Motivation for road cyclists?

Question

I just got over illness and find myself having to get to race fitness all over again and finding it hard to stay motivated. Im 16 am I in the wrong sport if I cant keep motivated at this age or is it hard for others aswell.

Answer 1

Burnout can happen at any age.

If you do too much too soon your body could rebel against your efforts!

Try this - it worked for me at a similar age - I was a cross-country runner in HS and I got strep throat one summer - laid out for a month.

Running just wasn't fun after that - I was trying to get in shape for the season and getting back to my "old" routine.  I was hating the work part of it.

So coach told me something that changed my sporting life... Remember to have fun.

Simply put - don't run or cycle competitively - don't time yourself, unhook your bike computer and simply ride.  Find a nice route - and just ride for the fun of it!  Do this enough and perhaps your passion for the competitive side will return.

Also doing this may give you time to fully recover both physically and mentally from your illness.

Good luck!

Answer 2

i got sick not too long ago and was down for a couple weeks.  when i was finally better, i couldn't get myself motivated to go out either.  so i just made myself get out there and started with short rides.  now i'm back to being ready to go every day.  i don't think you're in the wrong sport, i just think that when you get over an illness, you're still trying to get yourself going again.  good luck to you.

Answer 3

Sometimes the road back to race fitness can seem daunting.  Yes, there is a chance that you are simply burnt out.  That is not to say that this won't go away.  Do you ride all year 'round?  If so, when was the last time you took a break from your bike.  Do you have a cycling coach?  If not, you want to be sure that your training program includes transition periods between training blocks where you get time off the bike to recharge both mentally and physically.  If you want to post additional info about your training program I would be more than happy to make suggestions.