Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

Life-Bike Balance

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John T, a biking friend of mine, got in touch last week to tell me he’s back on the bike. He’s trying to build up his leg strength and cardio fitness after not riding all winter. Winters being as mild as they are in Austin, I was surprised to hear this from him, but he said he got tied up attending to his two elementary school-aged boys.

“I wonder how many folks with elementary-aged kids ride regularly — consistently,” he asked. “There always seems to be something else I need to do.”

That’s something I haven’t considered. My wife and I have been empty-nesters for almost 20 years now, and we can pretty much come and go as we please. John T thinks people in my age group are best suited to ride recreationally.

“It may be just me, but most cyclists that I talk to or meet on the road or Veloway don’t have kids or they are older,” he said.

My circle of cycling acquaintances is mostly limited to the members of my club, and John may be on to something there. We do skew a bit older, with most people having grown children who no longer live at home. I envy some of the retired members who have regular group rides on weekday mornings.

A few who do always seem to struggle to juggle their biking routines with baby-sitting routines. One member is close to my age bracket, but adopted several years ago, and so has to deal with the kinds of scheduling demands that affect people 20 years her junior. Sometimes, she cuts a Sunday club ride short, in order to get home and relieve the sitter. Other times, she bows out of the club ride altogether, because she’s unable to come up with a sitter.

Another newer member of the club is a single woman with an 11-year-old at home. She turns out for the Sunday club ride regularly, but if we go a little longer than usual, gets antsy. She has no problem with him being on his own during the morning, but she wants to minimize that.

Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, has been in the news lately because of her book, “Lean In,” about women in the workplace. One of her comments that’s getting attention is her assertion that there is no such thing as life-work balance, especially when the working woman is also caring for children.

Of less import, perhaps, but one that concerns us all, is whether we can find life-bike balance. Is it possible to make time for biking amid all the other distractions and demands of our daily lives?

Let me know what you think. How’s it all working out for you?

Time — how do you find it?

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College classes have started for another semester. I’m not a student, I’m a professor, and now that we’re back in full swing, I face the same kind of challenges many riders face — how do you find the time to ride?

Contrary to popular belief, most college professors put in at least 40 hours a week. Right now, I’m averaging a little over that because of meetings that run past 5 p.m. one or two evenings.

But evenings are the obvious time for me to squeeze in a weekday ride. Tuesdays are a given, since I can get home an hour earlier than usual. Friday evenings would be a good time for a short ride. I typically do 25-30 miles on Saturday morning, so I don’t want to be tired for that, and then Sunday morning is the club ride.

So if all the stars align correctly, I can get in four rides a week. That won’t happen this week, but it’s my goal. Besides, I have other interests besides biking. I try to play golf on a semi-regular basis, but have been out on the course only eight times this year.  There’s yard work to do. My wife and I are empty nesters, so I don’t worry about attending to kids. Still, it seems there’s never enough time.

To get better, you have to ride more. How do you handle it? Have you arrived at some kind of regular schedule that lets you get enough rides in? I’d like to hear some ideas from readers about carving out time to ride.

I hate standard time

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With all the discussion about cool weather clothing in the last couple of days, there’s another aspect of our changing seasons that passed by almost unnoticed. That’s the switch from Daylight Savings Time back to Standard Time. I’ve decided I don’t like it.

Now, I’m a grown adult. In fact, I’m probably older than most of the readers of this blog. I’ve dealt with the switch back to Standard Time for years and years, and it’s never affected me negatively before. Until now.

Tuesdays have been the midweek day when I’ve been able to squeeze in a ride after work. My schedule allows me to bug out at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, and I can get home, get changed, and be on the bike by 5 most of the time.

Even though I knew it would get dark an hour earlier, today I still thought I could rush home and get an abbreviated ride in — maybe do 12 miles instead of 19 or 20. That would still be nice.

But after a quick stop at the store to get some essentials, and a detour to our community mailbox (it’s located a couple of blocks from the house), I got home at 5:20. Sunset today was at 5:41. No time for a ride. Bummer. It looks like my riding will be confined to Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings for the rest of winter. My mileage will drop precipitously.

I hate Standard Time.

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