What do you do when the going gets tough?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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honesty
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by honesty »

I also end up doing maths.... so x time and y distance means a speed of z. Count 1/10ths of a mile off. Recalculate. Estimate arrival time. Repeat.
Tangled Metal
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by Tangled Metal »

Driving the car on a long journey to get somewhere I find hard in a boring way so I do the maths on arrival time. Constantly taking cues from road signs, location and even satnav. I find if the road sign distances are right then I am more accurate than the satnav is. Passes the time although satnav challenge dictates that you try to finish the journey quicker than the ETA at the start of it. That means I am always re-calculating it (allowing for stoppage times of course).
geocycle
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by geocycle »

honesty wrote:I usually just stop, have a cuppa and a piece of cake. Relax, destress, evaluate what needs to be done. Set some micro goals (ok 5 miles til this sight etc.) - parcel up the remaining ride into easily manageable bits. Then head back off.


Yes, I recognise that. I also use visualization techniques eg imagine yourself on top of the hill, relate what you are doing to previous achievements, give yourself rewards etc. But above all I try to stay within my comfort zone, avoid 'challenge ride's and enjoy the journey.
bainbridge
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by bainbridge »

I stare at my front wheel and comfort myself by remembering that so long as it is turning, I'll get there.

This really helps on steep hills when the front wheel is practically under your nose and the speedo drops to a single figure, then a low single figure.

When this happens I used to fall into a trap of my own design; I'd see I was maintaining 6mph or whatever going up a big hill and start extrapolating, thinking that at this rate it's going to take me 7 hours to cover the remaining 40 miles, but of course this is nonsense because the whole journey will average out much faster.

So when I start feeling demoralised I just focus on keeping the front wheel turning and just so long as it is going round everything will turn out ok.
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shane
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by shane »

1. Think, " Well half my gear is at the other side now so I have to keep going."

https://vimeo.com/38275975

2. Think, " I don't have time to go back to town to get looked at in a hospital"

https://vimeo.com/86198183

3. Sing

https://vimeo.com/38267462

4. Make a video incase they find your dried out dead body weeks later :oops:

https://vimeo.com/38267443
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honesty
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by honesty »

Evening ride last night reminded me of something else I end up doing on rides a lot, and this is probably only going to affect those with small children, but I end up either internally singing or humming along to the theme tune of which ever CBeebies programme my daughter is currently hooked on. This is not helped by my wife teaching her how to use iplayer. Do you know exactly how annoying finding yourself repeatedly singing the tune to "Ruff Ruff, Tweet, and Dave" really is? ;)
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Shane our very own McDougall's Hamburger (Bear Grylls) :D

Eat some maggot's, you never know when they will get their own back :lol:
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
beardy
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by beardy »

I think that there are two different types of "keeping going".

On the one hand there is the drive in a competitive event to maintain a high level of performance or there is the lower level of just not stopping.

I am very bad at the former but pretty good at the latter. I have been on many an Audax where I fall off the back of the pack because I can not cope with the group's speed (or I am not willing to push that hard). Yet others within that group have been known to quit the event entirely because they could no longer stick with the group, despite having hours "in hand" and ahead of people like myself who plod around to the finish (eventually). Dare I say that Audaxing isnt exactly hard, you just have to refuse to give up!

It doesnt quite compare to Army days with some PTI or RSM beasting you to give your all until you drop.
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bovlomov
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by bovlomov »

freeflow wrote:Sometimes the correct answer is to give up, particularly if you are likely to put yourself in jeopardy or seriously inconvenience others if you continue.

Sometimes 'giving up' takes the pressure off a bit and gives you a bit more energy (Confucius say!). The trouble is, you can't trick yourself by pretending that you are about to give up. It only happens when you have faced genuine despair.

It has happened to me after deciding that I've had enough and I'll get a train from the nearest station. By the time I reached the station I had somehow got my energy back. And when the knee was hurting so much that I stopped to hitch a lift from a passing van. No vans stopped, but in that 5 minutes I had reassessed my situation and decided to continue by bike.

Walking for a few minutes is good as well - for body and mind. It stretches different muscles and tendons, and can sometimes break the negative thought patterns. Best do it going up a hill, and don't worry what people think.
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sabrutat
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by sabrutat »

I must be the odd one out: if I ever feel like stopping, I stop.
Vorpal
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by Vorpal »

The motivation to do something like training for an event, or even just to improve fitness may be somewhat different than the motiviation to do LEJoG, or even just a week's tour somewhere.


Training for fitness may be harder because the goal is harder to define and the results less obvious.

Personally, I'd rather be out on my bike in crappy weather than sitting at a desk warm and dry. And sometimes, I just need to remind myself of that.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
mnichols
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by mnichols »

I heard one recently that helps me "I can do this and I know I can"
eileithyia
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by eileithyia »

Try to remain cheerful, especially if with others, they are probably also feeling miserable if conditions are bad, but no point moaning... chatter about something, anything.... to take the mind off it.
If solo, split it into smaller sections, get to next village, town, audax control.....
Remember being complimented on my cheerful just get on with it positive attitude on LEL, though for the gent saying this, all was made clear when i said i was a midwife, as he reckoned all the midwives he had met had a positive can do attitude... :lol: :lol:
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
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Jimstar79
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by Jimstar79 »

Very good question.

My 'strategy' has always been - since I was a young cross country and long distance runner - was counting 1 to 8 and repeating, timed with strides or pedal strokes and breathing. Sometimes when climbing out of the saddle I would take this up to twelve. Counting and concentrating on breathing are crucial to me when I am finding it difficult - it is a bit like a mind game where you take the focus of the actual cycling. Everything else is immaterial - your movement, breathing and focus are fixated on simply moving forward.

Also, another technique I found that worked when I was recently cycling a lot of ascents in western Scotland was to focus on your 'sphere of influence', that is, the space immediately around you and taking control of it. Don't look into the distance but concentrate on the road right in front of you - can you cycle what you see, that small amount of road in front of you? Of course you can! And keep on pushing on within this 'sphere of influence', counting, deep breathing through your nostrils and letting it all out from your mouth. Big gulps of air! Counting! Before you know it you are at the top of or over the descent. Change down gears straight away to slow down your cadence and switch from cardio-vascular to muscular strength. This alternating, I have found, is brilliant for improving your cycling.

When I am climbing long ascents on my touring bike I very often change down a gear or two to make this switch and sometimes go over the summit half way down my cassette rather than being in the 'granny gear'.

Sometimes my strongest riding has been the final 2-3 hours of a 6 or 7 hour ride, when earlier on I have found myself really struggling. Eat and drink plenty. Keep on feeding your muscles with oxygen and you should get your 2nd, 3rd or 4th wind.

Another one, and this is a real beauty and probably the best one, is to shout out loud, ''Living the dream, baby!!''

Take a moment to take stock of what you're doing and where you are, relax, be positive and get going again.

Hope some of this helps.

PS: I have just read a couple of other comments and I have to agree - if you really are in a position where you can not go any further or you have had enough, come to a decision quickly and go and find yourself somewhere to stop for the rest of the day - wild camp, camp site, B&B, etc. You will immediately take the pressure off yourself and this can have immediate affect - you've suddenly changed all the demands you were facing into newer, more tangible ones - put up your tent, cook some food, hydrate, write a post card, have a sleep!!
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."
H. G. Wells quotes
PH
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Re: What do you do when the going gets tough?

Post by PH »

I get in touch with the support crew. Weather that's the people I'm riding with or someone who really knows me at the end of the phone. I've never been somewhere so remote that I can't get in touch, if I was even writing a letter might have the same effect. Just sharing it helps me, I once thanked a girlfriend from talking me out of packing something in and her recollection was that she'd said no such thing I'd done all the talking!
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