Staying Motivated In Winter

It’s not the best time of the year to be cycling. It’s dark, wet and cold. In addition to the usual difficulties of cycling on British roads we have to cope with the additional challenges of the weather.

These are some of the best ways to stay motivated in Winter

Flexible Training

It’s bad training in the wet, it’s bad training in the cold. But, training in the cold and wet is too much. At the moment, it’s pretty difficult, but, if you do have some flexibility in training it’s a big boon to be able to miss the worst of the weather. Weather forecasts are fairly reliable for next 24 hours (Met Check is quite good for chance of rain). It helps to pick the best part of the day. At this time of the year, there is no harm in cutting a training session short because the weather turns bad. Similarly, if I get good weather on a usual ‘rest day’ I take the opportunity to ride.

Difference Between Tiredness and Laziness

There is a big difference between a genuine tiredness and a lethargic laziness. In winter it becomes easier to sit in front of an electric fire, watching a 5th repeat of some James Bond film. If we are genuinely physically run down and tired, the winter is a good time to take a break. And if we take a break, we should not feel guilty. There is nothing to be gained from forcing ourselves to plod along for 100s of miles when we are already run down. (in fact it will make it worse). But, if we are doing no cycling because we don’t fancy having to wash our bike or its a bit cold, that is just laziness. If we are honest we can tell the difference between the two.

Keeps Weight Down

It’s easy to eat more mince pies over Christmas, many hours on the bike will help burn off those calories – more fun that watching what you eat.

Cross Training

Some people like to keep fit by taking the opportunity to do different types of activities. – running, swimming, weights e.t.c. If you enjoy doing these other sports, then a few sessions a week in winter may well be very good. Personally, I hate going to the local swimming pool and sharing a chlorine infested swimming pool, with a lot of snotty nosed, irritating teenagers – but, that’s just me I think I’d rather spend 30 minutes on an indoor turbo.

Be Well Prepared.

I was training last week. At about 4pm I had a mechanical problems (front changer was not properly set so chain came off and got caught). I had to take my gloves off to fix problem. It was just about the time when the temperature started to plummet and it got dark pretty quick. I never warmed up from the 10 minutes stop. I was rather grateful not to get another puncture. I’m not the best at bike maintenance. But, it’s best to sort out any minor problems before finding them out on the road.

Think of the Long Term Benefits.

There is a huge difference to getting on the bike, with 3,000 winter miles in your legs and getting on your bike with 300 miles in your legs. I know because I’ve experienced both. The winter is the best time to build up endurance and aerobic capacity. It will improve any aspect of cycling you wish to enjoy in the summer. You will never regret training well over winter.

Ignore Weather

Sometimes, the weather can act as a psychological barrier more than anything. The cold and grey sky can give us an excuse to stay indoors. But, once you actually get on the bike, in the proper kit, it’s not such a big deal. Once you get into a rhythm of cycling, the temperature and mirky conditions are very much secondary.

Take Weather as a motivating Factor.

The Great Olympian Emil Zatopek said, bad weather is good for training. If we can train in bad weather, it makes us a stronger athlete.

Make Training Fun.

Whatever cycling we are doing, we want to be enjoying it. If we don’t enjoy the cycling but see it as something to be done another training session ticked off. It becomes like a daily job.  You can train with others, or seek out new routes.

Training Log

In winter, I became careful about logging miles. It is one of the main targets I have. I’m trying to target 200 miles a week. It is something to aim for. I get a certain joy from writing down the miles completed, it gives a sense of accomplishment. I don’t want to miss a week’s training as I will have a big gap in my training log.

More on

• Winter Training.
• Winter Turbo Training