Winter alternatives to cycling?
marybeth062
Posts: 24 Member
I haven't been road cycling long, and I'm curious. What types of alternative workouts everyone does during winter when it's too cold and the roads are icy?
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Turbo training (i.e. Hamster in a wheel), though with the onset of things like Zwift etc. it's much more interesting than it used to be
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Snowshoeing, Snowboarding, XC skiing for me. Fortunately my backyard is a 1.5 million acre Wilderness.0
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As @cloggsy71 said, turbo trainer/indoor trainer. It can by mind-numbing but very effective. Look at TrainerRoad.com and Zwift.com to help with boredom and provide some specific training plans.1
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Turbo trainer, Fat tire, XC skiing. There's a lot of new training videos like Sufferfest, Endurance films and others that allow you to have something besides the wall to watch and it breaks up the monotony with shifts in training during the videos.0
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Thanks so much for the replies, I will definitely check out turbo trainer and the sites mentioned. I would love to snowshoe or xc ski but we usually get drifts of snow and ice instead of nice coverage. It would be great to have a wilderness in your back yard!0
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I commute to work year round. I have a heavier winter bike with fenders for rain storms. But honestly it doesn't even rain much here, CA coastal area.0
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Turbo trainer or fat tire bike and layer up!0
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I usually give up road riding outside in late Nov to early Dec. Then it is turbo or exercise at a gym.0
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Trainer and mountain biking.0
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As a year-round commuter I ask: what is this too cold/too icy you speak of? Fat bike, off-road, studded tires, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing and a trainer as last resort. I can't stand being cooped up so I get out and do whatever I can even if that means shoveling snow.0
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That could be fun!allaboutthecake wrote: »I don't live where it snows anymore. But this idea really hit home with me.
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It's been said before by others, so I'll just parrot it here: There is no such thing as poor weather, only poor preparation. Dressed appropriately, it's all good!0
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While this is certainly a true statement, for me at least, riding outside when it's cold out is hard to work up to mentally. I've got the gear for temps into the 30s (I live in the South, after all) but anything much below 50 and I'm not terribly interested. Especially since it's always sunny and warm on Watopia.It's been said before by others, so I'll just parrot it here: There is no such thing as poor weather, only poor preparation. Dressed appropriately, it's all good!
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This is my winter training alternative. I really prefer colder weather riding. I have never been too cold on the bike in winter, in fact, I'm usually sweating my *kitten* off.
I still have a trainer set up in the dungeon but it makes me sad to use it.
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While this is certainly a true statement, for me at least, riding outside when it's cold out is hard to work up to mentally. I've got the gear for temps into the 30s (I live in the South, after all) but anything much below 50 and I'm not terribly interested. Especially since it's always sunny and warm on Watopia.It's been said before by others, so I'll just parrot it here: There is no such thing as poor weather, only poor preparation. Dressed appropriately, it's all good!
For me, Indoors is always Out of the Question. Same thing with TV monitors cuz that's how I got fat and sickly in the first place. If I ever waiver, I reference Velominati Rule #5 engraved on my RoadID and I'm not even half as fit as you are, ntnunk. But I ain't ever going back to the couch, the exercycle, or the trainer again! No way! :-)
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I hear ya! I know a lot of folks absolutely despise the trainer but I just never got there. I started using a trainer and TrainerRoad the first year I started riding and I saw the kind of fitness gains I could make. It's been a staple for me ever since.For me, Indoors is always Out of the Question. Same thing with TV monitors cuz that's how I got fat and sickly in the first place. If I ever waiver, I reference Velominati Rule #5 engraved on my RoadID and I'm not even half as fit as you are, ntnunk. But I ain't ever going back to the couch, the exercycle, or the trainer again! No way! :-)
You're right about TV though!
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Move to California where the roads are dry and the weather not too cold. Otherwise, rollers.0
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Being plagued with minor outdoor riding mishaps this year, I really don't mind the trainer either. But I DO make it as enjoyable as possible. Set up right in front of my 55" TV with a windtunnel running on high and either a very engaging TV show or ride along cycling video from youtube. And now, Zwift!
My threshold is 45 degrees and I have zero cold cycling gear, for now. Just some Sugoi MTB capris and a zip up jacket. I need to get some ear covers and full finger gloves as those are what bother me most before I warm up on the ride.0 -
I'm good to 15 or 20 degrees F on a bike depending upon wind chill. Below that range, I'm likely beatin' feet. But, we rarely see temps fall that low on Long Island; only a handful of days each Winter. And I really enjoy snowshoeing, so it's pretty much all good to me.0
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I love Fat Tire bikes in Winter. This photo was my Kona Wo at - 5 degrees and having fun. What other time of year can you bike across the lakes. 0 -
gooseonabike wrote: »
This is my winter training alternative. I really prefer colder weather riding. I have never been too cold on the bike in winter, in fact, I'm usually sweating my *kitten* off.
I still have a trainer set up in the dungeon but it makes me sad to use it.
Gotta love it! Nice bike! Beautiful weather. 0 -
personally I have a winter road bike that has full mudguards and slightly fatter normal road tyres on it and then I just stick to the main roads where the gritters have been and it's never been an issue yet. As long as you have decent winter clothing you'll be fine although I have had to stop in a shop before now to empty out my water bottles and refill them as the contents were turning to ice!
Im in the south of the UK so never had the chnace to ride across a frozen lake like the above pictures! looks idyllic. very Jealous0 -
personally I have a winter road bike that has full mudguards and slightly fatter normal road tyres on it and then I just stick to the main roads where the gritters have been and it's never been an issue yet. As long as you have decent winter clothing you'll be fine although I have had to stop in a shop before now to empty out my water bottles and refill them as the contents were turning to ice!
Im in the south of the UK so never had the chnace to ride across a frozen lake like the above pictures! looks idyllic. very Jealous
Much the same, though i'm a bit further north in the UK - I've got a disk-braked Cross bike that I put road tyres and mudguards on for winter - though I will admit that I do regularly get on the indoor trainer instead of going outside - mainly because UK winters aren't really that cold, but they are generally pretty damp and horrible - lots of temperatures just above freezing, and either raining, sleet or fog - none of which is actually conducive to keeping fit and well if you're breathing it in and exercising hard.
So, I try and get in the "long steady distance" rides outdoors when there's better days, and trot out the trainer for more structured and higher intensity work on the crappy ones. Okay, riding the trainer isn't the most pleasurable experience - if you're trying properly, it SHOULDN'T be pleasant at all (apart from when you finally stop!) - but the improvements that you can make to your fitness by a properly structured program of indoor training ARE incredibly pleasurable when you get to use that boosted fitness as the spring classics season rolls around.
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So, I try and get in the "long steady distance" rides outdoors when there's better days, and trot out the trainer for more structured and higher intensity work on the crappy ones. Okay, riding the trainer isn't the most pleasurable experience - if you're trying properly, it SHOULDN'T be pleasant at all (apart from when you finally stop!) - but the improvements that you can make to your fitness by a properly structured program of indoor training ARE incredibly pleasurable when you get to use that boosted fitness as the spring classics season rolls around.
This! ---^
Truthfully, when it comes to intervals and high intensity work, particularly threshold intervals, I'm more likely to do them on the trainer any time of the year. Not only is it hard to find roads long enough to do 15 or 20 minutes at threshold without being interrupted by a stop sign, it's much safer to do it on the trainer. That way when you're 18 minutes in, your tongue is on the floor, and your eyeballs are bleeding you aren't having to keep an eye on traffic, road conditions, stray dogs, et al at the same time.0 -
Spatialized wrote: »As a year-round commuter I ask: what is this too cold/too icy you speak of? Fat bike, off-road, studded tires, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing and a trainer as last resort. I can't stand being cooped up so I get out and do whatever I can even if that means shoveling snow.
Says the guy from Arizona.
Temps don't bother me... but once the snow comes, the safety risks to road riding go up exponentially, and at that point I typically put my road bikes away for the winter.0 -
Spatialized wrote: »As a year-round commuter I ask: what is this too cold/too icy you speak of? Fat bike, off-road, studded tires, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing and a trainer as last resort. I can't stand being cooped up so I get out and do whatever I can even if that means shoveling snow.
Says the guy from Arizona.
Temps don't bother me... but once the snow comes, the safety risks to road riding go up exponentially, and at that point I typically put my road bikes away for the winter.
Actually, my house is around 6,500ft in elevation and I regularly ride up to 8-9,000 feet depending on where I'm riding. While it's not Minnesota or other places that snows substantially, it's not all sand and sunshine. Case in point:
So, how was your commute today? 32F and snowy. Always remember rule #9... by Tom L, on Flickr
It only got worse that day too...0 -
There's always spin classes. Depending on the weather and if the roads were clear I rode outside all winter. I have an older trail bike I use for my "crappy weather" bike. Dressed appropriately, I could tolerate the cold down to 20 degrees. For cross-training, I have a rowing machine (total body work-out) and there's always walking.0
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