Winter Training

New to riding.

Did a couple of 25 mile rides this summer.

Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Any advice on training during winter months?

I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.

KRasmus572 wrote:
New to riding.

Did a couple of 25 mile rides this summer.

Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Any advice on training during winter months?

I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.



When outside, dress for it.

Things to get for winter riding:
- A good base layer shirt, something which wicks away moisture (I've
used polypropylene for skiing and whitewater rafting, great stuff.)
- Cycling jacket, preferably with vents you can open or close as needed.
- Legwarmers, maybe tights to go over these if it's really cold.
- Fullfinger gloves, with decent grip (I just bought a second pair as
first didn't grip very well.)
- Cap/Balaklava
- Booties

Cold isn't so much your enemy as accumulated perspiration, which will
make if far worse. If you're sweating, take off stuff or ease up your pace.

Be prepared for cleaning your bike every ride, as snowmelt can contain
salt, mud, oil and organic crud. Best to have a beater bike for winter
training, not your pride and joy.

Riding on snow and ice can be done, but it's sketchy. It does build
great bike handling skills, assuming you live through it. :-)

I was a paper boy in Midland for 3.5 years, often hauling as many as 150
papers on a three speed bike (narrow tires) through the coldest,
slipperyest, windiest, oh man.. You might want to consider a health club
membership for January-March.

Have you thought about getting an indoor trainer? I use one regularly during
the winter (I live in New York which isn't as cold as Michigan, but I may
hate the cold more than you do) and it keeps me in pretty good shape.
Moreover, with a trainer you can get concentrated exercise in an hour or
less at a time and train specifically for "hillwork" "timetrial" or
"spinning" or what have you without worrying about finding the right kind of
terrain near you home. There are a number of good books on the market which
can help you establish an indoor trainer exercise program. I personally like
the program in Arnie Baker's "Smart Cycling".

If you want to ride outdoors in the (very) cold, try the "Icebike" website
at http://users.rcn.com/icebike/

Good luck and have fun.


"KRasmus572" wrote in message
...
New to riding.

Did a couple of 25 mile rides this summer.

Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Any advice on training during winter months?

I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.

ie (KRasmus572) writes:

New to riding.

Did a couple of 25 mile rides this summer.

Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Any advice on training during winter months?

I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.

Welcome to the hobby! The best advice in general is to "ride lots"
but in Michigan, as here in Minnesota, winter riding is often not very
nice. Do whatever you can to stay in shape over the winter- walking,
running, cross-country skiing, swimming, working out at the gym,
whatever. Any fitness is better than no fitness.

Also, find a bike club in your area with similar interests to your
own. Don't join a racing club if you're not interested in racing.
Having people to ride with will get you out more often and for longer
rides. It's even better if a few people can target a particular ride
on a particular date as a goal.

Finally, make sure your bike fits properly. What's OK on a 25 mile
ride might really start to suck at 50, 75 or 100 miles.

KRasmus572 wrote:

: Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Good luck! There is some ambition in the goal but with regular
training it should be doable :-)

: Any advice on training during winter months?

Get a book about training. They usually have advice on what to do
each part of the year.

: I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.

Winter conditions can be beaten, it's not nearly as bad as it
looks at first sight.

Some people like trikes for stability on ice, though they might be
too expensive to be exposed to road salt.

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html
varis at no spam please iki fi

ie (KRasmus572) wrote :

...Any advice on training during winter months?
I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.


It depends where in Michigan, but if you live in the Detroit - Ann
Arbor area, Winter weather is decent most of Winter with not too many
adaptations.

1. FENDERS. If you think they are good in a Summer rainy day, they are
essential in Winter, both for you as it's almost always wet in Winter,
and for the bike as fenders with mudflaps protect your drivetrain from
salt, snow, etc.

2. GREASE. To protect surfaces, chain, spoke threads, etc.

3. TIRES. Knobbies (or cyclocross) tires help in slush and snow.


You also need to check your riding style. Don't go too fast in
corners, prepare for intersections, ride smoothly, etc. OTOH, I find
that riding in Winter is a great way to improve your pedalling
smoothness.

BTW, I find that cool fall rains are the worst for my morale. In
Winter, if you avoid those extra-cold days (below -20 C) or the few
days after a snowstorm, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Regards,

Michel

Indoor cycling is an adequate replacement. You get enough intensity but
usually not the duration. Spin classes at a local gym can leave you
ready to build up the miles in the Spring.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

Raptor wrote:

Indoor cycling is an adequate replacement. You get enough intensity but
usually not the duration. Spin classes at a local gym can leave you
ready to build up the miles in the Spring.


I wonder about such claims as "an hour a day" gives an adequate workout.
I'm not at my best until after at least an hour. On the road or
trail, the first 5 miles are usually warming up. The last 5 miles are
warming down (i.e. don't sprint into the driveway, you'll be sweating
even after your shower.) Everything in between is the real ride and
workout.

ie (KRasmus572) wrote in message ...
New to riding.

Did a couple of 25 mile rides this summer.

Want to do a 100 mile ride next year.

Any advice on training during winter months?

I live in Michigan so riding opportunities will be scarce.

Riding during the winter is not as bad as it seems. You don't have to
buy a lot of special winter gear either, although it could help
increase the comfort factor. You may not want to go on 50 mile for the
fun of it scenic rides, but you can keep up the biking by utility
trips to work (if convenient to ride) or to run errands.

When you ride you will definitely warm up, so you want to dress so
that you will initially be cold. Don't wear cotton next to your skin -
sweat and cold weather will make you feel cold. While riding on snow
and ice is possible and can be fun, its easier to stick to clear
surfaces - so this will probably mean the main roads which are usually
the first to be plowed after a storm.

I find my face and fingers get the coldest so gloves are important and
a scarf around your neck or a balaclava or whatever helps break the
wind - you'll feel colder than if you were just walking because of the
wind. If all else fails and after trying it out you find you just
can't get into it, you could try some spinning classes at the gym.

In article ,
says...
Raptor wrote:

Indoor cycling is an adequate replacement. You get enough intensity but
usually not the duration. Spin classes at a local gym can leave you
ready to build up the miles in the Spring.


I wonder about such claims as "an hour a day" gives an adequate workout.

It depends on why you are exercising. That hour is considered to be
enough to get the vast majority of the health benefits of exercise.
But it obviously is not enough to get you to top performance in your
chosen sport.


I'm not at my best until after at least an hour. On the road or
trail, the first 5 miles are usually warming up. The last 5 miles are
warming down (i.e. don't sprint into the driveway, you'll be sweating
even after your shower.) Everything in between is the real ride and
workout.


--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.