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Suffering from a lack of winter motivation

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  • December 13, 2012 at 3:12 pm #17454
    Leviathan

    When I look outside I just shiver, it is either cold or wet or cold and wet. I am suffering from a lack of winter motivation. I just don’t have to go out on my bike so I don’t. I convince myself it is too slippy or my toes will freeze, that I have better things to do at home – or that I will CRASH!!!

    I have been carefully logging my training in my diary (spreadsheet) and keeping a 30-days rolling total. At one point in August it was up to 618km in the previous 30days. Today it is on 244km and tomorrow my one and only Metric Century drops off and I will be down to 144km. Trips to Tesco aren’t going to get that back up.

    Believe me I have all the kit I need to keep me warm if it is not literally freezing, but anything below 4C I just think that I can feel the water density sucking energy out of everything.

    I wait and hope that it will be dry and mild for just a day and BBC weather always promises that it will be so in 3 or 4 days but the next day the prediction moves back and another day of showers or freeze comes in.

    I don’t have a trainer or rollers and don’t really have the money for one at the moment. I’ve ridden over 5,000 km so far this year and never been into my cycling like this before. Are these winter blues to be expected? Should I stop looking at my graphs and maps for a month?

    What motivation can you suggest to get me back out on the road?

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  • December 15, 2012 at 9:06 pm #708855
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    SideBurn

    I think the rules are great
    I think the rules are great but sticking to them is not so easy. My marathon time kind of gives me away! And the odd bike race preceded by a swim and followed by a run… But apart from that… Oh, then theres the triple, very useful,I am in Devon ffs but apart from that…..

    December 15, 2012 at 7:34 pm #708853
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    Leviathan

    oow, I have an idea: how
    oow, I have an idea: how about a custom t-shirt design. MTFU Cycling Club. In royal blue with white lettering in big varsity style block capitals and cycling club in curly lettering in a swoosh underneath. Then a #5 in the corner if you are fan of the rules.

    December 15, 2012 at 1:40 pm #708851
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    Bedfordshire Clanger

    Simon E wrote:@racefaceec90,

    Simon E wrote:
    @racefaceec90, there’s nothing wrong with being patient. Inexperience and a new bike mean understandable caution. There’s a point where trying to mtfu can lead to a stupid decision that unnecessarily risks your season or even your life.

    Those tongue-in-cheek ‘rules’ are only taken literally by neophytes and those anxious to impress. Nobody tells me what to wear or when to ride my bike.

    +1

    There’s no point in risking your own safety at all. Tomorrow looks like it could be a good day. I’ll be at The Hub, a new cyclist’s cafe in Redbourn, tomorrow morning for their Christmas Cracker ride. After only managing to get out on Friday last week I’m itching for a good outing and hoping to meet some good company there too including the excellent blogger bedscyclist.

    December 15, 2012 at 11:28 am #708849
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    Simon E

    @racefaceec90, there’s
    @racefaceec90, there’s nothing wrong with being patient. Inexperience and a new bike mean understandable caution. There’s a point where trying to mtfu can lead to a stupid decision that unnecessarily risks your season or even your life.

    Those tongue-in-cheek ‘rules’ are only taken literally by neophytes and those anxious to impress. Nobody tells me what to wear or when to ride my bike.

    December 15, 2012 at 8:02 am #708847
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    racefaceec90

    being a road cycling novice,i
    being a road cycling novice,i haven’t ridden my new bike for the last week,as it’s been pretty frosty.i really want to ride it,but hear the horror stories about crashing the first sniff your road bike gets of icy roads :&

    i know that (the rules) i just read,mtfu comes to the fore in answer to this predicament.i do not have the balance/reactions of a cat * 😀 so i will leave the bad riding conditions to the “hard men” 😉 next week the weather looks a lot better 😀

    * i also don’t want to bin my lovely new tarmac either (or slide under the wheels of an 18 wheeler :”(

    December 14, 2012 at 6:38 pm #708845
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    Leviathan

    I really want a pair of Assos
    I really want a pair of Assos after snow overshoes that go up to the mid calf:

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/assos-after-snow-bootie

    size II please, Santa.

    They could even prevent that pink line of flesh forming in the spring/autumn spray

    But the price is eye watering, its well down my list, after the rent.

    December 14, 2012 at 5:54 pm #708843
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    Kebab Meister

    I restarted cycling
    I restarted cycling (commuting) about a month ago when my job moved to Bristol. I used to do a lot of cycling when I lived in Munich and Brussels so it’s been enjoyable getting back into it and fortunately there are a lot of cycle paths for my commute to work. Anyway, I thought the torrential rain was bad enough but -5C at 0600am is killing me. I think I have enough layers on now but my feet are still cold. I’ll definitely be looking forward to the warmer weather! 🙂

    December 14, 2012 at 5:47 pm #708841
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    Leviathan

    Re: The Rules.
    Disagree or
    Re: The Rules.
    Disagree or broken:
    #1 see below
    #5 Chopper is a criminal wally and should be ignored and forgotten.
    #14 red saeco shorts for me please
    #17
    #37
    #40 really, who has the time.
    #60

    Definitely Agree
    #38
    #59

    Got bored and stopped reading
    #65 (|:

    December 14, 2012 at 5:30 pm #708839
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    Giant Rob

    I hate the winter cold
    I hate the winter cold weather. There is nothing wrong with a fresh morning when I get kitted up with warm clothing. But I like it to warm up a bit and if it is raining I don’t go out. Icy cold rain. Horrible! Unfortunatly I have become a little fearful of rain in the summer and I realise I need to ‘man up’ a bit. I always feel a bit ashamed when I am driving around in my car and I see ‘real cyclists’ still training in the cold rain when I have decided to give it a miss.

    Note to myself. ‘Man up’ in 2013.

    December 14, 2012 at 4:43 pm #708837
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    arrieredupeleton

    Ring in the wind, rain, snow
    Ring in the wind, rain, snow and cold = shimmering thighs of steel in the summer. Probably.

    December 14, 2012 at 11:54 am #708835
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    Simon E

    Raleigh wrote:Either, take a

    Raleigh wrote:
    Either, take a week off, or watch some videos.

    I would suggest the same.

    Perhaps you need to give both your body and your mind a break – why bother if it’s not satisfying? The short, dark, cold days don’t help, the instinct for ‘hibernation mode’ means that this is not an easy time to do much training.

    Don’t know if it will help but here’s Rapha’s take on winter training:
    http://www.rapha.cc/winter-training-1

    December 14, 2012 at 11:01 am #708833
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    SideBurn

    I would agree with the
    I would agree with the Bedfordshire Clanger. What I do is look at the BBC online forecast the day before and decide from that if I am riding or not and what time; it is rarely wrong. If you just decide in the morning then you tend to put it off…and then it gets dark. The weather is never as bad outside as it looks from indoors. So what you could do is plan a quick leg stretcher, generally when I do this I ride further because I think,”I am out now so I might as well get on!”. I tend to avoid very icy or windy conditions because of the risk of injury. If I do not ride (because of the weather) I do a bit of running (I know; Rule 42)but a short jog ticks the box for me!

    December 14, 2012 at 9:08 am #708831
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    therevokid

    ah yes #5 and #9 …
    ah yes #5 and #9 … B-)

    December 13, 2012 at 11:37 pm #708829
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    colhum1

    bikeboy76 wrote:What are

    bikeboy76 wrote:
    What are rules 5 and 9? Also 1-4,6-8?

    You’ll find them here:

    The Rules

    Honour and obey them my friend…. 🙂

    December 13, 2012 at 10:40 pm #708827
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    Leviathan

    What are rules 5 and 9? Also
    What are rules 5 and 9? Also 1-4,6-8?

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