OldsCOOL

This is my first shot at riding the entire winter. The bike is a 2002 Trek 820. I have some conditioning questions that if I were more patient I could let them be answered by time and experience but hey, what are forums for during the offseason?

Background, some that know me will know I am an avid roadie. To this point I normally would be on the trainer and spinning until a glazed look in the eye and drool dripping off my goatee would be typical. My question is to what effect will my hill repeats have on my spring outing in March. Currently doing hill repeats with a heavy bike, heavy clothing, fat non-rolling tires that seem to be made of cast iron and modelling clay. The rides are brutal on cardio and legs. I like the training because it actually feels like I'm training. Will this help with spring hillclimbs?

Barrettscv 

Any activity that provides a maximum heart-rate should improve conditioning. Your road bike will feel like a feather next spring.

OldsCOOL

You got that right. Come what may, it's much better than spinning.

Vefer

In the spring, The first time you take the road bike out, just 2 turns of the crank and you wont believe how fast that bike is! Sometimes in the summer time, I'll my my Schwinn Collegiate for a week, Then when switch to the road bike, I'm fast!!! It's like exercising with ankle weights on. You get stronger riding with cast iron wheels and Play-Do tires.

NYMXer

Training on a heavier bike is good for building up endurance and strength. Add hitting a hill repeatedly just adds to the benefits. Come spring, your legs and lungs will feel like they are on vacation when riding the road bike. Being a true roadie, you will not have an easier ride in the spring time, even with the training all winter, but you will be faster!
Like the saying goes, it never get's easier, you only get faster!

OldsCOOL

This is encouraging!

reverborama

The first time I set up a trainer, I was amazed at the effect it had in keeping my fitness level up during periods when I just didn't feel like going outside. The problem with the trainer is that you only exercise the legs. All the other muscles that are a part of actually riding don't get much use. Riding in the winter exercises the actual riding parts of you much more than riding in the summer. You'll notice the difference big-time next spring.

Tundra_Man 

I can't do an indoor trainer. I tried one year and just found it mind-numbing. I'm not a big fan of movies/tv, so I would just sit in the basement spinning and looking at the wall. After a few sessions of that I decided that being cold was better than being bored, so I built up a winter commuter from my old mountain bike and resumed riding outside.

After the first year I commuted all winter, in the spring my average speed on my road bike increased by 1 mph compared to the previous fall. It was interesting considering my average speed on my studded tire mountain bike is well below 10 mph. Frigid temps, snowy roads, studded tires and a heavy bike all add up to a lot of resistance.

After riding all winter I hit every spring in the best physical shape of the year.

OldsCOOL

Right on. I'd much rather have numb fingers. I'm moving the trainer back into storage.

Went for a night ride and rather enjoyed it. It was a dead calm night and felt like a snow palace with the fresh 8-10" and 14F. This is definately the way to go.

reverborama

I don't mind the trainer. I TIVO some races over the summer and watch them over the winter from the saddle. Just be careful you don't start leaning with everybody on the descents!

OldsCOOL

In February I would sit up close to the bigscreen tv and watch NASCAR truck races. Works very well for practicing my drafting techniques.

OldsCOOL

Me vs Snow. I win.

OldsCOOL

There is a remarkable impact on the bod from winter riding. Feels exactly like my powerlifting days and the morning after a squat workout. Must be the extra 30lbs of bike and clothes, grinding through packed snow on roads and sidewalks....then the hills. Extra coffee pleeze.

bikemig 

I commute all winter to help stay in shape. I have a commuter bike set up with fenders and studded tires for the commute. I'm running schwalbe studded tires which aren't bad. I also have a mtb--a 1992 trek 950--that I use to ride the trails in. I just picked up a set of continental spike claw tires; they're surprisingly supple tires and they work well.

When it gets really cold (say at or below zero), I'll commute but I won't hit the trails.

Leebo

So your mt biking in the snow? Or paved hills? I commute year round, lets just say studded tires are very, very slow. Like when you stop pedaling, coasting is at a minimum. All biking is good. Winter for me is getting some different types of outdoor exercise, hiking and snow shoeing.

NYMXer

My winter road rides are slower despite being in better condition but I haven't quite figured that lout yet. It's not like the variables in mtn biking, with slippery snow or leaves covering roots and rocks. Someone said to me that it was because the air was "denser", and I figured (in a joking sort of way), yeah, let's go with that, lol

Fat tire bikes are heavier and slower, not argument there but riding one is fun and will make you a better rider on other bikes. The fun factor can not be overlooked because it is great motivation and beats riding a trainer any day!

OldsCOOL

Riding a mountain bike in the snow with deflated agressive knobbies. I ride the hills around town on the streets but on flats I ride sidewalks. The walks are cleared but there is that "base" (as we with snowblowers like) that keeps me wrestling the bars and pedals as the knobbies cut through it. No coasting even on some mild descents. The 4.0mi that I rode (with hills) is constant grinding and mashing for 30-35min. That's the timeframe a workout on a boring trainer would be.

OldsCOOL

Consider the weight and rolling resistance. Wow, it's terribly humbling to a road biker that is crazy about speed. The bike is 15lbs heavier, tires are like clay, add the extra 10lbs of clothing when it's mild (25F) and 15# when wearing heavy pac boots in frigid weather.

This is where the mind has to rethink cycling terms.

NYMXer

Let me make a comment on your statement, I am a mountain biker who rides a road bike. This August, I started weekly Saturday morning group rides on a cheap road bike. I now ride with the A group but make no mistake, I am a mountain biker. The fat bike is just another way to maintain conditioning and I bought it more as a tool than for fun. It is fun though and I am glad that I bought it.

All your other points are correct about weight, gear, etc. I think the hardest thing to ride in the winter is a couch, so I get dressed and ride. I even rode with the roadie group last Saturday. They are calling for freezing rain here tomorrow so there may not be a group ride. That's why I'm off to go mountain biking in an hour with a buddy.

OldsCOOL

Mountain biking is a bit more enjoyable now that I'm getting familiar with the comparatively odd geometry of the MTB. On Monday I put the trainer in the basement and racing wheel back on my Cannondale Criterium. Riding the snow is 10x the workout than the trainer and that is how I approach this. So much more enjoyable, not to mention the rule #9 in effect every ride.

Freezing rain here in northern Michigan, also.

OldsCOOL

I'm trying to get 3 a week in but I gotta tell ya, this feels remarkably similar to powerlifting. The morning after each night ride the stiffness feels like I had a squat workout. I've learned to put aside any attention to miles per ride (Being a roadie) to concentrate on time. There is no coasting, no such thing as a false incline...everything is uphill when riding in the snow.

Tundra_Man 

The most intense workout I've ever had was a 7 mile ride home through about 6" of unplowed snow on the MUP. Nobody had walked or ridden before me, so there were no tracks to follow. In my lowest gear I could barely maintain enough forward momentum to keep the bike upright. I had to keep stopping to let my heart rate come down from the stratosphere. It took me about 1.5 hours, and I was completely spent when I got home. Was crazy sore after that and I couldn't ride for three or four days, and felt it in my legs for more than a week.

Kind of funny that the most grueling bicycle ride I've ever taken was only a 4 mph average.

OldsCOOL

When taking training rides into the dead of winter the mind and reasoning undergo training, as well. It's humbling at first (being a roadie) when you look at the miles or any other calculation that was second nature out on the open road. This has the marks of a very memorable winter for me. I hope my spring conditioning will be better, shorter than previous years. On a trainer, the first few weeks of spring were marginally affected by spinning the winter away. Yes, cardio, BP and body wt were good but when hitting that first hill it just makes you wonder what happened all winter. I faintly suspect this spring will be vastly incomparable to previous spring outings. God willing.

OldsCOOL

We up here in snow country are beginning to count down the weeks. My roadie season starts in the first of March. I have about 10lbs to cut so when the Cannondale Criterium comes out to play I will be ready. In the meantime, looks to be another snowy dose of toughen-up tonight on the mountain bike.

OldsCOOL

Today I took my grandson sliding at Avalanche Park. The hill is huge and steep, it was a ski hill back in the day, very close to my house. In times past where the summer conditioning has worn thin by trainer riding this was a joyous revelation. Typically huffing and puffing I'd be good for 2 trips. Not today. I did 4 trips, each further up and never broke a sweat or increase in breathing. I think I may be in better shape than I was last summer. Wow, I'm a bit stunned at this test today.