Re: Getting back out on the bike again

Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 5/26/2025 12:45 PM, NFN Smith wrote:

I went through something similar recently, due to family issues. My layoff was about six months. The first few rides this year, just 20 miles or so felt scary tough. But when I started doing club rides again I was fine keeping up with the group over much longer distances. Maybe it was the inspiration or the distraction of riding with others, having conversations, etc? Or maybe they had also gotten slow over the winter.

Several years ago, I did a handful of club rides in late February and early March.  That was definitely early season stuff, where they started out with 10 miles the first week, 20 the second, then 30 and then 40.  I braved the early morning cold, and got the first 3 in, and it wasn't too bad.
However, now that we're much further into the season, I'm not sure if there's too much available at my current fitness levels, both speed and time. A good reminder to check. That's a shop-based group, and they're generally pretty inclusive, including one rider detailed to cover the rear to make sure nobody gets completely dropped.

 Today interference from a parade (blocked roads) caused me to skip a club ride, so I decided to do 30 solo miles on a beautiful day. About halfway through that I was feeling really good (um, for a guy my age!) and changed to a longer route with some tough hills. A while later I was feeling so good that I extended again. I roughly doubled my original planned mileage.
 I mean that as encouragement. You may regain fitness faster than you think.

Thanks. I do so much of my riding alone, that I'm not used to looking for group opportunities. I don't mind riding in a group, but it's usually a lot easier to jump on my bike from home and start riding immediately, whereas riding with a group means getting to a common meeting place (often at sunup), and then having the group being adequately compatible with my levels of fitness. However, I do get the point about the group making it easier to go faster and farther than I can do by myself.
Smith