JW Fas

I have a cheap indoor bike and a trainer, but they get boring. I focus more on resistance training during the winter.

Jedneck

I commute so its 16 miles each way no mayter what the weather. Once the snow starts i use a old steel frame road bike with studded tires.

Dimago123

go out for shorter rides if dry and not too cold or windy. Focus on core strength, mobility, etc at home. Trainer for days I need to spin my legs 2-3 times per week. Keep the butt from forgetting the saddle

DangerousDanR

It took me 45 minutes to ride 2.5 miles from my house to my workplace on Friday. With a 30 MPH + gusts wind and the temperature around 18F. That seems like enough of a workout to keep me in OK shape.

kcjc

Getting the backside ready for the trainer. Nice and easy endurance day with slow cadence work at tempo over an average 6% simulated climbs on the first half of the ride. Breaking the 2 hour mark been a challenge this year.

prj71

Sounds miserable.

Brett A

I've bought and tried indoor trainers and rollers, but found that I just didn't use them. Just too boring. I live in rural New England, the two things I have done to stay somewhat in shape through the winter is to do the century a month thing, and/or get out on my fat bike. Enough people have fat bikes now that a few guys have pitched in for a trail groomer.

rumrunn6

said hi to an elderly guy at the gym today. we've been saying hi for years but only rarely. today I asked if he was "hanging in there". he replied, "yeah got to" & "I have a quote for you: fatigue makes cowards of everyone"

I guess it means don't let being tired stop you, or something like that?

just keep pedaling, eh?

jnbrown

Another SoCal, today it was 70 perfect for riding.
winter here is actually enjoyable as traffic and crowds are less.

rsbob 

That is totally insane and I salute your….uh…..dedication. Hopefully you got home in less than a minute (using that 30MPH tailwind)

Lombard

Tailwinds and unicorns........perfect together.

DangerousDanR

I wish it always worked like that. My winter route to work goes West, then North, with the North leg being exposed to a North wind. So... about half the way was a strong cross wind, both coming and going. Even on a fat bike the leg headed south went pretty quickly.

I do commute year round by bicycle mostly to be sure that I always get a little bit of exercise every day. The right gear includes pogies on the bars, heated goggles, a warm coat, along with appropriate boots and mittens. And in addition to the fat bike there are two bikes with studded tires. I probably stay as warm as people in cars.

rsbob 

If there was an official award of the Hard Core, you would certainly be the winner. Good for you.

wolfchild

People who choose indoor riding instead of riding outdoors just don't realize how rewarding it is to ride in extreme conditions. Yes it can be very hard at times but the satisfaction of completing a journey is so great it makes the effort well worth it. Indoor riding has no real experience to it. Riding outdoors is where the real experience is. It amazes me that so many people will go skiing and snow shoeing and running but they won`t go cycling during winter.

DangerousDanR

There are people who ride year round in Edmonton, AB where it is often 15F colder than here in Fargo, and in Winter-peg MB, where it is often 10F colder. There is a ride from Gimli Harbour MB to Grand Marais MB. Those people are hardcore. The course is about 30 km across Lake Winnipeg.

There used to be a ride here in Fargo called the B-B-BRRR, which was a 10 km ride on the last Sunday in January. There have been close to 100 riders for the B-B-BRRR. Hopefully the B-B-BRRR will run again this year.

Buzzzz

..

Jedneck

morning commute is 50-75min depending on weather n bike. Crappy weather n studds with dynohub slow me down. Homeward trip is 40-60min usually.

jgwilliams

Just keep riding, just keep riding.

I hate indoor trainers, so I tend to be out in most weathers. Although it can be pretty windy and sometimes quite cold where I live (southern UK, relatively high up) we don't get the extremes of weather that some of you have.

Buzzzz

..

jgwilliams

No, I've certainly never reviewed Marathon studded tyres. I did fit Marathons to my recumbent bike at one time and probably was riding about 16 miles to work at the time, but that was a very long time ago. I found the Marathons too slow and changed to Conti Sport Contact, I think. My commute is now 18 miles, but I hardly ever do it. Since the start of the first lock down in April 2020 nearly all my working has been at home. I'm now 66, so our ages are also quite close. I'm aiming to ride 5,000 miles this year, which I don't believe I've ever done before. Certainly not since I had a Garmin to make mileage tracking easy, which would be in 2008.

Why not buy yourself a pair of inexpensive wheels to put the winter tyres on? Then switching over would be the work of a couple of minutes. I take my hat off to you, riding in snow. I don't do it myself, but we don't get enough snow here to make it worth buying the proper tyres.

rosefarts

I’ve never ridden a fat bike in the snow. It looks pretty boring and slow to me. Lots of fat bike trails near me and nobody is wearing a helmet. Makes me think it’s too slow and non-technical to really worry about.

XC skiing is a better workout and probably translates better into riding fast. Just an observation I’ve seen from accomplished skiers and cyclists.

As for me, I put the skins on for the first time this year and had a 1500’ in 2 mile day. I’m struggling a little more with boot fit than I expected for brand new stuff, so I only did one lap. I’m currently shooting for 150k’ of uphill skiing this winter. Just for the fun of it.

Buzzzz

..

rsbob 

My strategy at a whopping 68, is to do my first structured series of workouts on Zwift. After doing the FTP ramp test and some drills, undertook the first session today. It will go on for several weeks or until I succumb. Will be interesting to see if my FTP increases a bit or if I am already at my max. Regardless, it should have me in good shape for Spring.

DangerousDanR

I really messed up this winter. First, I was hit by a car riding home Monday after work, right around 4. Stopped for a Red light. A Toyota across the intersection was in the left turn lane.

They just took off when I took off. I saw that she was going to left hook me, so I swerved on the ice and hit the car a glancing blow and didn't go down. The young lady was profusely apologetic, and seemed to be genuinely freaking out.
"Oh God... Are you OK? I didn't see you! I am so sorry..." She is going to need to get that fender repainted. I was riding 45Nrth spikes on my mountain bike.

​​​​​​Then, later in the week I was walking to the gym and I fell on some black ice. Femur was broken at the head and the neck.

And every smart a$$ remark I ever made to someone who couldn't walk but insisted they were OK came flooding over me. That and a great trauma surgeon's joke about the " non gender specific little old lady who fell and broke their hip."

What helped a lot was that one of the people who came to help was a riding buddy. So I have an offer of crutches and help if we need it. And the surgeon said I should be able to walk without pain in a week.

But it looks like I will not be able to ride on a bike until February. So if there is a B,B,B-RRR this year I will not be riding it.

Winter training will be PT every night after work including a stationary bike. Sigh

So let the second guessing and the should a could a I would a begin. Me? I just think that Shlomo the Wise was spot on: Time and chance happen to all, and All included me.

rsbob 

Yikes! What rotten luck. Best wishes for you to heal fast.