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And to be fair, the endorphin rush of a really good workout, the sort you can never really get out doors, is reason enough for a bit of time on the turbo, I’ve been out injured for a while and actually and properly miss a session in our cold damp garage with the headphones and the turbo!
The naysayers should give it a shot, basic turbos are ten-a-penny second hand now, a bit of experimenting is all it takes to figure out your ‘zones’ and the GCN videos are good enough that you’ll feel genuinely pleased when you reach the snowline on your chosen climb, even if it’s just a video on your 17″ laptop screen!
You are wrong.
The turbo's never going to replicate the sense of smug self satisfaction when STRAVA pings to say ride upload complete and you see all your mates have been sat in the garage staring at the PC when all it's taken you to defeat the drizzle was a bit of MTFU and a softshell jacket.
Also:
Bike handling, you spend all summer dreaming of drifty corners, then get all goldilocks when they get too drifty!
Spotting owls, deer, badgers, foxes etc
The pub, when was the last time you went to a pub of cafe after a Zwift ride?
The fear of werewolves
All good reasons to go for a real night ride.
Also, doggers.
Disturbing doggers with a big old MTB spotlight is very satisfying.
'she'll catch her death in that in these temperatures'
Bike handling, you spend all summer dreaming of drifty corners, then get all goldilocks when they get too drifty!
This. I re-discovered sliding about with rollingdonut 2 years ago and have been/will be ever since. You can really tell in the drier months a rider who hasn't been sliding around all winter.
I've really done it the wrong way round this year. XC singlespeed just been relegated by the arrival of a new dream bike (with all the bells and whistles), just as the weather and conditions are getting proper horrible and it's always dark.
Decent CX season so far, going well in the Scottish series and had my ass handed to me at a couple of National Trophy rounds, on the back of very little summer racing and zero planned training. Planning on racing nothing in December beyond track league, will be out for nice rides instead, catch up with friends.
After the new year, there's a couple of CX races I want to do, then there'll be XC coaching weekends, then race series organisation cranking up in earnest up til March.
I'm always tempted to dive into zwift etc but I usually manage to tick over OK during the winter (commuting helps) and with no big race goals on the horizon I'm not sure what I'd really get out of it.
Crash - damage ribs - hide ‘till January.
I’ve really done it the wrong way round this year. XC singlespeed just been relegated by the arrival of a new dream bike (with all the bells and whistles), just as the weather and conditions are getting proper horrible and it’s always dark.
I've done this too, new dream FS bike and I've done less than 50 miles on it since the end of September...
Will definitely look at getting a decent front light, there's a local group evening ride and I can also do some more mellow stuff on my own of an evening.
I'm local to you I believe.
I am loving sliding around BBH, Blean etc at the moment.
Will pull back a bit on certain sections as things get worse but will be out all winter.
Done Bedge a couple of times in the last fortnight, running ok and quite good fun when pushing on.
I also do a bit of mixed riding on a fully rigid, lanes, trails and bridleways.
Have lights too so night ride once a week.
Best bit of kit is my winter boots with neoprene off cuts from a wet suit to stop ingress from the top.... brilliant.
Knowing your local area and adjusting according to conditions is key for me.
Might see you out on the trails at some point.
I’m just about to dig a burrow, line it with straw, eat my own body weight in roast potatoes and retire till the spring. Night night.
Yep, this was the result of a single Bedgebury lap a few weeks ago... good fun, and good for an hour or so even in horrible conditions.
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There's loads of trails on BBH and around there but I find they're mostly off-camber and rooty and just are not fun when it's wet. If the killer roots don't get you, the ice-rink chalk underneath will!!
As you say, it's knowing where to avoid based on the weather that's key round here.
Welcome back to Kent MBnut .
I'm really struggling at the minute- shitty weather, dark days, no motivation to ride at all and I can feel my jeans getting tighter and my fitness plumetting by the second... I can't even drag my arse out for a walk round the block at the minute.
Put mudguards on my road bike ( they stay on the mountain bikes all year) I probably walk a bit more and ride a bit less as walking is less unpleasant on rainy days but given how little rain we get in Edinburgh and the lothians its not a huge difference
Spike tyres at the ready for commuting / utility riding / mtbing
Not having a car cycling is my main way of getting about. that does not change just because it colder
I just bought my first turbo last week and have been trying out zwift and I'm enjoying it a lot so far! So that's what my winter is going to be mostly composed of. Doing a training plan and trying to get as fit as possible for next year, never actually tried to actively get fit before so I'm excited to see how well it goes.
I'm one of those people who just doesn't particularly enjoy trails when they're a slopfest. I'll have the odd weekend morning at Cwmcarn or Afan because they hold up well in the wet, but it's never as fun as a perfect summer day in the dry.
My winter strategy used to be to disappear into a cloud of Doritos dust and IPA fumes. I'd surface briefly on Jan and go for a ride and feel quite pleased that a short ride on the MTB didn't actually kill me.
This year I've decided I'm actually going to do some exercise even its mainly sat on a turbo
Got a new one and everything!
I'm affraid the MTB goes in mothballs for most of the winter these days.
The trick (IMO/IME) is to mix things up a bit...
I have a "Gravel bike" which is wearing now 32mm knobblies(ish) and a winter road bike with guards. Both have a cheap 1x9 drivetrain that I can merrily sacrifice to keep the nicer bikes a bit nicer and still ride bicycles during the winter months...
Zwift? Nah;
I've a 'dumb' Turbo, treadmill, cross trainer, kettlebells and a punch bag in the garage, so I can do a sort of indoor circuit training effort if the conditions outside are too grim and the whole lot is probably much cheaper than a smart trainer and a Zwift sub...
Oh and I've a nice 5k running route from the door if I want as well...
This year I’ve decided I’m actually going to do some exercise even its mainly sat on a turbo
Get a trainer tyre, not only are they quieter but they last a whole lot longer than normal bike tyres on turbos.
Just carry on unless it's snowing, in which case I get the fat bike out.
Rides may end up being a bit shorter and midweek ones are often replaced with more lifting of weights, but I try to ride outside as much as possible.
werewolves
I'll see your werewolves and raise you one massive spider living in the hinge mechanism of my garage door and one confused starling which flew in crapped all over everything, then departed.
Ride coach ride for me as always
cross country rides out become less frequent and a bit shorter as from about now because it can get really muddy in places which can limit the options a bit. If we get a hard freeze it's great though as the ground can be like riding in summer only it's colder 🙂 Instead I tend to take the singlespeed road bike out a bit more, swimming gets a bit more frequent, outdoor PT in the park and yoga stay about the same.
A bit less riding, more gym time (2 not 1 a week) and this winter heading to New Zealand for 2 months to avoid jan and feb.
November being so wet has made for a much harder feeling start to the winter for me than many years. The run to xmas I normally find fine but not so much this year.
bit of cx racing, bit of commuting, bit of thinking about setting up the turbo, bit of spin class with local road club, bit of trying to eat healthily, bit of lifting weights to mix things up a bit.
And way too much booze and assorted excess around christmas.
and a bit of BPW with mates on mtbs to keep things fresh. Not much mtb otherwise though.
I carry on riding. I’ve got winter boots, winter MTB trousers and decent gloves. If it’s cold, wet and windy, I tend to keep rides down to 2 hours. Beyond that, my waterproofs seem to soak through and I start shivering!
I do some night riding but I get winter depression and find that winter night rides don’t improve my mood especially if it’s dark AND raining.
I don't really have a winter strategy. If I feel like riding my cross bike on back lanes and stuff I do. If I feel like riding my mountain bike, preferably on crisp, deep frozen trails, I do. If it's 2˚C outside and minging wet, I don't beat myself up about not riding outside and I might do an hour or two on Zwift. Or I might go out and suffer for a bit. Depends how I feel at the time.
I used to be in the full on 'ride whatever the weather or conditions' and I'd give myself a hard time if I didn't. Now I just try to go with how I feel. Cold and dry, frozen and snowy I love. Horrible gnawing, marrow-chilling, damp, just above zero cold, not so much. Oh, unless it's the Festive 500, obviously. Whatever works basically.
Usually November, February and March are my best months as I take annual leave then. And my annual leave in summer is mostly preoccupied with playing Golf.
Last November it was great, cold frosty days and the odd bit of rain.
This November I’ve done 4 rides as it’s been constantly raining. Usually I ride along the Canal till spring, but even the towpaths are a mud festa or full of gigantic puddles. It’s been a rubbish Autumn weather wise in East Lancs.
Hoping we have a cold and dry winter.
Well, seeing as it has finally stopped raining here, last night I swapped to my hope sintered pads and today I thought I may as well go out and see what the local conditions are like...
Mud.
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Oh, and water. Our river is pretty high at the moment, this was almost hub deep.
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Just spent the last hour cleaning my bike/kit/self. Although the RRP bolt on mudguard is brilliant, not a speck of dirt on my glasses and only about 2 or 3 on my whole face.
Well at least there is some sunshine in the forecast now...
I've found this month a tough one to get through for a variety of reasons, I'm going to start some mindfulness classes again, as I've neglected that for a while.
So much mud! Urgh. It’s just so wet all the time! The rain never ends.
I don’t mind getting filthy on a weekend so limit MTB to then, no chance am I going out in the rain and mud in the dark after work though. Plus the wife gets pi55ed off with muddy stuff hanging about the place, which is fair enough.
So winter road bike fitted with mudguards. Very little cleaning required post ride with this. Getting some cracking solo miles in, around the New Forest. The roads are much quieter this time of year. Plus the forest smells fantastic when it’s all wet and Autumnal!
Also rowing…I’ve just joined the gym adjacent to the office. They’ve got a bunch of Concept 2 rowers. I’m staring easy and I’ll see how it goes. Could be good fitness/cross training for cycling.
Hmm - keep doing the same Tuesday night/most Saturday morning rides I do all year either on the MTB or the gravel bike, try and sneak the odd roadie ride in on decent days, but going to dig out the turbo to try and get some structured training in as I've agreed to a roadie Alps trip in September to do Alp D'Huez etc, so need to get my arse in gear! Not fat either but could do with losing a few kilos and working on my core - when I put it like that, I think I've got my work cut out for me...