Finding life balance with cycling.

[Dirt]

One of the comments I get a lot about cycling is something to the effect of, “I wish I could ride more, but I just don’t have time because of family, work, home, etc.” The reasons are different for all of us, but I think most of us have one form or another of this feeling. I average over 300 miles per week over the course of the year and I’d still like it to be more.

There are times that I’ve done more… quite a bit more, in fact, but I’ve always found that what I give up tends to throw everything out of kilter a bit and I adjust back to my norm.

Obviously my balance is very different from most cyclists. This time of year, I am literally spending more than 1 day per week on the bike. That difference in balance often causes problems with and for riding buddies. Though I’ve got my balance, I’ve had many spouses or significant others of cycling friends get extremely angry with me because the time I devote to cycling has contributed to throwing off the balance of their family. I’ve been called a home-wrecker and lost friends over this. I’ve also had extremely positive reactions from spouses/significant others. “So-and-so is very happy when they come back from a ride. Thanks for including him/her in your rides.”

What’s the difference? Balance.

Here are my questions:
1) Do you have a sense of balance with fitting cycling into your life?
b) If so, how does it all fit in for you? What have you given up to achieve balance?
6) If not, What can you do to adjust and make things a bit more manageable?

Personally I’ve got a lot to balance, but not as much as many. The main reason for that is that I completely forgot to reproduce. I’m in awe of people who keep a sense of balance when they have kids. That balance moves around a lot and you are amazing to do what you do. Serious kudos to you!

My days tend to be full from when I rise to when I go to sleep. During the week I ride, I work, I spend dinner time catching up with my wife. I work on volunteer projects in the evening. Friday nights are almost always a date night with my wife. Saturdays are almost always a day spent entirely doing stuff with family. Sundays are almost always devoted to a really huge ride.

What do I give up? Watching television or movies. Relaxing with my feet up. Having a yard that looks nice. Keeping the house really clean. Having my bikes clean and in perfect working condition. Sleep. I like 8 hours per night. I generally get 6-6.5 during the week, 10 on Friday night and 7 on Saturday nights.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Pete

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