Winter riding can be wet, cold and muddy. It can also lift the spirits, top up that ever important dose of Vitamin D and remind you that virtual cycling is not the real world.
The attraction of indoor cycling is undoubtedly a great asset to your winter riding and means that you can hit your workouts regularly and achieve your numbers hitting heart rate, power, and cadence with ease. But cycling is like chicken soup. A clear pure broth is what you need some days but there are days when you need the noodles and veg. This means there are advantages to the grey cold morning completing what you planned on your indoor trainer. Some days, however, just get out and ride!
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The four key aspects of a successful bike rider are the technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects. This means that some days it’s better to forget the training programme and just get out! If the weather is even half decent, an endurance ride, keeping the power and heart rate within the all-important Zone 2 for a couple of hours is not too much of a chore.
If you have a mountain bike or gravel bike, get out and practice those skills on a trail; cornering, weight balance and picking your line through a complex technical piece of single track will help you in the summer when the trails are dry and hard packed and you can whizz through them like a whirling Dervish.
Or alternatively, catch up with a mate for coffee. After all, what could have been a sweaty ride on a turbo trainer can turn into a day to enjoy smells, sights and sounds of winter whilst maintaining your fitness and enjoying society.
Make sure you keep an eye on the plan folks but just don’t be too officious about it!