Winter cycling conjures up fighting through the dark mist trying to get the winter miles in, – despite the fact that your hands and feet are freezing.
But winter cycling is not all doom and gloom, desperately holding out for spring. These are some of the brighter aspects of winter cycling
- When it rains, you don’t feel guilty in taking a day off training.
- You don’t have to clean your bike, because you know it will get completely muddy the next day anyway.
- You can spend hours developing a training plan for next year on the pretext this is as good as training.
- Battery operated socks are an excellent way to avoid the cold feet syndrome
- In winter, the cafe seems even more inviting than usual. I remember some winter club runs, where the time in the cafes was almost as long on the bike.
- By cycling over Christmas, it is much easier to justify eating all those mince pies and Christmas puddings.
- By cycling through winter you can avoid that sinking feeling of getting on the bike after a 3 month break and being dropped by everyone on the hills.
- There’s no need to race up any hills or do any interval training. If clubmates start being too fast and sprinting from road signs, you can just scornfully refer to them as ‘winter racers’. – People who win imaginary races on winter training rides only to disappear once the real racing season begins.
- It can be very beautiful in winter. True, the sun is rarely out, but, on a clear, cold day, a cycle ride is more invigorating and inspiring than watching the 27th rerun of some James Bond film or visiting your relatives.
- You don’t need to worry about putting on the suncream and dehydrating.
These photos are actually taken from an Irish cycling holiday in the middle of summer. But, you could just about pass them off as winter photos.
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