it really. I would sometimes not ride on a Friday to build up the ganas to ride on the weekend. Forcing myself to ride even more tended to backfire for me.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*tired?*



buck-50 said:


> Yeah, I've got that stuff down pat...
> 
> now I just don't feel like riding the rest of the time. :cryin:


You might be just plain old tired. 

On weekends, I ride a different bike and get up into the mountains, a completely different environment. Kind of refreshing. Helps to have a goal, something you *need* endurance training for, also.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

buck-50 said:


> now I just don't feel like riding the rest of the time. :cryin:


So, if you don't want to ride more, don't ride more. (That's what I did, more or less.) Is the issue deeper, in that you think you should want to ride more than you actually want to ride?


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*recovery*



Pablo said:


> So, if you don't want to ride more, don't ride more. (That's what I did, more or less.) Is the issue deeper, in that you think you should want to ride more than you actually want to ride?


I think the issue is recovery, or lack of it. Riding twice a day 5 days a week, you just don't get a chance to recover. You end up not really "training," but just interupting recovery, like peeling a scab off before it's healed. If you want to commute every day, there have to be some reallly slow days. It's hard to maintain that disclipline.

I also do my longer ride on Sunday, so I have Saturday as a recovery day. I do stuff with the kids on Saturday.

When I really want to get in shape, I ride fewer days, but with more intensity and/or duration on those days, and try to get lots of rest in between. 

Part of it might be mental, too.


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

buck-50 said:


> If I have to put a bike on the car, chances are really good it's just not going to happen.
> 
> Mtn biking has really fallen off for me. Used to go every weekend and a couple nights a week, but lately, driving an hour to go ride for an hour and then driving back for an hour seems kinda lame when I could just ride out of my driveway and get 2 hours of riding... which I'm not doing because I'm kinda burnt out...
> 
> Maybe what I need to do is convince my wife to come with me to blue mounds- there's a pool where she and my daughter could hang out while I ride the trails. Then the hour and a half of driving doesn't feel like such a waste...


An hour? I thought we were talking long rides. Like all day.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*trailer?*



buck-50 said:


> There has been one downside- I've found that all this short distance riding pulling 50+ pounds of trailer leaves me very much mentally drained for going out for long solo rides on the weekend. Even though pulling a trailer has made me a whole lot stronger this year, I'm less inclined to use that strength. Booooooo.
> 
> Any suggestions?


Just caught this. Why the heck do you need 50+ pounds of trailer weight every day? Can't you have "lighten up" days and take just your wallet and phone? Carry clothes once or twice a week.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

Fixed said:


> Just caught this. Why the heck do you need 50+ pounds of trailer weight every day? Can't you have "lighten up" days and take just your wallet and phone? Carry clothes once or twice a week.


'Cause the trailer weighs 20 pounds and the little girl in it weighs 32...

I could ask her to lose weight, but it seems like that might be a losing battle.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*solution*



buck-50 said:


> 'Cause the trailer weighs 20 pounds and the little girl in it weighs 32...
> 
> I could ask her to lose weight, but it seems like that might be a losing battle.


Oh. Get one of these and make her pull her own weight -- the little slacker...


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

got one- in another 2 years or so she'll be helping.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Fixed said:


> Oh. Get one of these and make her pull her own weight -- the little slacker...


A guy in my building set up a Big Dummy so that his daughter could ride on the back. He mounted handlebars to his seat post, put padding on top of the rack, used bar ends for foot pegs and even mounted a bottle cage on the bars for her. Really a cool setup and cruises well with and without the kid. But he only has a 4 mile commute.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Buck - I got 3 letters for ya..... MTB!!!!

When I get burned out from commuting and don't feel like dealing with cars and MUTs for a good weekend ride, I go MTBing. Plus, all that leg strength you've built up will make it more fun since the climbs will be easier.


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

you could get an http://www.xtracycle.com/cargo-bicycles/freeradical-cargo-bicycle.html

and build your own rear seat for your daughter. check out the link


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## cparrish (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm in a similar boat but don't have to drop my daughter off. Mostly Ive given up on weekend riding but instead try and slip out early a few times a week and take a long route to work. These usually end up being 15-20 miles compared to my normal 7 and I try to make each extended trip unique in some way. That said if I get a weekend ride in it's usually with the trailer taking my daughter somewhere.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

c-lo said:


> this sounds like it could be a diet issue. I had a similar issue until I added more green veggies and other good carb sources to my diet. Once I did that recovery was no longer an issue.


Ha! More likely an age issue. I'm 56 and don't recover as well as when younger. Believe me, I eat plenty of carbs. I'm a carboholic.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*same here*



tarwheel2 said:


> Ha! More likely an age issue. I'm 56 and don't recover as well as when younger. Believe me, I eat plenty of carbs. I'm a carboholic.


Same here. About to turn 50. I find that I can easily run myself into the ground if I try to ride more than 4 days per week. I tend to ride hard, and after about 2 weeks of riding every day, I'm worthless and then have to take a few days off. Recovery has easily passed up time available as my limiting factor now.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Good point about the age. I'm 44 now, and found that the heat is getting to me more than it has in the past (been bike commuting for about 9 years). Of couse, this summer has been so damn hot, that it might be the heat an humidity as much as the age. I rode 4 days last week (worked from home on Friday) then did a 65 mile hilly ride on Saturday. Commuted yesterday and today, and have been completely drained. I'm thinking I might not commute tomorrow, but the fact that I have to drive on Thursday and am going on vacation on friday and next week, so I won't ride for a week has me in a quandry as to whether I should suck it up and ride tomorrow. But I'm friggin tired.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

Realized that there are some nutritional elements that are causing me problems this year- I'm eating healthier, which means eating less, which is great and I'm down about 18 pounds, but it also means that I've got less spare fuel in my system. 

And it's still hard to predict when I'm going to get to ride on weekends, so it's kinda hard to predict when I need to eat more...

Oh well. It's a good problem to have.


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## c-lo (Sep 30, 2008)

Nice job on the weight loss. However eating healthier does NOT equal eating less. We are talking about better quality foods. I've done something similiar and dropped close to 20lbs, but did so by eliminating poor quality carbs like breads, rice, pasta, and introduced more veggies, protein and better quality carbs like quinoa and better quality breads. Basically I've eliminated MOST of the enriched process foods from my diet as i can. 

Before I did this I did do what you had done and experienced the same thing, my recoveries from rides took longer and I had no energy. My recovery from training rides, etc.. improved big time once I changed my diet to the above. 




buck-50 said:


> Realized that there are some nutritional elements that are causing me problems this year- I'm eating healthier, which means eating less, which is great and I'm down about 18 pounds, but it also means that I've got less spare fuel in my system.
> 
> And it's still hard to predict when I'm going to get to ride on weekends, so it's kinda hard to predict when I need to eat more...
> 
> Oh well. It's a good problem to have.


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## Bosplya (Mar 25, 2008)

tarwheel2 said:


> I've encountered a similar issue. I still have the motivation to ride on weekends, but find that my legs are kind of shot for fast Saturday morning rides if I ride a lot during the week. My solution is to ride easy recovery pace on Thursdays-Fridays, or take that as my day off commuting when possible. Often I end up just suffering through my Saturday rides with my friends, or riding on Sundays instead.


^^Ditto...I figured this out too when I kept realizing I bombed on weekend rides after commuting all week.


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

I've got a simple answer that worked for me....starting running.
If you're body can take it, start doing runs. After 20+ years of almost strictly riding/racing, the last 2 years a group of us have taken up running. 5K's, 10Ks, just for fun, a 14K trail run the other week in Hannover, NH
It's amazing how much the change of pace has been. My wife and I are doing our first half marathon in October, and having a new "goal" has been really refreshing this year.
You can get a very good workout running in much less time than riding.
Another plus has been that there are way more women who run at any given 5 & 10K events than probably 12 months of bike rides/races put together. So there is a lot more to "look at" while running.


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