Losing your mojo

the sun is all the mojo you need

I am getting slower and slower. I don't understand. I don't like it.

I rode 25 miles yesterday, largely on towpaths (ergo flat), and my legs feel like they're going to explode today. this is not how i envisaged my recovery.

My Mojo is well and truly back. I'm no quicker, no stronger, or even much fitter. But the urge to suffer horribly without a sensible reason is there for the first time since fatherhood stole my mojo.

.....just need some fecking time.

Terribly nerdy I know, but having a powermeter again has really spurred me on- mainly because I can now directly compare how fast I was last year to where I am now.

i.e. I need to do a lot of work quite quickly I think. Still, CTL has gone from 44.8 to 60.7 in two weeks, if I can sustain this ramp rate (which feels fine) in a month I should be about where I want to be.

Next weeks cycling holiday should help.

My mojo is strongly working on everything except spread sheets and pressing buttons

Still not back. Thought it was. Don't get it cos I sweat buckets on the commute.

I am getting slower and slower. I don't understand. I don't like it.

No more time travel. :(

I rode 25 miles yesterday, largely on towpaths (ergo flat), and my legs feel like they're going to explode today. this is not how i envisaged my recovery.

Still, that's with 55gi, on knobbly 2.1" low pressure tyres and all flat. So no downhills for you to coast on. About 2 ½ hours of constantly spinning at a decent cadence. Sounds like a great recovery imo.

My ride a couple of weeks ago was on very similar bike & terrain and I certainly noticed that the next day* :-)

*not that my fitness is something to aspire to

Been experiencing some loss of mojo over the past couple of months. Attributed it to running too high a gear ratio. Ratio now lowered and mojo back in full force.

Major mojo crisis this last 7 days, almost a year to the day since the last!

A crash, a broken bike, some bad weather and emergency dentistry have combined into a zerofucksgiven attitude towards staying involved.

Sporadic 45min turbo sessions will have to do until Mojo returns.

Ouch. Doesn't happen often but once is enough and twice is a giant fuck you. Heal up and forget it happened soon!

Found myself doing a spin session in the gym last night. It was a beautiful evening and I rode there. What the fuck!!!?

Hm. I haven't really had a mojo crisis, but I haven't had much time to do long rides, which I guess has had the same outcome. I've just brought my road bike back into condition and I'm putting another bike together (one I've been meaning to get together for years). I've also fixed eight punctures inner tubes. I should be back on the road more extensively soon. The main constraint is still time, but I know I've missed riding and hope I can prioritise it again more.

Found myself doing a spin session in the gym last night. It was a beautiful evening and I rode there. What the fuck!!!?

Next time, gear down to 30/20 or something and ride to the gym. Job done, no spin class needed when you get there. :)

Funnily enough I did get there via Bishopsgate which is essentially intervals all the way.

Completely lost it in the last few weeks. Not even enjoying cycling to work. My commuter has got a horrible creak. New BB, still creaking. Shitty hayfever.

Managed 20 minutes on the turbo today and got bored to death.

I raced a few times earlier this year and I think the training made cycling feel like a chore which has taken the fun out of it for me.

What to do?

My suggestion.

Get back to riding for fun. Head out with no bike computer/ gps and get yourself lost in unexplored lanes. Stop at a pub for a pint of ale. Take photos of beautiful things that you happen accross.

Basically, do all those things that made you love cycling, before it got all serious and the fun went out of it.

BTW, I noticed from your wheel sale thread that you're in hither green. Me too and I sometimes ride with Blackheath Velo on a Sunday. Nice and relaxed and certainly not too serious. If you ever fancy it you'd be very welcome.

Tom

Cheers man. I think you're right. I've got a mate coming down next week who's fairly new to cycling so I'll head out with him and we'll have a laugh.

I get quite guilty when I haven't ridden and I don't think guilt should be used as a motivator.

I ride with Dulwich but maybe a change of clubs would do me good. What's the pace/distance generally? Where/when do you meet?

Ed

Just bodged together the good bits of three derailleurs. Cheers to Bigpaintbrush for the parts. Feels like my crashed out Pinarello may be back on the road. Just my creaky brain now and I might just get some fun miles in before summer ends.

I feel like I've been getting some of my mojo back in the last 3-4 weeks. I have made the time to get out of the house on the weekends, track on Saturday then road riding on Sunday, and have been doing turbo sessions 2 or 3 times a week.

I find turbo training horribly boring. I have tried watching films and tv programs and always just find myself zoning out and not putting any effort in. So I bought a couple of Sufferfest videos to give me some more structured training. One is 45 minutes long and does 15 1 minute intervals, and the other is 1 h 45mins long and has a mix of riding at threshold with attacks, short intervals and time trailing, I try and alternate them with a rest day in between. I mostly bought them to stop be getting bored, but I really do feel stronger on the bike now. It's not been too long and hopefully will continue to build over time, but I am enjoying cycling on my usual routes more now because hills don't kill me so much and I don't feel like death by the time I have got home.

^^^ It's quite a small club as it's not been going very long. Ability is mixed and a usual Sunday run is about 50-60 miles at a sociable pace (16mph ish) with a stop at Ide Hill cafe. A few of us often carry on for a more pacy 20-30 miles after that. Rides go from All Saints church in Blackheath village at 07:30 on a Sunday morning.

http://app.strava.com/clubs/blackheath-velo

Agree with all of this. Imagine you're a kid again and strava / PBs / fitness goals etc etc are things you've never heard of before. Ride for the joy of it for a few weeks and ignore speeds / distances etc.

My suggestion.

Get back to riding for fun. Head out with no bike computer/ gps and get yourself lost in unexplored lanes. Stop at a pub for a pint of ale. Take photos of beautiful things that you happen accross.

Basically, do all those things that made you love cycling, before it got all serious and the fun went out of it.

BTW, I noticed from your wheel sale thread that you're in hither green. Me too and I sometimes ride with Blackheath Velo on a Sunday. Nice and relaxed and certainly not too serious. If you ever fancy it you'd be very welcome.

Tom

I feel like I've been getting some of my mojo back in the last 3-4 weeks. I have made the time to get out of the house on the weekends, track on Saturday then road riding on Sunday, and have been doing turbo sessions 2 or 3 times a week.

I find turbo training horribly boring. I have tried watching films and tv programs and always just find myself zoning out and not putting any effort in. So I bought a couple of Sufferfest videos to give me some more structured training. One is 45 minutes long and does 15 1 minute intervals, and the other is 1 h 45mins long and has a mix of riding at threshold with attacks, short intervals and time trailing, I try and alternate them with a rest day in between. I mostly bought them to stop be getting bored, but I really do feel stronger on the bike now. It's not been too long and hopefully will continue to build over time, but I am enjoying cycling on my usual routes more now because hills don't kill me so much and I don't feel like death by the time I have got home.

I tend to have a higher threshold power in spring, following winter, than in autuum after a Seasons cycling. The reason being sufferfest vids. For climbing I'd buy Angels. Its a warm up and then three different 8 minute Climbs. Believe me 8 minutes is enough.

I'm still a heavy fecker for my height. But my climbing has improved loads. Makes such a difference to how a long ride feels. If you dont need to keep dipping into the VO2 max zone, just to stay within Reach of others on every incline.

appropriate extracts from michael jacksons's we're almost there

No matter how hard
The task may seem
Don't give up our plans
Don't give up our dreams
No broken bridges
Can turn us around
'Cause what we're searchin' for
Will soon be found
'Cause we're almost there
Just one more step
('Cause we're almost there)
Just one more step
(Just one more step)
Don't give up
'Cause we're almost all almost there
('Cause we're almost there)

Darlin', keep on reachin'
Out for me
Keep on reachin', do it for me
Do it for me, 'cause baby
('Cause we're almost there)
(We're almost there)
('Cause we're almost there)
We're so close
I can taste it
A life so sweet
Can't afford to waste it
Need to feel your hand
Slippin' from mine
Just hold on tighter, darlin'
Keep on tryin'
Baby, do it for me, do it do it baby
('Cause we're almost there)
Just one more step
(We're almost there)
Don't give up
('Cause we're almost there)
Just one more step
('Cause we're almost there)