Spring Training
 

It's January in Chicago, I woke up to 6" of fresh snow this morning. My Spring wish is alive and in bloom right now. Thus, I find myself back on bike forums and reading posts again.
Time to start thinking about biking again. I don't use my winter trainer as I hate riding in the basement.

How do others do spring training before jumping on the bike in March? Usually I just start by doing 2 1/2
mile rides for a week then extend to 5, then 7 1/2 and finally 12.

In the UK we do not seem to have the severe weather. It may be cold, It may be wet, or it may be windy, but we can get out on the bikes for most of the year. My problem is that I can only get out at weekends. As I have to train for a big ride in June, this means that The Gym gets quite a few visits from me in the dark cold evenings. This year I started just before Xmas with a weekly visit just to find out how out of breath and condition I am. Jan and I am twice a week, one night cardio vascular with a little bit of weights, and the other night will be spinning class, with a cardio-V warm up. This should mean that after 8 weeks I should be pushing myself up to the Speed and distances I had last year, with just a bit of strength/stamina training to improve on. By the end of April, I should be able to get out on the Bike midweek again, for a quick 30mile blast round the hills That leaves just May to get that final fitness for my ride. Problem is, After the ride, I rely on the weekend rides being 65/ 100 milers about every 3 weeks so the gym goes by the board. Then end of September and I am back to just a weekly ride again, having a rest before I start the Gym work in earnest to regain the fitness I have lost with my 3 month lay off.
I love being lazy for part of the year.

I usually start each spring with easy spinning, but longer distances about 12-15 miles, and maybe 25-40 on weekend days. If I feel loose, I'll pick up the pace and once I've done that the next ride will be that much faster.

Trainer good-loss of fittness bad!

I use a pogo stick for my "Spring Training."

So what do you use for "Fall Training"?

You guessed it!

I take a one hour spinning class at the gym three days per week, and ride out for endurance as I can. The spinning is great, and the social stuff associated is fun, I never loose my conditioning, and infact, my hill climbing is killer after a couple months.
The classes at my gym are about 50/50 men to women, so don't think of it as just for the chicks.