Originally Posted by
Machka
Have you given any thought to cycling year round? During my first couple years of cycling (20+ years ago), I quit cycling for the winter and tried to keep active in other ways. When I got back on the bicycle again, it was like starting over.
Then I got a stationary bike and started riding it regularly ... and what a difference! I still lost some cycling fitness, but not nearly as much.
Then I started riding year round outside (as well as using a bicycle on a trainer in really nasty weather) ... and I stopped losing my cycling fitness in the winter. I also discovered that taking a good spinning class helped me work harder than I would on my bicycle on the trainer. 10 weeks of 2x per week spinning classes + riding outside as much as possible from mid-Jan to late March, and I was in shape to ride a 200K in early April.
So don't stop. And schedule a 200K in early April to motivate you.
Good advice -- but one that takes a lot of preparation (aka "money"): For me it meant a whole new bike that was setup for nasty weather and sloppy conditions (fenders, wide heavily treaded tires, rack & trunk) as well as a mostly new wardrobe (although some old ski stuff got redeployed)... But still, since I ride rails-to-trails and stay off of the roads, I was fortunate in having one nearby that is plowed by the locial township....