The Off Season

^{(Pictured: Something I don’t do much anymore)}

There is a definite off season for cycling where I live. Not for everybody – some people are perfectly happy to brave the cold and snow with some combination of more kit and wider tires. But I’ve long since decided that isn’t for me because it peels back the veneer of fun a little too far and all I can see is the grueling work required. Plus, the very act of breathing in cold, dry air is difficult.

So what can one do when faced with a couple of months off the bike?

Validate Your Choice

It’s fine to not ride for some part of the year. Where I live, snow is often measured in feet, wind speeds are ridiculous (and constant!), daylight is short, and temperatures are often downright polar. I, personally, have no interest in any sort of winter cycling, nor do I wish to test myself against those kinds of conditions. I’ve done it in the past – it wasn’t great.

It’s important to recognize this because I certainly don’t want to suck the fun out of cycling and make it seem like a chore for the rest of the year. If I can skip a few months and keep myself well and truly interested in getting back on the bike for the parts of the year I enjoy, then I’ll definitely come out ahead.

Of course, that’s not to say that I’m letting myself fall behind in terms of fitness. More on that later!

Dream

Strangely, one of the most productive things I find myself doing during the winter is dreaming about the kinds of riding I intend to do as soon as things thaw out. Of course, the sheer breadth of what I think I have time for routinely exceeds the reality of what I actually have time to do.

This very blog has been helpful for this, though. For whatever reason, writing about something makes me more inclined to follow through on it. I really don’t like making a liar out of myself, and so I find the motivation to follow through manifesting itself out of thin air. Obviously, this is advantageous.

Every year I think to myself “This will be the year that I use the bike as a vehicle and go somewhere.” Every year I’m generally wrong about that. But the planning sure does help pass the time in the middle of January when we’re stuck firmly in the freezer. It also keeps the motivation to get back on the bike very, very high.

This attitude has led to me using a bike to visit a farmer’s market and load it up with produce, haul replacement parts across town for a friend, and give commuting a shot. Incidentally, those are all great ways to extend one’s time on the bike during the warm months and I’m greatly interested in exploring even more.

Train

Of course, one shouldn’t be idle all winter long. I’m not on a bike, but there are more sports than cycling. This sort of enforced downtime is a great opportunity to address the fact that maybe, just maybe, a bike ride isn’t a complete workout. Much the same way that cheeseburgers aren’t a complete diet.

So, I indulge in some kettlebell sport during the winter. I mean, I do during the riding season as well but not with the same focus. It may be something I try to compete in, in the future, even! It certainly offers something that simply being on a bike doesn’t. I find attempting to get better at long cycle to be rewarding in a similar way to mountain biking. It’s also easier to do in my basement and has “cycle” right in the name. That’s very much a win-win scenario.

Additionally, I own and use a treadmill. This isn’t my idea of a good time, to be perfectly honest, so I don’t have much to say. I do hear that running is a good thing for cyclists to engage in, though, and who am I to argue with that?

There’s also indoor trainers! You can simply bring the bike inside and never stop riding. One of my long term goals is to acquire a new smart trainer and try out some of the software that hopefully makes the experience more interesting. For me, indoor trainers haven’t quite scratched the same itch as being outside does, but I can’t complain too much because I’m still essentially riding a bike.

Upgrade

The offseason is also a perfect time to embark on upgrade projects for your entire cycling ecosystem! After all, it doesn’t much matter if something is out of commission for a little while if you aren’t going to be using it for a couple of months.

Kit

Got some shorts that are wearing out? Do you really need a new pair of gloves after a season of wear and tear? This is a great time to pick up some warm weather gear from the previous season that might be at a discount (I understand this is geographically-specific advice, your climate may differ).

Bike

If you’re really itching for new parts, or a rebuild, this is the best time. It will give you something useful to do while the snow flies. Also, if you have an indoor trainer of any sort, this is a great time to have a look at fit, and really get whatever new parts you’ve acquired dialed in nicely.

Tools

You can use the enforced patience of wintertime to think about tools that may have been particularly handy to have and then acquire them. Or, if you’ve chosen to do some bike overhauling, this is a great time to get the tools to support that effort and dig in with them. Working on a bike is sometimes the next best thing to riding one!

Ride Anyway

I know that I stated a strong aversion to cycling in the winter under any circumstance. However there comes a time when I can convince myself that 20-25 degrees (Fahrenheit) is plenty warm for some cycling and, full of optimism and determination, I eke out whatever mileage I can. At a certain point in winter, that feels like a heat wave and I have no choice but to make myself take part in it. It isn’t as satisfying as riding during the warmer months but it goes a long way towards holding one over until the world warms back up.

Options!

As you can see, you’ve got plenty of options. This was by no means an exhaustive list, either. For me, who knows? Perhaps the desire to ride around in the winter will return someday. I certainly would welcome that, so I remain open to being argued into trying it. The arguments would have to be very strong, though.