Barrettscv 

My cycling will be reduced by the shorter days and icy pavement starting in December. I enjoy alpine skiing, but only ski about 15 days a year.

I try to take care of business travel during winter and am able to plan my work schedule around cycling to some extent.

What do you do to with your recreational time in the winter?

Michael

BengeBoy 

I moved from Chicago to Seattle so I can ride year round.

All I miss are the Chicago-style hot dogs.

Should we reserve a spot for you?

bobbycorno

1) Ride my wind trainer weeknights.
2) XC ski weekends. If there's no (or cr*ppy) snow and the roads are clear, I'll ride. If the roads aren't clear, I'll ride the trainer for a couple hours.
3) I'm planning to try some snowshoeing this winter too.

Overall, my activity level is much lower from now 'til February or so, when I start commuting and doing my long weekend rides, starting at about 100k, building to just under 200 right before the brevets start up. Not only does the reduced activity allow for physical rebuilding, the time off the bike has me rarin' to go come Feb.

SP
Bend, OR

Barrettscv 

Yes, I would be very happy out west. I could bike and ski more .

But my family is here and they may not be as transportable as me.

Michael

AsanaCycles

I live in Monterey, and I ride year round.
winter... i actually focus more on "training" and cut back on the amount of time i'm on the bike.
come feb/march I'm ready for a double.
year round, I'm able to do a century.

spokenword

I live in Boston and I still ride year round ;p

I also snowshoe and do indoor rock climbing.

cyclezealot

Lucky ones get to live in warmer climates and keep in shape all year long.

Fueco

The "offseason" is when I do the bulk of my intense training. The mileage will be shorter, but the effort will be there. The local bike club puts on a winter race series, so I'll be doing most of those. Generally I do speedwork training and try to work on getting my doubles faster each year... It's worked the past few years! ; )

akansaskid

Ride once it warms to 20+ F if the streets are clear in most places. Causes me to miss a day or two in a week in winter, but I only miss a whole week or more once or twice during then.

thebulls

As long as there is not ice in the traffic lanes ... put on more clothes, switch on the generator light, ride ...

DC area gets cold, and there is fairly often snow on the ground, but the roadways get cleared fairly quickly. For commuting, I just ride on studded tires.

plodderslusk

Xc skating two to three times a week, forest roads with studded tires at least once a week and my short 4 mile commute on cx-bike with studs on weekdays.

Madsnail

"What do long distance cyclist do during winter?"
I was about to reply that they get cold.
First ride of the year in the snow yesterday in my part of the world (Bavaria).
I don't have a trainer so I try to go out anyway. I guess I should go XC skiing, but it's a major hassle without a car, and I'd need to learn how to do it properly too.
So I just try to ride normally, road conditions permitting. When not possible then I will probably go to the swimming pool since it is close-by and should provide a decent workout.

Pedal Wench

My "A" race is in February, so I train all winter - over 40 degrees outside, under inside.

George

I miss the lake front too.

Machka 

During four of the years I lived in Winnipeg and central Alberta I did the Century-A-Month Challenge. I successfully rode at least one imperial century in each of the months of the year in 2003, 2005, and 2006. I was attempting it again in 2008, and got as far as November. December 2008, however, turned really, really nasty on me.

So there's that ... you can go outside and ride centuries.

When I lived in Winnipeg, I also commuted to and from work by bicycle most of the days of the year. There were the occasional day when it was just too snowy to get through, but most of the time the roads were rideable. I rode in temps down to -40C on those commutes.

I have discovered I also enjoy spinning classes and will attend a couple days a week in the winter. They're usually a good workout. In addition to them, I ride my trainer, of course.

And then there's stuff like long walks, weightlifting, yoga, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

At one point many, many moons ago, I used to be a bodybuilder, training with a coach etc. and I'm still very fond of weightlifting, so my winters usually involved quite a bit of that. When I was in University at Edmonton, I'd go to the gym and use the rowing machines and treadmills as well for some variety. Rowan and I have bought some weights here so that I can do something seeing as cycling would involve attaching pontoons to my bicycle these days.

Again in Winnipeg, I bought snowshoes because I could carry them with me on my mtn bike easier than I could carry cross-country skis. I would cycle out to a local park, do a little snowbiking, and go snowshoeing. I did snowshoe on the river behind where I lived, but after falling through the ice on a day that was about -35C, I didn't do that again.

Hydrated

I ride... even through our brutal cold snaps here. Last year we had about three days when the high was 40F.

Scary!

unterhausen

actually, what impresses me is that there aren't a lot of rides in the intermediate distances after June. So you can either ride 200k or 1200k during the last half of the year.

Machka 

Traditionally, in the randonneuring world, that has been because we have had to get all our qualifiers for PBP done and recorded by the middle of June. So, even in the non-PBP years, clubs still organize their schedules the same way. And some other 1200K events have also required people to get their qualifiers in early as well.

I have wished more clubs had longer rides later in the year too, for practice ... but really ... who wants to do more 600Ks than they absolutely have to!!

bmike

if clear roads, ride
or studded tires
xc ski
hike
run
swim

or ride studded bike to gym, swim or do strength, ride home. hike or xc ski later in the day, depending on conditions.

thats the plan, and bits and pieces have worked well the last few years.

Carbonfiberboy 

I don't ride outside after work in winter, since it's commute time, dark, and usually raining. PNW, so I can do weekend long rides every weekend, unless road surface is below freezing, which is rare. I hit the rollers every morning before breakfast. After work, rollers, spin class, or weights at the gym, often rollers, then weights. If weather is decent in the mountains, snowshoeing one weekend day. I'm thinking about taking up AT skiing this winter, but the gear's expensive. Have to see how the income goes. Since the workouts are shorter, I can work out 6 days/week, plenty to be ready for spring brevet season.

Richard Cranium

I try to download all the porn on the Internet and drink all the beer in world. But I used to do stuff like run and ride rollers or trainers.

An important aspect of a limited, or "off season" training scenario is to perform some high-intensity effort at least once or twice per week. My own perspective -and experience - suggests that as long as you exercise every third or fourth day (or more) you can retain a good portion of your overall fitness.

Of course since fitness means different things to different people - porn and beer may work just as well for you as exercise.

Hydrated

Keeps the heart rate up anyways...

Jim from Boston

Commute 14 miles year round, any weather, and only commute (besides yoga), November to April. I would like to motivate enough to do weights.

TMB

I would be interested to see some expansion of this point.

What "training" do you focus on for winter to spend less bike time, and stay that fit and supple.

????

Road Fan

Look at Denver. 10-11 month season, more temperate than Chicago, and has Chicago hot dogs - Custer's Last Stand, same as in Evanston, Illinois.