Cycling isn’t a race, and I’ve talked about that before. I still though find it hard to avoid thinking that cycling is a race. That may be because I used to race, or because all cycling marketing is designed to make cycling a race. Honestly, we’re riding a toy, and as a bike is a toy, it should be fun.
It should make you want to ride. It should put a big smile on your face. Here is a tip if you don’t feel like going for a ride, don’t force yourself. If you go out and your enthusiasm drops, go home. You have no one to beat. You’ll enjoy cycling more in the long run, and find yourself sticking with it.
I forget this advice and part of that is because I used to race. I had to train; I’d qualified for some international races. I was also working in a bike shop at the time. Do you know what talking about bikes all day and forcing myself to ride did? It made me hate bikes. It also gave pneumonia, but that is a whole other story.
I hated bikes, and I hated cycling. It was something I knew loads about, and I got offered a marketing job in cycling. I took it so I could hate myself as much as I hated bikes. I took a break and came back to cycling, and I love it more than ever, but I keep finding myself feeling I should dig harder, but why should I. It would only be if I wanted to humblebrag about Strava times, my FTP test, or some other nonsense that the majority of cyclists don’t need to care about.
Today I thought I’d grab a camera and make a wee edit of riding. Nothing serious. It did though let me stop and then re-ride sections I liked. I was out for 3 hours, and it felt like minutes. I had a headwind a lot of the time, gusts of 38 mph. It was just above freezing. Everything was soaked, I cycled through a puddle deeper than my hubs, but I loved it.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, make cycling fun again.
Fiefdom Tracklocross 
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