Going through it now. Haven’t been on the bike since early July. Just no inclination to ride these days, Zwift and TR have been cancelled and not sure when or if I will reactivate either. I’m doing other things, golf mostly but my fitness sucks right now.
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I’ve been running my seasons from Sept or Oct until Sept. Usually by the end of August, I want a couple of weeks completely off the bike, or at least totally unstructured… so I take it… and by the end of week 2 I am usually itching to go again.
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Do you have enough variety in the kind of bike riding you do?
I rotate through different riding during the year - snow, road, gravel, MTB. And add a few races and/or epic rides into the mix. I find this keeps me motivated.
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I can feel this phase slowly creeping up on me now. My A Event got cancelled and there is nothing else (in terms of events) to aim for in my region now.
Coming to the end of my second Base > Build > Specialty cycle and I feel a little deflated. That’s not purely to do with cycling, I have other worries too, but training and riding my bikes is beginning to be less of a focus.
I do still enjoy the Saturday Bash but that’s due to the social aspect, more than the ride itself. Going to give myself a week off shortly, reset and then look forward to what I hope is a brighter 2021, for everyone 
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I was living in the UK and absolutely hated riding where I lived. Got motivated through the winter planning to ride in France/Italy and in particular had planned the 3 paved climbs up the Mount Ventoux for my birthday in June.
Lost my training mojo around end of March. Tried to keep at it and ride outside. But, it still sucked.
Swung my leg off the bike mid April and knew right then and there I’d never ride in the UK again.
Came back home in August, rode a few times but still not feeling it.
Trying to set goals for next year so I can train over the winter I do better when I’m focused.
Been a rough year. I’m not over 1000 miles ridden (outdoor).
I completely get where you’re coming from.
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Bikes are what keep me sane, no bikes, no sanity period.
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That’s why they invented Triathlon 
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And then eventually you burn out on three sports and go back to just riding the bike. 
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Yes. Not sick of riding the bike but sick of training. I usually take the feeling to mean that I’m overtraining.
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I get tired of always wanting to be in the best shape and the stress of ensuring I’m getting on the bike to be on form for races.
Hill climb season here in the UK, had just started my 6 week build to peak for the end of October and have now got a heavy cold (the full works, shivers, sore throat, fatigue etc). First illness I’ve had all year which now makes me want to skip the racing even though prior to this week I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. 
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This.
And a lot of this.
Chill physically and mentally.
One thing that I’ve worked on this year is not being crazy obsessed with training and power targets, etc. With everything cancelled, I had no reason to keep training but also no reason to be hyper-focused, so I just got to enjoy the bike. I’ve never ridden my bike more or been more fit than this year, all because I removed that pressure. I’m using way more RPE/riding by feel — “today’s an easy day”, “today’s a fast day” (notice I didn’t say hard); I still record and analyse everything but am not a slave to the numbers during the ride.
As above, one of my most enjoyable rides this year was a super chill easy day on the mixed use trails. Had no intention of hammering so didn’t care about getting stuck behind pedestrians, just enjoyed the people and scenery.
Hope you find your mojo.
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I think I’ve got to this point, sick of training. I’m pretty sure that if I mix my cycling up with free rides, aimed to keep my volume consistent and throw in some Zwift races of 20-60 minutes I’d be in great shape.
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Totally, it’s been a rough year and with the best will in the world I’ve taken a month off here and there. I’m hoping to kick start training in October and get back on the trainer at least.
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Hi fellas. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. It helps to see others experience similar feelings for something they enjoy. I really think a lot my lost desire comes from the stress of work combined with the uncertainty this darn virus has created.
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I never felt like I wanted to totally put down my bike through all of this but my motivation and ability to push through heavier fatigue certainly took a hit. Getting through the last week of a block was much tougher. Convincing myself to hit super tough workouts was harder. And the constant rising and falling of expectations as more and more events got cancelled was rough.
This is a pretty unprecedented time for most of us and being wrenched out of your normal work, social, everything schedules can really throw you for a loop.
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Absolutely, yes. Going through it right now. For the first 4-6 months this year I reached peak fitness only to have my events all canceled. Then the summer I worked on maintaining and targeted social rides with 1-2 people. Then all events for rest of year got canceled, kids were virtual in school, no racing on TV or on a schedule that I haven’t sync’ed with, and I lost some motivation.
I also go through periods where my hobbies of music and woodworking replace biking for a time. I wrote/recorded a bunch of songs, built a standing desk, and leaned in on my community service. It was a nice change of pace, and sometimes life happens.
Having said that, I am cursing taking a full month off. Starting at the bottom again, after being able to successfully hold fitness with even modest riding each week (2-3 rides). Ouch.
Life is busy, full, amazing, and hard. Bikes help most of the time. Sometimes other things do.
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Yes. It may be about the bike, but maybe it’s what you’re doing on the bike. Mid-March, when it became obvious all my 2020 goals were going to get scrapped, I tried to keep going but ended up burned out on structured training and almost on riding itself. There was a period where I didn’t get on the trainer or outside to ride at all.
I’ve got my groove back by focusing on enjoyment instead of metrics, exploring local trails on the gravel bike instead of doing intervals, and building MTB skills. It’s been good for my mental health, and I’m regaining the fitness that dropped.
In the meantime I found other outlets that helped stay sane. We bought a camper van and took the kids out on weekends, I’m building a bike from a frameset I had in the garage, played with 3D printing, spent more time playing with the kids…
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In the last five years, no. After years of ill health finally getting a couple of major surgeries to deal with my crohns, life dramatically changed for the better. I started riding just as I was told I shouldnt run. It took a long time to get in shape. The last couple of years my fitness has dramatically improved. For me it has been amazing to now at age 60 to have more stamina then my kids in their late 20s. Bike riding has been great for me. I do mix things up though keeps it interesting. I do ride once or twice a week with friends I have met cycling. I have tried all the various options out there but the simplicity of TR intervals just keep me interested.
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It’s okay to feel this why. You’re not paid to ride the bike and life is short so go what you enjoy. It’s easy to get sucked into ftp, intervals, zones, power meter calibration, gels, cat upgrade points, etc.
Take a break if you want, if you don’t come back that’s totally fine! Maybe swim, or run, or shoot hoops, go for a walk, or anything else.
I get guilt attached to things at time to hitting zones and specific numbers and when I start feeling bad I dial it back and just ride to go out and enjoy things.
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