Getting the wife going....

Well, she will ride a lot better and faster if she trains. But then again, with a little one around, is that really feasible? Why not soft pedal when riding with her and thank your lucky stars she is interested in riding and still allows you to? 😉

Go for some rides with her, and then go for some real rides alone or with some faster guys.

Tandem?

Chavez said:

So anyway, I've been off the bike all winter and just hopped back on it. The good news is that I haven't lost as much as stamina I thought I had (not that I had a great amount to begin with, but still...); the bad news is that my family and I went on about a 3 mile ride today and I just completely, utterly left my wife in the dust. Despite hauling the 8-month old in the trailer behind, and riding on the small rings.

Another problem is that I'm already ahead of her and ride a lot more - if for no other reason that I commute on the bike.

Is there a good way to get my wife up to speed so that we can ride together, or am I just fated to ride alone?

I am a bit confused here. Surely, you can go slow enough to give company to your wife! Obviously, you shouldn't try to go "as fast as you can". When you go on family rides, go slow and don't leave her behind. When you go on a solo ride, you can go as fast as you want. As others have alluded, as she rides more, she will get faster.

Tell her to get her butt in gear or you'll find a chick that is younger and hotter that can keep up.........is your life insurance paid up and do you have a bullit proof vest? LOL.. This could possibly be a risky approach but it could work.

My wife isn't the problem, its the kids, they [censored] out after 30 miles.....damn dead beats. All I hear is "we're only 9 and 11".........In my day I was biking 50 miles, all up hill in 120 degree weather on a bike with no gears that weighed 175lbs. They haven't bought that one yet.

You could use the line, "ya know hon, your tail section is getting wider than the bike lane" or "you better take it easy, that frame might not take much more".

Can you believe my wife and I just had our 20th anniversary and been together 25.5yrs? and while I these thoughts might have crossed my mind several years ago, I didn't put it quite like that too her. She can ride for a hell of a long distance at a good clip now.....and she is a stick. She's thinner than the bike.

stlblues said:

My wife isn't the problem, its the kids, they [censored] out after 30 miles.....damn dead beats. All I hear is "we're only 9 and 11".........In my day I was biking 50 miles, all up hill in 120 degree weather on a bike with no gears that weighed 175lbs. They haven't bo ught that one yet.

snip...

Can you believe my wife and I just had our 20th anniversary and been together 25.5yrs? and while I these thoughts might have crossed my mind several years ago, I didn't put it quite like that too her. She can ride for a hell of a long distance at a good clip now.....and she is a stick. She's thinner than the bike.

Congrats on having a wife who is into riding.

And LOL about the kids... 😄

Do the whole ride in something like a 39/25 gear. It's helps your cadence and improves your pedalling technique. That way you are both getting something out of the ride and staying together.

I remember that tip from a cycling training book.

Powerful Pete said:

Congrats on having a wife who is into riding.

And LOL about the kids... 😄

Its not just riding, every morning she gets up at 5am, that time doesn't exist for me, she does 3.5 to 4 miles at a rediculous pace with the incline as high as possible, 4 days a week, the other 3 she cuts it to 2.5 miles and lifts weights for 40 min. Then theres the riding and tennis on top of that.......thats why she is thiner than the bike.

Champagne, candy& roses, then a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant, maybe a drink at a nice nightclub, and then home for............whoops, not the going you had in mind, is it?😄

kdelong said:

Champagne, candy& roses, then a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant, maybe a drink at a nice nightclub, and then home for............whoops, not the going you had in mind, is it?😄

that wouldn't work for my wife, she doesn't drink, eat candy, and thinks killing flowers is stupid. Now if it was a nice dinner where she can get her very low cal meal and then a Blues vs Redwings game....nothing like an ultraviolent game to get her going.

stlblues said:

that wouldn't work for my wife, she doesn't drink, eat candy, and thinks killing flowers is stupid. Now if it was a nice dinner where she can get her very low cal meal and then a Blues vs Redwings game....nothing like an ultraviolent game to get her going.

Wow, are you sure she didn't have a gender change at some point? Ok, the obsession with the low cal meal means there are some girly genes in her...

stlblues said:

Its not just riding, every morning she gets up at 5am, that time doesn't exist for me, she does 3.5 to 4 miles at a rediculous pace with the incline as high as possible, 4 days a week, the other 3 she cuts it to 2.5 miles and lifts weights for 40 min. Then theres the riding and tennis on top of that.......thats why she is thiner than the bike.

Sorry... but she just might be having an affair. Seen this behavior multiple times with both husbands and wives. Just speculating of course. I have also met fitness fanatics who are not doing it for appearances or infidelity... they just love being fit. The difference is whether they have been doing it most of their life or the behavior is more unusual for them. And I'll just finish off by saying I wasn't accusing your wife of anything, knowing next to nothing about you or your wife, except from what I read in your post. Just some possible risks from experience.

TheDarkLord said:

Wow, are you sure she didn't have a gender change at some point? Ok, the obsession with the low cal meal means there are some girly genes in her...

No, she's just an easy woman to live with. Competitive, loves sports (HOCKEY, and watchs football, some baseball, but hockey mostly, NHL, college, minor league, our kids youth hockey). She takes very good care of herself, she's 42, but looks 32.....size 2 and looks good.

Crankyfeet said:

Sorry... but she just might be having an affair. Seen this behavior multiple times with both husbands and wives. Just speculating of course. I have also met fitness fanatics who are not doing it for appearances or infidelity... they just love being fit. The difference is whether they have been doing it most of their life or the behavior is more unusual for them. And I'll just finish off by saying I wasn't accusing your wife of anything, knowing next to nothing about you or your wife, except from what I read in your post. Just some possible risks from experience.

No, no affairs either side in the 20 yrs we've been married and 25 together. Neither of us have time anyway to have an affair. She looks at her family, which are all rather large and in poor health and she doesn't want any part of that. She does it because it makes her feel good and focused.

stlblues said:

No, no affairs either side in the 20 yrs we've been married and 25 together. Neither of us have time anyway to have an affair. She looks at her family, which are all rather large and in poor health and she doesn't want any part of that. She does it because it makes her feel good and focused.

You're a lucky guy. Faithful wife, good mum, stays fit and sexy. So what are you doing wasting your time on here?... :p

I suppose yours and your wife's various responsibilities make availabilty patchy... 🙁

This is getting far too deep and meaningless. Just ignore this if you like... I'm waffling.

Crankyfeet said:

You're a lucky guy. Faithful wife, good mum, stays fit and sexy. So what are you doing wasting your time on here?... :p

I suppose yours and your wife's various responsibilities make availabilty patchy... 🙁

This is getting far too deep and meaningless. Just ignore this if you like... I'm waffling.

Yes I'm lucky, but I find time to log on here while we watch hockey, its the Stanley Cup playoffs ya know. And we run quite a bit. Tonight she had to work late, Wed night I have to take my son to baseball pratice, Softball on Sun, during hockey season its practice every Wed and my son does doubles so thats 5:16pm to 9pm then weekend games many of them 120 to 200 miles away, and this season my son and daughter are on separate teams so thats double the games. Ya know the funny thing is both our kids play, I play and coach, we watch as much hockey as possible, yet she can't skate worth a damn. Sat and Sun mornings are reserved for riding though.

stlblues said:

Yes I'm lucky, but I find time to log on here while we watch hockey, its the Stanley Cup playoffs ya know.

Stanley Cup? Is that a big St. Louis High School comp? I didn't know that hockey would start this early. Some of the sports fields are still getting snowed on.

TheDarkLord said:

I am a bit confused here. Surely, you can go slow enough to give company to your wife! Obviously, you shouldn't try to go "as fast as you can". When you go on family rides, go slow and don't leave her behind. When you go on a solo ride, you can go as fast as you want. As others have alluded, as she rides more, she will get faster.

I wasn't trying to go "as fast as I can" I was trying to dog it.

Chavez said:

I wasn't trying to go "as fast as I can" I was trying to dog it.

My wife and I dog it for our kids all of the time. We can only run an average of 14mph with the kids, over 20 to 30 miles, but we do it all of the time because we ride as a FAMILY. Thats up from 11mph and 10 to 15 miles two years ago. When it's just me or my wife and I, yes we hammer it, but in our case it's the kids, not my wife, but we adjust. You might try to find a riding group or club to join to ride at the speeds you want and hold back when riding with the wife.

Is she riding a good bike? Wally World bikes will hold her back. Way back in the late 80s my wife started on a K mart bike and I was riding a Giant, I told her to ride mine one day, the next week we bought her a Schwinn (back when they were good), and it made a huge difference in speed and enthusiasm to ride. Since then she has gone through a GT and now has a Fuji and it's hard to keep her off a bike (of course I don't try).