Vik HATES road riding. She describes it as, “Too much time to think.” Me on the other hand, I rather enjoy the flow of it, and the ability to shut my brain off while I focus on the mechanics of my body and the ride. With all the rain lately, it’s left little option for much else other than road riding. I’d like to take credit for coming up with ways to entice her onto the bike, but she’s a diligent one! She’s actually talked me onto my bike on a couple rainy days lately. But it doesn’t mean she enjoys it anymore than pulling teeth.

But I guess when you commit to a goal/event like we have, you just gotta swallow what you don’ t like along with what you do.

One thing that certainly makes it a little more enjoyable is when we plan a ride with a coffee break in the middle,1 some great views stops along the way, and for our Horseshoe Bay ride, stopping at a cafe that has THE BEST carrot cake EVER!!! Now, I’m not going to tell you exactly where that cafe is, because we seem to always get the last piece of carrot cake. So I’m not about to send the 100s of cyclists that ride that route every week because I need to bait her somehow.

Feel free to post in the comments below. Here are a few more low cost ideas:

• a hot epson salt bath after a long training ride
• a sweet treat in the middle or at the end of a ride (when you put in over 300kms a week, who’s calorie counting?!)
• girls grab your favourite smelly cream and strip down your legs, loosening up the muscles and easing the stiffness of the next day (my personal addiction is: Butter Cream Frosting, Sinfully Rich Body Butter from Jaqua – this is an “OMG, you HAVE to get some!!!! product)
• pre-prep your favourite meal so all you have to do is cook it when you are done
• if you have a training partner, as a personal trainer to show you how to properly stretch each other out
• find training snacks you enjoy (nothing worse is than eating stuff that tastes like straw during a ride)

That brings up a question, what do you do to reward yourself to keep motivated?