It’s been about 2 months since my TNR attempt, and my riding is a bit at a low point. It’s okay; it’ll bounce back to an annoying level soon enough. My body sometimes is asking – or begging – for a goal, but my head is refusing to set a long-term goal anytime soon.
Having general goals like “attaining [x amount] of fitness” or “improving FTP”, do not work for me as a motivator. They are too non-committal for my personality. It’s not that I am lazy, but if nothing depends on it, the importance is not tangible. Sure, if I ride with buddies and I lack fitness, I’ll feel that. Unfortunately, we’ve not been riding together for a long time.
So I could do a few things.
- Wait for the internal motivation to return (it always returns).
- Ride more with others, perhaps even online.
- Participate in (online) individual races.
- Pick milestone events to work toward.
Out of all these options, the last one is most likely to work as a training motivation. But I am not interested in huge -multiday-events like the TNR at this time. A Gran Fondo ride is probably the best option to go. And even better, Gran Fondo’s with my best friends.
For now, those seem to be: a self-planned Gran Fondo in the Vosges (one Tour de France for women’s stage) somewhere in May. And the Flatlands300.cc. That is a 300km gravel ultra from A to B in the Netherlands. Date: 1-2 July 2023
Both sound like a proper challenge. Also not very invasive, in the sense of taking time off away from home, for instance. Shall we go?