Don't Let Winter Get You Down

The days are short, roads grimy, and weather appalling. How to resist the urge to tuck away the bike and hibernate? Jim Cotton turns up the motivational heat

- Jim Cotton

Spring is still a long way off, and the fattening festive treats are tempting us from all angles. The bike-cleaning rags are worn thin from all the muck-removing sessions, and the rug beneath the turbo is permanently sweat-stained. Keeping motivated in the very depths of winter can be tough. That’s why we’ve rounded up a host of inspiring tips from top experts to help you keep the pedals turning through winter’s grimmest weeks.

1 BE FLEXIBLE BUT CONSISTENT

Rich Lang, founder of Spok’d training app

When it comes to winter training, two fundamental principles can help you maximize your fitness: consistency and frequency. Who would be fitter, someone who rides once for five hours per week or someone who rides three times for 90 minutes? The rider with the higher frequency can generate more overall quality training stress to improve their fitness.

So focus on regular, shorter rides — you can dodge the worst of the weather and ensure every minute on the bike is quality training.

Garth Kruger, Vankru bike-fitting

Try to find other riders with similar goals to go out training with. This helps with accountability when you don’t want to get out of bed.

Emily Chappell, ultra-endurance racer

Be flexible — make the most of any small window of good weather, even if you hadn’t planned to ride far that day.

CW says You’ve got to be tough to conquer the winter, but by making the most of any small window of opportunity to train and keeping yourself accountable, you can keep the consistency required to go into spring riding strong.

2 CARROT, NOT STICK — REWARDS AND STIMULI

Max Stedman, pro rider with Canyon-dhb-Bloor Homes