Winter Training

KRasmus572 said:

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
users.rcn.comicebikeOpen ↗

Good luck and have fun.

"KRasmus572" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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) said:

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 <[email hidden]> 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 | helsinki.fihpv.htmlOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

[email hidden] (KRasmus572) wrote :

Quoted message said:

...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

[email hidden] (KRasmus572) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

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.

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 xmission.com~lawallOpen ↗ "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 said:

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.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Raptor said:

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.

Quoted message said:

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.

Richard Adams said:

Raptor said:

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.

If you want to be good at riding for three hours, then ride for three hours. There are indoor
cycling programs out there that do longer rides, but most are an hour long. As a result, you have
plenty of endurance for a hard hour-long ride at the end of a Winter if that's all you do. They tend
to be interval-heavy workouts, so it's a quality hour's capacity that you get. You can maintain a
reasonable cardio base, making it easier to simply add on duration in the Spring. Compared to either
sitting where it's warm, or paying for and using Winter riding gear, indoor cycling classes are a
viable alternative.

One of the reasons I tend not to ride in the Winter is drivers. They're not used to seeing bikes.

--
--
Lynn Wallace xmission.com~lawallOpen ↗ "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"

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Raptor said:

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 don't train to race, I train to keep up. Just so happens there's a few pros who live around here
and like to ramp up the pace of the Sat/Sun rides. :-)

I like long rides anyway, great time to clear the head and focus on something other than work, etc.

KRasmus572 said:

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.

You live in Michigan so there are more skating opportunities than just about anywhere. Lots of ponds
and lakes too, and shoveling is a workout there. Get on the ice and go fast. Backwards!

CRM

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

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 don't train to race, I train to keep up. Just so happens there's a few pros who live around here
and like to ramp up the pace of the Sat/Sun rides. :-)

It's still a performance goal, not just healthful exercise <GG>.

....

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

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] 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 don't train to race, I train to keep up. Just so happens there's a few pros who live around here
and like to ramp up the pace of the Sat/Sun rides. :-)

It's still a performance goal, not just healthful exercise <GG>.

....

Indeed. I over 150 miles for the week and there's still Thursday. :-)

"KRasmus572" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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.

I'm not a racer by any stretch, just an overwieght 47 yr old "roadie junkie" who enjoys group and
solo rides in-season, and I participate in charity rides and a week long tour each season (RAGBRAI),
and I do at least one century each summer.

In the off season I do my own "cross-training" program. I do spin classes 2-3 x week at the local
health club. Spinning classes are only 45-60 mins in length so they aren't an endurance ride, but
they are excellent at developing/maintaining an aerobic base, and they are truly excellent at
helping you develop/maintain a fine circular pedal stroke (spin) in the off season. They are also a
great way to meet other cyclists.

TIP: It's best to use a heart rate monitor when doing spin class. About 1/2 way through my first
winter of spin classes I decided to take everyone's advice and use my heart rate monitor. Wow, what
an eye opener! I discovered I was *way* overtraining. When I started using the HRM regularly I found
I wasn't as near burned out, I started progressing faster, and was enjoying spinning much more. It's
also fun to use the monitor to see your progress. Highly recommended.

I can tell you from first hand experience that if you regularly attend a well run spin class in the
off season you will be *way* ahead when you get out on your bike in the spring.

Also, all year I do a little bit of weight training. I bought the book "Weight Training for
Cyclists" (available at www.velopress.com ). They also have a book called "Off-Season Training for
Cyclists", as well as several other books on HRM, nutrition, etc. Check out the site and see if
anything interests you.

As others have said, you CAN ride in the winter too. Check out www.icebike.com for lots of good info
on winter riding. It's actually fun to get out and ride when it's cold out. A couple of friends and
myself ride every New Year's day for an hour or so just to say we did. There is also a ride here the
first Sat of each Feb. that I participate in called the "Brr.. Ride". It's about 25 miles with a
stop for grilled burgers and hot chocolate in the middle. Last year there were over 2000 riders.
Crazy lot we are ....

Best of luck, Mish

"KRasmus572" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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.

I moved to Michigan about 18 months ago. The winter SEVERELY reduced my milage but I was able to
train for the California DeathRide (123 miles in the mountains) and complete it respectably. During
the winter I used my rollers and spin cycle a few times a week and did more variety aerobics
(eliptical trainer, rowing machine) and I did leg presses. On the spin cycle I focused on
alternating intervals of higher level resistance and low resistance spinning (100 rpm or greater). I
think this worked for me to help my climbing even though I couldn't get in the miles I wanted in the
off season. I can't make myself ride the rollers or spin cycle for longer than about 30 minutes on
average though. Pretty boring.

Kendall

In fact, if you dress for the occasion, there's no problem riding in winter in the Upper Peninsula.
Yes it's cold, but the snowplows do a fine job, and there isn't much auto traffic. A route like M-95
north from Iron Mountain can be quite pleasant. While autos aren't a problem, drunken snowmobilers
can be, late in the day or in the evening.

I haven't done a winter century yet up there for lack of time, but I've done at least four in
Milwaukee the last four New Year's days. As other posters have said, just don't be intimidated!
"Michel Gagnon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (KRasmus572) wrote :

Quoted message said:

...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