This is going to be a rotten winter too
 

The spring where I live was cold and wet. That means I barely met the minimum I like to ride each year. Now with the virus, it will be a rotten winter. One of the rewards of working for only one company for 47 years is that my medical retirement give me free gym membership. Unless we get a vaccine for this flu, I am some what afraid to go to the gym and ride the recumbent bikes they have there. The last few years I have found that riding the trainers in the gym keeps my legs in pretty good shape for summer riding.

Attendance at the local gyms is way down from what it was, to be sure.

I know that some gyms have a couple of "private" (or small-class) studios. Perhaps your gym would allow such a room to have a bike or two moved into it. Assuming their attendance numbers are down, given capacity restrictions, that'd at least get you riding solo ... though it'd be in a room and with a station you're trusting has been sanitized since the last use. (Though, you could still bring in your own surface sanitizing cleaner, and spritz it followed by a wipe-down prior to use.)

A couple of larger gyms in the area, with several such small-group studios, have done this -- placed a couple of different cardio stations into those rooms so that people concerned over contact can do solo cardio sessions. Notify when exiting, and the staff then cleans the room's surfaces. Of course, that all presupposes the air-handling equipment is sufficient.

The gym where I'm at doesn't have any such rooms, so it's not an option. I've been going nearly every day, masking-up to the point of the workout, at which point I remove the mask and go about my business (cardio and whatnot). I do a wipe-down of equipment before and after use, giving all contact surfaces a good spray.

I've been considering acquiring a magnetic rower for home use, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Gets really cold here, much of the winter, so I wouldn't be doing much outdoor rowing. (No space indoors for the unit.)

I continue to pay my dues to my gym just because I want them to stay in business. But, I don't go there. My plan for the winter is to gear up and ride my cross bike in cold weather but if not possible to get back on my rollers while I watch videos.

I'm looking forward to a productive winter, training-wise, though it's raining as usual and our gym is closed and probably permanently out of business.

I'm settling down into a routine of riding 4-5 days/week on my resistance rollers and 2 days or working out with a set of inexpensive dumbbells I bought on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...dp/B071WSFSGC/
Actually I bought 2 sets because these are so light. All the plates from both sets will fit on one set. That's still a little light, so I'm doing 3 sets of 30 with 3 minutes between sets. That's working fine.

Here's another set which might be a better deal: https://amazon.com/Yes4All-Adjustabl...dp/B07235H4JQ/

On my rollers, it being October, I'm just doing steady endurance pace riding, 75% of FTP or HRmax for an hour and trying to work up to 2 hours. I've only been doing this for a month and so far, great results. I'll keep it up until at least January before trying harder stuff.

There are about a zillion options for a trainer for recumbents.

When she was rehabilitating from knee surgery, my wife bought an inexpensive recumbent exercise bike that she still uses in inclement weather. I'm sure it's not as nice as what they have at your gym, but it might do the trick. You can also do lunges, squats, other weight exercises that work your cycling muscles.


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Can't wait for some fun riding on the ice and playing in the snow. The studded tires will be going on the three trails bikes once the snow starts to fly. Gave up my gym membership years ago and decided to go back to riding outside in the winter like I did when I was younger. The real fun comes when the lake is frozen and I'm out with the ice fishers.
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Setup a trainer and ride at home. Or be like zipp

I'll be doing both. I have the Fuji Supreme that does permanent duty on the trainer in the basement in front of the TV and I have a fatbike with studs. It's going to be a sucky winter because I won't be able to go in anywhere I ride to so I expect to do (or I better do) more on the trainer in the basement. It is quite demoralizing because I like going TO places on the bike. Summer was OK because I got to ride a lot more than usual (at the expense of car shows and the like) but tonight was windy, cold, and dark so I just did a short ride to say I did. Believe me, I am counting on alllll my social media bike contacts to keep me motivated by their adventures.

If you've already decided winter will be rotten, then it will be for you. My winter, however, will be great regardless of the weather.

As for this winter, I'm planning on doing the same thing I did last winter. Last winter was great training wise, I went into winter basically a beginner and popped out in Spring a much better rider. So I'm going into this winter as much better rider than last year and hopefully will pop out next spring a reasonably decent/improved recreational rider.

I've actually already started even though I have more outside riding planned. This weekend I'm going to service my trainer bike and make sure all of my Zwift things are working, new batteries and so forth.

I plan on doing 1000 trainer/Zwift miles between Nov 1 and December 31. Then starting Jan 1 I'm going to do 4 days on the trainer, 2 days weights and 1 day rest per week. My days on the trainer will be rides of 35-50 miles depending on the day. This is because it looks like I'm going to hit the 6000 mile mark (including trainer miles) for 2020 and for me still working full time that will be a difficult act to follow in 2021. Around Feb 1, I'm going to start working on my long steep climbs as I have plans to do an epic climb in the early summer, then a few metric centuries in late summer.

I hate winter very much but I'm going to use the dark days to my advantage: indoor trainer and Zwift.

Cycle studios are usually in dark, confined areas with dubious ventilation. The heaviest breathing takes place in them. I love these occasions but won't go until Covid's dealt with. They're still fully booked and manging very nicely it would seem, without me or my stupid jokes.
I'm a bit miffed about that.
Detailed info about Covid cases may not be all that easy to get, but it looks like none have been infected to date.
Me and my suspicions . . .
Have fun.

I usually play a lot of hockey in the winter as well as cross country skiing so can't agree to hating winter but will have to alter things up a bit as hockey is not an option this year. Now back to cycling, I will continue to Zwift as well which is about the same as a monthly gym fee but much safer. Zwift is what you make it, so by taking advantage of the many training plans they offer you can train to be champion CRIT racer, win every KOM or an endurance pro by just putting in the time and effort on the bike on the trainer.

Winter is when I bring out the unicycle. Quick workout, core and cardio, low speed so no wind chill. No problem with social distancing.

Winter on The Texas Gulf Coast is our best riding of the year..

For our 20th anniversary this year I bought my wife and myself new skis and season passes.

seems like it's going to be a dry and warm winter here in socal. will be hitting the 7,500 ft mountains as long as possible. you can do the coast anytime.

Very well said.