You're not alone. Life happens, things get in the way, family gets in the way(mostly in a good way), holidays, etc.  I haven't been completely off the bike(this time), but enough to see a difference in the scale. If you enjoy it, you'll be back on before long. When you do get back on, build it back up slowly.  Broken bones are the source of my longest times off the bike.

For me, it's been family and work. My oldest is to the point (5) where he can ride trails, and it won't be long until he's fast enough for us to both get a decent ride in. I'm looking forward to that. My youngest is 3, so she's just starting out and I still have to run alongside her. My only chances to ride these days are the road bike at lunch (12 flat miles), short trail rides after work during the weeks I'm on call (because I get off at 3:30 those days, but that's only every 5th week), and an occasional Friday off, weather dependent. So, yeah. Family and work, work and family.

The thing that turned me off riding many years ago was the gradual decline of the condition of my bike, I just let things fall apart and get out of tune so that when I got on the bike there was always something that just bugged the sh!t out of me.  So, naturally, I took up golf.

Hey Kit, I went into a dormant status for close to 18 years because of the very same issues you mention. I started riding mountain bikes around 1984 and rode pretty regularly to keep my fitness level up for racing motocross. In the mid 90's I had a very significant injury while racing motorcycles.  Also had 2 children (ages 11 & 2 back then) that were a very important part of my life.  As only parents know I began to evaluate my fun versus my responsibilities.  As you might guess I chose to be responsible.  I played ball and stuff with my son and daughter and was very involved with their life (sometimes more than they wanted) but would not change a thing if I had to do it over again.  I became pretty accomplished in my career also.  I tried to get back into the woods in early 2001and even bought a new Gary Fisher. But I didn't like the bike very much and my daughter got really involved in fast pitch softball, so I continued to support her for many years at the ball field and the bike literally hung in the garage for 12 years with only 30 miles on it.

Fast forward to July 2013. My son is married, my daughter has just completed her freshman year of college and goes up to Virginia to spend a week with one of her college teammates.  My wife says let's go up to the mountains for the weekend and ride the creeper trail.  I really was not that excited about going but went to help the wife overcome some anxiety she was having over the kids growing up.  We had a great time and it rekindled my mountain biking flame.  Since then it has made a complete 180.  I ride as often as I can (as often as 4 times a week during the summer) and our whole family is on mountain bikes. Just last week we loaded up all 4 bikes and rode a lap or two at Sherman.  I told my wife going down lower rocky river road how much it warmed my heart to have our whole family hitting the trails together.

So don't get too depressed everything eventually comes full circle.  When the kids were young everything revolved around them. Now they ride mountain bikes to hang out with dad and have a little fun doing it.  I couldn't be happier to how it all worked out, and I'm extremely proud of them.  While I missed riding for a few years "it's what we do" (as parents).  Hey maybe your kids will want to ride bikes and you can start the family rides a little earlier than I did.  Sorry for the long post.

Did I mention that god I miss poplar tent, and steves place?

Haven't ridden since Nov. 30, but that's cause I'm sitting here with a broken bone...I can't wait to get back out there, my legs are itching!!!

Thank god Im not alone.

Im a single dad now with full custody, and finally got divorce finalized this past November. My mother has been in and out of the hospital since July and now needs around the clock care. My best riding & beer drinking buddy moved to Florida in November. We had been riding together for the last 3 years with very similar riding styles and fitness levels. He's gone. And before that there was 1 other dude I could hit the road anytime right out the front door. He moved to Matthews this past summer. 

As I type this it all sounds like a lot of excuses to me. Another reason I guess that I am looking for a newer road bike so I can just turn and burn anytime I please. The extra 25lbs that comes from NOT riding is what kills me the most.

MountainCycle wrote on 01/11/15 at 11:57pm:

Update: Got a Surly fatbike. I now love winter and am cold while riding not on riding. 11.5 miles of snowmobile trail and sweet packed single track today. Damn I still miss NC though. 65 today? Man.

Even though I ride solo a good bit, riding is a social outlet.  You see how popular things like Strava are because it allows us to share, give kudos, compare, and comment.  The best cure for a riding hangover is to find a good group to ride in.  It's especially easy to do that on the road this time of you.  Weeklyrides is a great place to look to find a good one.