Historically, the most valuable things in the world have been useful things, like copper, saffron, good steel, nuclear fissile material, etc. I count myself wealthy in as much as I own a home, have access to good healthcare and good food, and am surrounded by people who want to see me safe and content. Within that context then, diamonds and rubies aren’t terribly useful, but do you know what is?
Motivation.
Motivation is the most precious thing I have (or lack). I need it to ride bikes, and as I think we’ve made manifest through nearly five years of TCI, I need to ride a bike to maintain my physical and mental health (see above, sources of wealth).
When I was a younger person, for whatever reason, motivation did not seem hard to come by. I got off the bike at the end of the day and looked forward to the next time I could ride the bike. I consumed bike-centric media in all its forms, made bike friends, and dreamed, at night, about the next bike I would own.
I don’t want to say I’m jaded now, but I am very likely the dictionary definition of jaded as regards bicycles and their riding. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them still, and it certainly doesn’t mean I don’t need them still. If anything, I need them more than ever as my joints begin to complain about the impacts of living in Earth gravity.
Sometimes though, I feel as if I’ve ridden all the miles on all the bikes. I’ve been eight miles high and six feet deep with this thing. As with any long-term relationship, you have to work at it, and sometimes that work feels like real work.
The last few weeks, I think I’ve actually been sneaking up on this topic unwittingly. Two weeks ago, I asked whether you were the type to ride inside or out in the off-season. Last week I asked if you were the planner or a passenger on your rides. Both of those topics are underpinned by the question of motivation. What are you motivated to do, and how do you get yourself to do it?
So that’s this week’s thing: How motivated are you? And how do you maintain motivation once you’ve got it?
It’s more about lack of time than lack of motivation for me but here’s some things that I think mostly work for both.
– What is a ride? A full day epic into the hills? Yes. A trip to the shops to get milk? Also yes. A few quick trails before dinner? Also yes. Commuting to work? Definitely yes. The point is not every ride has to planned or epic or a deliberate act of training. A smaller, unplanned ride can overcome a lack of time or motivation because it’s more achievable.
– Having a bike close to the door pumped, lubed and all required accessories attached with helmet and gloves attached to the handlebars ready to roll out the door. Preferably with flat pedals so I don’t have to faff with special shoes.
– Luck. I’m lucky to live within riding distance to some very nice trails right from my front door so it’s easy for me to get some MTB time whenever it fits in with me – day, night, morning afternoon and whenever time (or motivation) permits.
– Use it or lose it. I’m at an age where some people around me have unfortunately chosen certain paths that have caused them to lose it. I’ve seen this and don’t want the same for myself especially because fitness and good health are hard to get back beyond a certain age. I prefer to use it because the thought of tipping over some threshold that might prematurely cause me to no longer be able to ride bikes would be pretty hard to take.
– A hardened belief that more bike riding can help make a better future. This one might be a bit wacky and a bit flowery but it’s important to me to set an example to show that a bicycle lifestyle is possible and hopefully desirable especially in today’s world.
Lately my motivation really gets derailed by self imposed (and external) time restraints. The dog needs to be walked, early dinnertime, mom needs something, et al, conspire against me. It seems that having a hard end time is most discouraging to me. Today I’m gonna ride, I swear. I’ve got an episode of Revolting to listen to- there’s my motivation!
Hmmmmm…I drill down into this in my forthcoming Ebullition/Doubt piece. I get into the tangibles there. However, zooming (literally) back out it is my long held belief that riding a mountain bike is the closest one can get to a human-powered roller coaster that keeps me always thinking about when I am going get after it again. The same places seem different every time for a myriad of factors (weather, bike, trail direction/modification, etc.) and I have not gotten bored with it in the slightest.