Quitting this hobby

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flag fr3er1d3r
Posted: Jul 23, 2016 at 16:25 Quote
Anyone else considering it? This hobby is legitimately dangerous. I'm the type that wants to be better with every few passing months but with adulthood kicking in between me and my friends, it's difficult to find the time to ride. Everything is a drive and schedules are in constant conflict...being rusty sucks and wanting to push through that can result in serious physical consequences that one must consider! The fear of eating shit holds me back and that threshold of what looks like it might cause me to eat shit, is lowered, every few months due to how little riding I get.

Not getting enough riding in to feel comfortable on the gnarly stuff and the thought of my bike and hobby growing stale in the garage really frustrates me.

Getting older is one thing but I'm not old! Just not getting the time in that is necessary to stay in tune and keep progressing with this hobby. Riding in my shadow makes it hard to have fun. This sport was very adrenaline based for me and the other stuff was just a compliment to that. Without it, it feels empty.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this. Can anyone relate? Is the struggle to find the time to ride taking away from the fun or interest in this hobby for you? I'm considering selling the bike and moving on...just reaching out to see what others have to say or are feeling in their own world.
flag arnie86
O+ FL
Posted: Jul 23, 2016 at 21:07 Quote
I quit riding bikes when I was 16 and picked it up again at the age of 27. Take a break and step back. Find something new to learn and get stoked on to remember why you started riding in the first place. Do not stop something without picking up something else is my recommendation.

Lack of time to ride is frustrating, but try to just relish the little time you do get. Try a different riding style, work on stuff that is low consequence but weak in your own riding. Do laps of the trails you find funnest! Do it for reasons other than progression, because I swear to you that as you get older, you do not get more free time!
flag fr3er1d3r
Posted: Jul 23, 2016 at 22:10 Quote
I appreciate that! Thank you. I've got a slopestyle/dirt jumper and an Enduro rig. Both frustrate me just having around but I know I could do more. Getting out there is such a chore, though, that I hardly find it worth it if I'm almost always alone. Not that I feel lonely, rather, safer with someone else around if I really get hurt but having a friend on the trail is a nice thing anyway.
flag Grimes1405
O+
Posted: Jul 23, 2016 at 22:48 Quote
Two years ago I took on a new job that really ate up a lot of my riding time. The solution for me was to mix it up and try new things both on and off the bike. Like said previously, there isn't just one way to ride a bike; try a different style. I was training hard for cyclocross and xc, but there was no time for big miles. Instead, I'd just take the bike out after work and feel pumped about it. No charging, no big descents (I was riding solo, as well), but enough to wet the appetite and make having the bike worth it.
flag RunsWithScissors
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 4:06 Quote
Like you, I'm feeling age creep up on me. A serious injury a few years ago left me unable to trust one shoulder, so I had to give up rock climbing. In the course of recovering I bought a used bike and rediscovered a lost love. Remembering the havoc caused in my life by having to deal with my last serious injury keeps me from going all out downhill and in the air now, but I have a different kind of love for biking these days. I'm more into climbing and endurance. Now it's not about how fast I can go, but where and how far I can go on a bike. Rock climbing is all about finding the line of least resistance and exploiting it to make progress. I get into that now on the bike. Instead of trying to fly down a slope as fast as I can I try to find that one sweet line that lets me flow uphill through the rocks like water going backwards. Instead of trying not to brake I'm trying to make it to the top without stopping to breathe or unclipping from the pedals (or falling over at walking speed!). It's a different set of challenges and it still requires strength and technique, but the crashes happen a lot less frequently and at lower speeds.. Maybe you should look into a different kind of riding. There's more ways than one to have fun on a bike.
flag gbeaks33
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 12:00 Quote
I feel ya, man. I had a huge crash last year and was hospitalized (just for the day, no lasting complications, thank god). Made me take a step back and reevaluate things. At that time I was riding 5 days a week trying to train for an enduro race. I did the race with friends just for fun and wasn't really doing it to podium or anything. I don't know why I was pushing myself. Anyways, a few days after the race I bailed on an easy section of trail trying to pedal as hard as I could. Why? I could have easily just pedaled it normally and had a fun ride. I was mentally burnt out and tired from "training". Nowadays, I ride 3x per week but sometimes I have to take a week off due to work commitments or weekends away. So after a week off or so and I'm feeling a little rusty I just do an easy xc pedal and don't do any features or nasty descents. I still have fun and if I'm in it for a workout I push a bit harder on the climbs then take a break and cruise back down.
flag pigman65
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 13:54 Quote
I'm 51 and i regret every day i have not ridden
flag fr3er1d3r
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 14:02 Quote
I'm only 23 and it puts me in this place of feeling pressured to push myself while I can but also risking jeopardizing my youth wish a serious crash. I'd be less worried of a serious crash happening if I got more riding time in to slowly and surely develop that finesse I had before.

I'm not sure I can just back up and enjoy the more XC oriented aspects of riding right now.
flag Mikey300
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 14:08 Quote
I am feeling this right now, I used to be an incredibly avid rider and raced in a few disciplines. I haven't even got on my bike since last summer. Trying to find motivation to not sell my last bike, but it is impossible to find time to drive to the trails and I could use the money.
flag fr3er1d3r
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 14:16 Quote
Mikey300 wrote:
I am feeling this right now, I used to be an incredibly avid rider and raced in a few disciplines. I haven't even got on my bike since last summer. Trying to find motivation to not sell my last bike, but it is impossible to find time to drive to the trails and I could use the money.

Exactly my feelings. How old are you? It's that drive that kills. As if lining up schedules isn't tricky enough between friends, having to commit an entire day and some cash for gas/resort tickets, etc...doesn't happen too often in my world! Really frustrating. Thinking about actively trying to make some biking buddies in the spots closer to me.
flag Rrfjr46sequim
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 17:11 Quote
Hello,
First post here.
My advise, do it while you can, in matters such as this, I like to remember the saying from that blind, deaf, and dumb girl,
Helen Keller " Security is mostly a superstition, it does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Right there with pigman65, I am 69 will turn 70 in December, if I make it, and love to ride...fast.
flag cerebroside
O+
Posted: Jul 24, 2016 at 18:47 Quote
Rrfjr46sequim wrote:
Hello,
First post here.
My advise, do it while you can, in matters such as this, I like to remember the saying from that blind, deaf, and dumb girl,
Helen Keller " Security is mostly a superstition, it does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Right there with pigman65, I am 69 will turn 70 in December, if I make it, and love to ride...fast.

That's a hell of a first post. Nice quote.
flag iskysoma01
O+
Posted: Jul 25, 2016 at 16:45 Quote
If it's not fun for you...
flag fr3er1d3r
Posted: Jul 25, 2016 at 17:03 Quote
I'm gonna try to make it fun again. New group...more rides...let's see if it comes back. It's worth another last try
flag dirtrider76
Posted: Jul 25, 2016 at 19:49 Quote
I don't ride for anything but myself anymore. I just go out and have fun and try not to get hurt. People bring me down I just don't ride with them, if I get burnt out a take a bit off, if its super sketchy I'll go around. I'm past the point of proving myself and just go out to have fun when I can. Sometimes its hard to go out and I ride a lot by myself but common sense and not doing dumb stuff when solo keeps me from getting hurt.
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