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Back Soon

07.2.2012 | 7:14 am

Hi, I’m overloaded with pressing family stuff today. I’ll be back either tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday.

I’m guessing Wednesday.

23 Comments

  1. Comment by AKChick55 | 07.2.2012 | 9:29 am

    No worries! Hope all is well!

  2. Comment by monkeywebb | 07.2.2012 | 10:26 am

    Take care of your people. We’re supposed to be working anyway.

  3. Comment by Tes | 07.2.2012 | 11:30 am

    What monkeywebb said.

  4. Comment by wharton_crew | 07.2.2012 | 12:06 pm

    Since Fatty is otherwise engaged today, maybe I can ask y’all for some help. I have seriously lost my motivation to ride. My only real chance is early mornings (around 5:30 a.m.) and my bed just won’t relinquish it’s grasp.

    Any advice on how I get out of this rut? Is this what some people call a sign of depression? Or is this simply laziness.

    If you are now, or once were, a drill sergeant, I could use a serious shout-down about now.

    What’s a better motivator? Self-abuse, guilt, the scale, Tony Robbins, Prozac, or what?

    Lazily yours.

    Rob

  5. Comment by Kenneth | 07.2.2012 | 12:17 pm

    Rob,
    Follow these steps.
    1. Fill up a clean spray bottle with water and place it next to your bed within (this is crucial) arm’s reach for easy grabbing from your bed.
    2. Set your alarm clock for 5:30 am.
    3. Sleep.
    4. Wait for the alarm clock to do its thing at 5:30 am the next morning (hopefully, you’re sleeping while waiting.)
    5. When your alarm clock trumpets at 5:30 am (it is an elephant alarm clock, is it not), reach for your cleverly placed spray bottle, aim the nozzle toward your face, and squeeze the trigger at least 5 times.
    6. Jump out of bed while thinking warm thoughts about me for providing this brilliant idea.
    7. Ride!!!
    Cheers, Kenneth

  6. Comment by mykill | 07.2.2012 | 12:44 pm

    Rob – i ride really early too and sometimes have trouble getting going. The key is to get everything ready to go the night before, clothes out, snacks in pockets, shoes, water bottles, all piled up on the kitchen table. That way when the alarm goes off i know i need to get in there and get all that crap on me and out of the house before i have time to make any excuses or anybody else has time to ask me why i put all that crap on the table if i wasn’t planning on riding.

    Also, get an mp3 alarm clock and wake up to Slayer. Really loud. It gets the blood flowing and makes you ride faster.

  7. Comment by Skippy | 07.2.2012 | 1:06 pm

    One assumes you are sleeping alone ! That being the case follow all advice already given , BUT when you slack off , for every minute over the normal prep time , spend 5 to 10 times that on climbing 20% grades !
    You will soon decide that riding the flat is more fun and waffling does not get the job done !
    With Tour of Austria 40+km up the road the past days , it has meant a 5am start to get to do the things i want done . My problem is , now , i can’t sleep later , body clock has taken over .

  8. Comment by Kukui | 07.2.2012 | 1:35 pm

    No problem, Fatty! I hope everything is okay with you and your family.

  9. Comment by Kukui | 07.2.2012 | 1:38 pm

    Rob – I commute 20 miles to work every morning and I guarantee you there are some 5:30’s that look sooo unappealing compared to my nice warm bed.

    1. I second what mykill says: get it all ready the night before

    2. I put my alarm clock on the far side of my room so I have to get up and shamble ten paces before the blaring music will stop ;)

    3. And if I’m still groggy-headed, I turn the shower on cold and jump in/jump out. By then I’m cold, damp, awake and might as well go for a ride =)

    I have to remind myself just about every morning that I LOVE riding, and if I can just get out the door right now I’ll be feeling great in about 5 minutes.

  10. Comment by Fuzz Martin | 07.2.2012 | 2:19 pm

    Rob,

    I also second (so, I guess that means I third?) getting everything ready in the kitchen the night before. I even keep my bike in the kitchen.

    Another trick – if you’re married (or have some sort of other mutual sleeping arrangement), tell your wife (bedmate) to nudge you if you don’t get out of bed. That works for me about 90% of the time that I would otherwise attempt to skip a ride.

  11. Comment by cyclingjimbo | 07.2.2012 | 2:45 pm

    Rob,

    In addition to everything that has already been said, earlier to rise also means earlier to bed. Unless you are one of those rare folk who require significantly less sleep than others (which would probably mean that you wouldn’t have written your post in the first place), plan your evening so that you can relax a bit before bedtime and still be asleep at least 7 hours before you want to be up and about.

    You can’t burn the candle at both ends and expect to be bright-eyed and ready for a ride in the early morning. Don’t assume you can just set the alarm an hour (or more) earlier and everything will be OK.

  12. Comment by wharton_crew | 07.2.2012 | 3:48 pm

    Thanks for the comments all! Being a glutton for punishment, the spray bottle is an interesting suggestion! I did the 20 mile to work ride for a long time, so I can relate to feeling great about 5 minutes in.

    I’ll try setting my stuff out the night before – maybe I’ll even put some bike hooks above my bed so my bike will be staring dolefully at me when the alarm goes off. I’ll let you know how it goes – my bathroom scale should also provide some motivation.

    If you have more extreme ideas, I’m all ears!

    Rob

  13. Comment by Jenni | 07.2.2012 | 4:13 pm

    Hope everything’s ok Fatty. I can vamp for you if you like. Holla if you need anything.

  14. Comment by thule | 07.2.2012 | 7:52 pm

    by now I hope you have taken the good advice that has been offered, Wharton: prepare the night before and go to bed early. I am also having the same conversation tonight, except that I have to rise at 4:30AM in order to beat the day’s heat and then go to work. I have prepared and I will skip tonight’s book-time for more sleep-time. this is what motivates me: the morning ride. watch the sun rise as you pedal, absorb the morning’s quiet, and enjoy the lack of traffik on the road. I am looking forward again to these rewards. and I know that when the shower is complete, that I will be re-energized and charged to face down another work day. that serenity and power is what motivates me!

  15. Comment by roan | 07.2.2012 | 9:08 pm

    Fatty, checking my calendar…this wednesday’s a holiday, you have to do anything concerning the blog get wharton crew(Rob)’s phone number and call him at 5:30AM. There would be no more powerful motivation than a phone call from The Fatcyclist at 5:30AM…well…er…than maybe The Hammer telling him to “Get out of bed and ride! Just get up and shut up”.
    If you want we can help…just post his phone number (and maybe the time zone…wharton…could be a Brit).

  16. Comment by roan | 07.2.2012 | 9:17 pm

    Dang, the brain (what’s left of it) works faster than the fingers…I left out a key word…Wednesday a holiday, “If” you have to do anything…

    sorry…And if you don’t want to do anything that’s fine too, because I’m bike riding, ferry riding, island hopping all day.

  17. Comment by davidh,marin | 07.2.2012 | 11:42 pm

    No worries FATTY, take the week off, we have families too. I also have plenty of PIE left and am calmly making my way through it. Surprisingly I am also dropping weight????

    Rob, one word…”night riding” ok, so that was two.

  18. Comment by mtnbikechk@hotmail.com | 07.3.2012 | 5:22 am

    Hey Fatty, looks like we can hold the fort while you take care of “family” stuff….hoping all is well. Wharton, how’d the morning ‘get up and go’ go?

  19. Comment by cece | 07.3.2012 | 6:36 am

    I have been in a lazy place. But after getting heat exhaustion last week from riding in 103 degrees…it quickly got me out in the 70 degree mornings. So much more pleasant.

    For me the idea is not to allow the negative self talk to begin. I pack before and tell myself the night before I will be riding early tomorrow. Psyching myself to get up when the alarm rings.

    I am training for a race at the end of July so it is important to stick to my plan…especially now.

  20. Comment by Hautacam | 07.3.2012 | 10:59 am

    Wharton crew,

    Find a bike-related event that you have never done before and that you are really excited about, maybe 6 to 8 weeks out. Preferably something a little out of your comfort zone. Something that makes you a little nervous. Where you have to ask yourself, will I be ready?

    Could be a sprint-distance triathlon, could be an MTB race, a CX race, a mountainous century, a gran fondo, whatever. Doesn’t matter. Pick something interesting, register NOW and put it on the calendar. And tape a note to the mirror with the words “X days till [name of event!]” (X is the number of days remaining). Update the number every night before you go to bed.

    That ought to get the motivation juices flowing.

  21. Comment by wharton_crew | 07.4.2012 | 12:12 pm

    So, um…I haven’t ridden at all since this post. My intentions were good and I was poised to strike like a cobra on my trusty bike, but then this happened to my 8-year old daughter.

    cqYvBw

    That’s her C1 vertebra, and the arrow is pointing to a break in the bone. In layman’s terms, that’s a broken neck. This happened Monday afternoon. Thanks be to God that she’s ok – this is the same fracture that paralyzed Christopher Reeve, but she’s walking and in a neck brace.

    I’ll get out tomorrow, for sure!

  22. Comment by wharton_crew | 07.4.2012 | 12:13 pm

    Hmm…image didn’t work. Let’s try this again.

    7502546240

  23. Comment by wharton_crew | 07.4.2012 | 12:15 pm

    Well, if that doesn’t work, just go to the image directly.
    Sorry about that!

    http://flic.kr/p/cqYvBw

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