Discussion
Whilst I've always cycled on and off over the years, this year is the first when I've really upped my mileage and enjoyed it more and more. It's become a real hobby and something I'm looking to progress at.
I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
N88 said:
Whilst I've always cycled on and off over the years, this year is the first when I've really upped my mileage and enjoyed it more and more. It's become a real hobby and something I'm looking to progress at.
I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
I’m going for all three!I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
I can’t bear turbos but I do some spin bike sessions - probably not quite as good for cycling fitness as Zwift but better than nothing. I still cycle outside but fewer miles - get a “winter bike” if you can, or at the least fit decent mudguards to your usual bike (ie not the ass saver waste of plastic). I also run a bit more in the winter which is a good way of keeping cardio fitness.
If I look at my winter riding:
- It gets slower because you wear more kit which flaps around and you're slower in cold air, this can easily be 1mph slower on average, often more. Don't judge fitness by speed.
- I'll ride most weekends if family commitments allow but it needs to be at least 2-3 degrees. You can ride when it's colder but I just don't fancy riding on ice.
- When I cannot ride I'll do something on Zwift, although not as long. I've taken up running recently and intend to do this in all weathers to help maintain fitness.
- My winter riding has increased as my kit as improved. I still need a decent winter jacket, mine is like a parachute but good gloves and socks go a long way. My best purchase was some waterproof cycling shoes from Vinted. They're a fizik boot style one and keep everything out.
- The thing that keeps me heading out is I have an annual mileage target but I've set targets for shorter periods before and if I get ill which wipes me out for a period, I'll adjust the goal. Riding when ill is a great way to properly f
k yourself up.
- It gets slower because you wear more kit which flaps around and you're slower in cold air, this can easily be 1mph slower on average, often more. Don't judge fitness by speed.
- I'll ride most weekends if family commitments allow but it needs to be at least 2-3 degrees. You can ride when it's colder but I just don't fancy riding on ice.
- When I cannot ride I'll do something on Zwift, although not as long. I've taken up running recently and intend to do this in all weathers to help maintain fitness.
- My winter riding has increased as my kit as improved. I still need a decent winter jacket, mine is like a parachute but good gloves and socks go a long way. My best purchase was some waterproof cycling shoes from Vinted. They're a fizik boot style one and keep everything out.
- The thing that keeps me heading out is I have an annual mileage target but I've set targets for shorter periods before and if I get ill which wipes me out for a period, I'll adjust the goal. Riding when ill is a great way to properly f
k yourself up. RC1807 said:
1 when possible
2 filling in gaps
This. I have a gravel bike that I use on the road during winter, helps with fitness as I tend to do shorter distances but try to keep my road bike pace up.2 filling in gaps
I’m a bit fair weather though, intending to try and keep it up even when it’s raining.
Plenty of Zwift.
When it's kinda nice, I go out on the road, but stick to bigger roads - the tiny rural back roads I cycle in the summer are 'orrible in winter.
And a couple of years ago, the winter weather wasn't too bad but the roads were grotty, so I bought a mountain bike and went off into the woods where wet and muddy are expected anyway. That builds a whole different set of fitness!
When it's kinda nice, I go out on the road, but stick to bigger roads - the tiny rural back roads I cycle in the summer are 'orrible in winter.
And a couple of years ago, the winter weather wasn't too bad but the roads were grotty, so I bought a mountain bike and went off into the woods where wet and muddy are expected anyway. That builds a whole different set of fitness!
N88 said:
Whilst I've always cycled on and off over the years, this year is the first when I've really upped my mileage and enjoyed it more and more. It's become a real hobby and something I'm looking to progress at.
I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
I hate the turbo so any chance to get out I do. When I was riding more I’d often go out for an interval set in my lunch hour from the office - especially good when it was sunny - and found it the easiest way to get daylight rides in. Sure by the time you’d changed etc the lunch hour was more 1.5 hrs but I’d either ensure I went to work earlier or finished later. Everyone seemed ok with it. I've done my first 100k sportive in the Lake District with some decent elevation, and the Great Glen Way in Scotland as two highlights.
It's left me now feeling pretty disappointed that the nights are drawing in, and the cold and rain is increasing!
I'm really keen for my fitness and mileage not to drop off over winter, so my question is what you all tend find happens over the winter period? Do you:
1. Get out there as often as possible still, embrace the weather and fit it in during the daylight hours.
2. Have a decent turbo set up and use the likes of Zwift more.
3. See your mileage and therefore fitness generally peak and trough each year, and do less over winter.
Thanks for any insights!
I also invested in a decent set of lights and went out for early morning rides. I’d then finish the ride at sunrise and feel incredibly good / smug. Found doing them of an evening harder.
I did do alot of turbo still when it got icy / really cold, or really wet. Our club did group rides on Zwift with discord so we could audibly chat to club mates whilst riding. That really helped the boredom. I didn’t like it but managed to get through 2-3hrs steady in my shed with some regularity. I also swapped my road bike for the mtb from time to time to help improve my technical skills through the winter (training isn’t always about the power in the legs) and keep that enjoyment / motivation up. It’s funny, you don’t mind getting wet or cold as much on the mtb.
I didn’t let my hrs drop that much through winter, just dialled back intensity.
I do all three.
I'll commute still but also do more on the turbo. Spent 12 weeks on a training plan last year so spent more on the turbo than normal.
Will be doing similar this year, and when the weather is too cold/icy etc I'll turbo too, I don't care about rain/wind/dark
Plan this year is two days commuting, two days of intervals and one day zone 2 (all on the turbo). I'll also be doing a load of weight training in between those as well.
Normally I'd be on zwift but this year I'm switching to Traineroad.
I'll commute still but also do more on the turbo. Spent 12 weeks on a training plan last year so spent more on the turbo than normal.
Will be doing similar this year, and when the weather is too cold/icy etc I'll turbo too, I don't care about rain/wind/dark
Plan this year is two days commuting, two days of intervals and one day zone 2 (all on the turbo). I'll also be doing a load of weight training in between those as well.
Normally I'd be on zwift but this year I'm switching to Traineroad.
There’s another option easyJet to somewhere like Malaga / Nerja and rent a bike for a week to break up the winter / provide a boost / provide a motivation target.
Thoroughly recommend these guys
https://cyclemalaga.com/
Mallorca too of course is a popular destination
Thoroughly recommend these guys
https://cyclemalaga.com/
Mallorca too of course is a popular destination
Edited by ian in lancs on Friday 6th September 08:43
ian in lancs said:
There’s another option easyJet to somewhere like Malaga / Nerja and rent a bike for a week to break up the winter / provide a boost / provide a motivation target.
Agreed, hence I'm moving there;)Edited by ian in lancs on Friday 6th September 08:43
Not everyone enjoys Zwift (myself included) so you might want to try a few options that pass the time for indoor training before you commit to one.
Also, forget using a bike mounted on a trainer, once you have a fixed trainer such as a Wattbike or Wahoo, you'll realise what all the fuss is about.
Before decent trainers and training apps, we rode outside whatever the weather but lets be honest, there can be days where its simply not safe to be out there. Indoor training is really efficient when done correctly.
Carry on regardless as I can't abide indoor training, even though I probably should.
2 x weekday evening rides and 2 weekends for me, if I didn't have a dog to walk I'd probably do my weekday rides early in the morning as I do sometimes struggle to get out if it is foul in the evening. Good kit and good lights are essential.
2 x weekday evening rides and 2 weekends for me, if I didn't have a dog to walk I'd probably do my weekday rides early in the morning as I do sometimes struggle to get out if it is foul in the evening. Good kit and good lights are essential.
I get plenty of outdoor riding done in the winter... in the right clothes its fine (waterproof shoe covers for the win!). As said above, expect average speeds to drop a bit due to clothing aero-drag, but its brilliant for building endurance fitness and will set you up for the season next year. I avoid icy weather as a fall on black ice could ruin your season or worse. There is something epic about getting out there on a horrible wet windy day!
I also use Zwift regularly- plenty of content on there to keep it fun. If you are into 'training', then some sessions such as VO2max are much better indoors... more consistent and safer. Events and programs such as the Zwift Academy can be motivating, and the other training programs are good too.
I also use Zwift regularly- plenty of content on there to keep it fun. If you are into 'training', then some sessions such as VO2max are much better indoors... more consistent and safer. Events and programs such as the Zwift Academy can be motivating, and the other training programs are good too.
All three as longer (100km+) weekend rides are the ones to take the hit for me.
Investment in good kit [1] can make the difference to shrug off the cold or mixed/light rain. If it's raining enough to worry Noah, then it's Zwift or Wahoo Systm in the garage. Likewise, if there's a good chance of ice (much of my riding is on country lanes which don't see any gritting), the turbo is fired up. It is a nice luxury having my oldest road bike permanently on the turbo to reduce pre/post-ride faff.
[1] Which doesn't need to be super expensive. Galibier is one brand IMO which offers excellent performance at a good price, especially their winter bib tights. The one caveat I would put here is a Gore Shakedry waterproof which is probably the best bit of outdoor kit (for any sport) I've ever shelled out on.
Investment in good kit [1] can make the difference to shrug off the cold or mixed/light rain. If it's raining enough to worry Noah, then it's Zwift or Wahoo Systm in the garage. Likewise, if there's a good chance of ice (much of my riding is on country lanes which don't see any gritting), the turbo is fired up. It is a nice luxury having my oldest road bike permanently on the turbo to reduce pre/post-ride faff.
[1] Which doesn't need to be super expensive. Galibier is one brand IMO which offers excellent performance at a good price, especially their winter bib tights. The one caveat I would put here is a Gore Shakedry waterproof which is probably the best bit of outdoor kit (for any sport) I've ever shelled out on.
I've been thinking the same thing recently. My fitness has improved massively this year due to cycling and I don't want to lose it! I have pretty much been cycling into work at least 2 times a week (out of the 3 onsite days I do), but I'm starting to think twice as winter approaches comes. My bike has some mudguards, albeit not the best but will do for now. I have a thermal top, but nothing to keep the legs warm. Thinking I might get something along the lines of https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/mtb-winter-biking-bo...
For reference, my commute is 11 miles each way. 7 miles country, 4 miles city.
For reference, my commute is 11 miles each way. 7 miles country, 4 miles city.
For winter riding - lights lights and some more lights - even if you're out during the day then the weather can get pretty dark. Decent kit - gloves and boots for sure - when your fingers. toes get wet / cold then it's zero fun.
A winter bike you can perform bare minimum maintenance / cleaning on - getting back cold and wet and then having to clean your bike - leads to you not going out for fear of having to clean it when you're shattered / cold.
Invest in a decent turbo set up / smart bike / Zwift - makes an hour in the evenings mid week quite enjoyable - catch up on some mindless tv with some zone 2 and don't freeze to death - or do some racing and see just how hard you can go.
A winter bike you can perform bare minimum maintenance / cleaning on - getting back cold and wet and then having to clean your bike - leads to you not going out for fear of having to clean it when you're shattered / cold.
Invest in a decent turbo set up / smart bike / Zwift - makes an hour in the evenings mid week quite enjoyable - catch up on some mindless tv with some zone 2 and don't freeze to death - or do some racing and see just how hard you can go.
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