Will the winter do me in?

[li10up]

I started cycling late spring of 2005. I only put 600 miles on my bike that year. This year I should put 2000 miles on my bike (It's still in the 90s here in TX). My first ride was 6 miles long. My longest ride to date is 66 miles. With daylight saving time ending soon I will no longer be riding after work. My only ride time will be on the weekends. I'm concerned that I will lose most of the fitness I've gained over this year. I know me and I know that I cannot do the trainer/stationary bike or treadmill thing...to much like a rat in a cage for me. I will be increasing my racquetball playing to 3 days a week instead of two. And I've just now seen a drop in weight (4 lbs) that seems to be staying off...which I'll probably just gain back this winter. :( Am I doomed to start all over from square one next spring or will weekend riding be enough to keep me from slipping backwards? sigh...

[spokewench]

Can you hike after work at all? Do you have hills? If so, go hike hills at a fast pace after work - even if it is hill repeats.

how about swimming?

All of this does not really make you a better cyclist but it will help when your aerobic health when you start up again.

How about spin classes, I don't like to sit on a trainer by myself either but somehow I can manage a spin class.

spoke

[Cassandra_Cain]

Can you get in, oh let's say, 4 or more hours of riding on weekends? 2 or more on saturday and sunday?

If you can and do some other stuff during the week like spoke suggested, then I can't see you losing your general aerobic fitness. You won't get faster on the bike per se, but you should not go backwards.

[indysteel]

li10up, I'm been worried about the same thing but feel like I've come up with a decent plan that will keep me motivated and in decent condition. While I'm going to miss the bike, I think it will be good to take a break to avoid burnout. It seems to me, too, that off-season is a good time to work on building a better foundation for cycling and to improve overall conditioning.
(I would note as an aside that I started cycling this year and that, like you, my first ride was 6 miles and my longest ride was last weekend at 65!).

I've been practicing yoga about twice a week since May. I intend to keep that up. One, I love it and, two, it helps with core strength, balance and flexibility. When I'm cycling a lot, I find that it smooths out a lot of the kinks.

I've recently joined the Y and have already starting taking spinning classes 2-3 times a week. I usually hate working out on gym equipment, e.g., treadmills, stairclimbers and the like, but I love spinning. I can already notice a difference on my bike with power and consistency. From an aerobic/lactic threshold standpoint, it will definitely benefit my cycling and overall conditioning.

I also intend to develop a weight training program with a trainer. I recently purchased a book called Bike for Life that suggested strength training, not only for the muscles most used in cycling, but also for the ones that get underused and imbalanced. Seems like a good idea.

I need to do something more, however, that's "weight bearing" to counteract the fact that cycling isn't. I don't want to neglect my bones! I'll probably end up speed walking/hiking. The Y also offers fencing--which sounds fun. Again, I think working on my balance and reflexes couldn't hurt.

Beyond that, there's always swimming, running, kickboxing, pilates, etc. I plan to mix it up and keep it fun.

[SouthernBelle]

This will be my first winter after a summer of cycling. I'm working out a bad weather regimen for myself. Fortunately, once I get cranked up, I actually enjoy weight work. I also like doing intervals on the stairmaster (ok, I know that's weird). For that I use cardiocoach. I have a stationary bike at home I'm going to use too.

Perhaps someone who has their winter program finalized in written form will post it for us. I'm hoping to have mine put together by time change at month end.

[mlove]

I just started riding late this summer so I don't have any winter riding experience but I am planning to augment my cycling wardrobe so I can get out when the weather isn't too bad.

I like spinning classes because they are really motivating (and challenging) and I do them all year round as well as walking/running on the treadmill. I will keep those up this winter. There will also be trainer cycling at our LBS starting in November and I plan to do that too--as well as riding when the weather permits. Sometimes you can get nice days even in winter in central Illinois.

[Geonz]

Well, you could just ride to work :-)

While it doesn't keep that same shape as riding in the summer, even riding a shorter ride on the weekend makes a HUGE difference when the season comes around. (When I was a kid, this was also true for swimming. We started having a Sunday night swim during the winter and we just lost so much less, even though it wasn't anything *like* the workouts in the summer.)
I genuinely do a lot less in the winter and I've learned not to fuss over it. As long as I don't drink too much beer I don't gain too much weight. (The winter I got in the habit of having one almost every night and occasionally two... BAD IDEA. Nice that "one drink is healthy" - but it's a ton of calories and suddenly it's January and the body mass is +15 pounds :-(

[SouthernBelle]

switch to red wine :p

[li10up]

Thanks for the replys. I'll be playing racquetball after work so that will help keep the bones strong. Although my back is really starting to protest. I tried a spin class once. I thought it would be fairly easy since I had been riding but it was really tough - seemed like work, not play. Maybe I'll try it again and just not push myself so hard. It looks like it could be fun. I hope to keep riding on the weekends. The winds here are pretty bad in the winter though. I do need to do the strength training again. I did that once before when I was trying to lose weight (lost 40 lbs!) and I felt really strong then. But it is so hard for me to get up in the mornings to do that. After work is already spoken for. I'm sure I'll work something out. I just hope that when I get back on the bike in the spring that my speed stays close to where it currently is and that I can stay on the saddle for at least 20 miles.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

What about getting up way early 2 or 3 times a week and taking a quick 10 mile ride before going to work?
Since you live in Texas I'm assuming that it's the daylight factor and not the weather factor that is going to keep you off your bike after work?

[kellichou]

What about getting up way early 2 or 3 times a week and taking a quick 10 mile ride before going to work?

That is a fantastic idea, Lisa S.H.! I have been very sad the past few days, realizing that commuting to work in Colorado in the winter is probably not feasable.

Like others, I just started cycling this late summer, and I don't want to stop riding! But early-morning rides could be a great way to get around it (and then I'd even have time to shower after the ride, before heading to work!).

[Cassandra_Cain]

I forgot to mention earlier - you could consider getting an indoor trainer. You'd be able to ride in the comfort of your home w/o worrying about it getting dark early, cold, traffic, etc.

I'm setting up my indoor 'power' labratory (aka trainer) tomorrow and expect to improve my cycling fitness quite a bit over the winter with it.

Just an idea..

:D

[KSH]

I started cycling late spring of 2005. I only put 600 miles on my bike that year. This year I should put 2000 miles on my bike (It's still in the 90s here in TX). My first ride was 6 miles long. My longest ride to date is 66 miles. With daylight saving time ending soon I will no longer be riding after work. My only ride time will be on the weekends. I'm concerned that I will lose most of the fitness I've gained over this year. I know me and I know that I cannot do the trainer/stationary bike or treadmill thing...to much like a rat in a cage for me. I will be increasing my racquetball playing to 3 days a week instead of two. And I've just now seen a drop in weight (4 lbs) that seems to be staying off...which I'll probably just gain back this winter. :( Am I doomed to start all over from square one next spring or will weekend riding be enough to keep me from slipping backwards? sigh...

I'm worried about the same thing!

For me to keep my cycling fitness up I have to ride at least 3 days a week.

With winter coming on, this will be dropped to Sat/Sun only.... with maybe some spin classes during the week (not the same). Of course, I will ride at least 70 miles on the weekend.

I just figure that I might lose a little fitness over the winter, and I won't have to work too hard to get it back, when it warms up again and the sun returns!

Just do what you can... you will get it back... no worries.

[Geonz]

http://www.icebike.org/

The cycle-licious website guy is in colorado & he rides all year.

Studded tires rock :-)

[tygab]

http://www.icebike.org/

The cycle-licious website guy is in colorado & he rides all year.

Studded tires rock :-)

Wow, thanks for those links. This is getting me very excited to set up a winter bike before we get any snow/ice. In winter I snowshoe our rail trail, and there are x-c skiers too, but what could be better than biking it? Plus, it'd give my old suspension-free mtn bike new purpose since I mostly have been road riding, and there are a lot of places that a mtn bike could go in the winter.

Fun to make a little project of it!

[Jo-n-NY]

I agree with KSH. Although I do use the trainer during the winter or whenever I find I cannot get outdoors. I have done this for 4 years now and when the outdoor riding season came back I did not feel like I was beginning from square one again. I didn't loose much of my fitness level.

Now just knowing that, it really does not bother me to get on the trainer. If I get the feeling that I really don't want to go on it, I just pedal at whatever speed for half an hour. The speed usually automatically pics up. Kind of mind over matter that I am not going to give it my all, and my motto that something is better than nothing.

~ JoAnn

[tprevost]

I just wanted to add that I'm going to start doing spin classes this week (going to the Thursday class :D ). There are several newer riders (Brandy and Tiff, from this forum) that started out extremely strong and are able to whip out really long rides... and a lot of that strength comes from what they built up in those spin classes! I started riding earlier than they did but I just don't have the leg strength (thus the spinning class and some additional weight training) so they blew by me on their first few times out! :eek:

Seriously; its a great mid-week option!

trac'

[li10up]

KSH, thanks...that's reassuring.

I am NOT a morning person so I doubt I'll be getting up an hour early to ride. I may try a spinning class again. So since I'll only be riding on the weekends what should I do to get the most out of those rides? So far I haven't been good at having a "plan." I ride with others so we just go as fast as we can over the route we decide to ride. Over the last month or so I've increased my avg. speed on our typical route from 14.x to 16.x mph. I have been so excited about that. Last night's ride avg. was 16.6 mph!!! Not long ago I was puzzled why I couldn't seem to get up to 15mph for an average. Then, all of a sudden I'm riding 15.x to 16.x mph as an average...18-24 mph on the flats. It's like I just peaked all of a sudden. The thought of losing that makes me sick since it took me all summer to get there.