NYMXer

We recently got dumped on with about 2ft of snow, so riding is out of the question. My question to all of you is "what did you do to over come the weather"....
Me, I tried to go XC Skiing but the conditions didn't allow that (warmed up too fast), so I went snow shoeing (first time, loved it!).
Saturday we are expecting another 1-3 inches of snow but luckily the snowmobiles have packed down some of the major (wider) trails at my local riding place, so maybe we will do some fat bike trail rides, XC skiing or more snow shoeing.
Point is, how important is the workout, and what alternatives do you do to make sure that you burn off those calories and get your HR up?
Riding the road bike is dangerous right now with the blinded field of vision (high snow banks along the road, esp at intersections), melting snow refreezing again and then the wind.... whenever it warms up, high winds are inevitable.
Staying healthy is hard work but with an open mind and positive attitude, you can get "er done"!

Carbonfiberboy 

I live in the PNW but down in the lowlands where it mostly rains. Still it's a total PITA to go for a daily ride because of the time to dress, launder, clean and lube bike, gets dark early in winter, etc., etc. What I do is have a set of resistance rollers. SportsCrafters is a good brand. So I ride my rollers weekdays and ride outside in the rain on the weekends. Where you live in the snow sure, snow sports are what you do. XC, snowshoe, run, whatever. The other thing I do is have a gym membership, which I've had since '79. I lift weights twice a week in winter, once a week in summer. Many gyms have spin classes. I've done that, too.

Fat bikes are the current fad for bike-based snow sports.

Yes, the workouts are important. I once took a winter completely off from sports and workouts. It took me the whole following summer to get back in shape. Never again if I have a choice.

LiquorLad

Gym 5-6 days a week combined with proper nutrition. Zero excuses.

12strings

Planet fitness....

NYMXer

My GF is a black card member there, so I get to go for free (under her) but going to the gym and working out seems to take more effort for me than trying some alternative workout like yesterday's snowshoeing. I guess it's because of driving to gym and back, where riding can happen right from my front door.
Also, those gym workouts are too boring for me compared to riding or so with friends. maybe I need some friends who go to the gym. When I go with the GF, we don't make good workout partners due to the different weights and machine preferences.
Seems like a lot of work to stay fit and healthy but obviously that has it's rewards and is important.

LiquorLad

wolfchild

Planet fitness is not a real gym, it's an amusement park.

Heathpack 

If I can't get outdoors on the bike (which is uncommon in SoCal), I ride the bike on a trainer.

I don't like to be off the bike for more than a week, I lose too much cycling specific fitness, and for me personally that's a big deal.

Fortunately, I actually like the trainer, so I'm good with the bike whatever the weather.

Carbonfiberboy 

Chuckling quietly to myself . . .
These are called excuses and to be tough about it, like any good coach should, they're BS. Life's all about choices. With many choices, we don't see the endgame for 20 years. Choose life. It's a priority or else. . .

gregf83 

Due to an unusually snowy winter I bought a set of studded tires. These and a trainer kept me going through the winter:

NYMXer

No excuses, I prefer to do alternative workouts like yesterdays 3 miles of snowshoeing in over a foot of snow.... more fun and a full body workout.
I'm not a big fan of gyms but I really don't care for the Planet Fitness aura, seems superficial to me. I look forward to my rides, and hope to get some fat bike riding in tomorrow with the guys and some packed snow trails. The recent storm dumped so much snow on us that the snowmobilers are having a hard time packing the trails down for us mtb riders.

NYMXer

gregf83, that second picture looks like you rode through wet concrete, haha

12strings

After 2 months at the end of last year eating junk and not really exercising much I lost a lot of cycling form by new year's.

I used the Planet fitness indoor bike for short sprint interval sessions and free weights for squats and lunges...after less than 2 months of that I was able to tie the strava KOM on a short steep climb that I achieved last summer...and it seemed easier, so I could have pushed harder and beaten it...in other words, after 2 months of regular 20-30 minute PF sessions, I have equalled and exceeded my previous cycling level that includes a KOM on a 10-15% .3 mile climb.

12strings

Also, Planet fitness is a building with exercise equipment that let's me come work out for $10/month when it is 20F outside. I don't care what color the walls are.

berner

We were supposed to get some of that snow and I was looking forward to getting out on x-country skis. We got a bit of snow then it warmed up and the snow turned to mush. Couldn't ride the bike or ski. We had better weather under Obama.

NYMXer

So I got to ride today, 10 miles on the fat bike in the snow. It started out great but as it warmed up and the snow got soft, it was a challenge to stay on 2 wheels.

Luckily, the group I ride with are a great bunch of guys and they make every ride a good ride.

Seattle Forrest

This is the first time I've ever heard anyone describe slowshoes as fun.

I did less cycling this winter than I ever have in my life. My girlfriend got me XC ski gear and I fell in love. I've skied about 250 miles since December. Now that I'm coming back to the bike, the numbers don't really make sense, I'm finding it easy to get really big intensity factors. I did a hill repeats workout and got an IF of 1.5. I think skiing instead of riding all winter may have raised my FTP, which seems a little crazy.

At some point I think any cardiovascular exercise is good for cycling. It's your heart and lungs that limit you on the bike, not your legs. The more similar the motion is to cycling, the better it will be.

noglider 

I don't like gyms, either, though I'm due to try one again, just for the sake of keeping open-minded.

I have a barbell in my bedroom, and I've been using it for over a year now. As time progresses, I'm getting to enjoy it more. I lift it about five days a week. I'm at the point where I prefer to lift it than to leave it, because I enjoy it that much. I recently read how lifting weights is more beneficial for weight loss and overall fitness than it seems, so you need less time with weights than on the bike. I only spend 10 minutes with them.

gregf83 

Felt like it. I just did a short out and back on a section of pristine snow. A little over 300W to go 12 or 9kph (with or against the wind). I didn't have very low gearing so my cadence was only 50 going into the wind. The two little sections in the graph below where my HR ramps up were the out and back portion.

f4rrest

Equinox.

noglider 

I want to get stronger and faster and build endurance, but I'm not willing, at least not this year, to buy a power meter or heart rate monitor. The power meter makes sense to me, and maybe I'll buy one in a year or two. By then, I hope the prices are lower.

Seattle Forrest

PM prices have been coming down for years and it doesn't look like that trend is ready to stop.

NYMXer

HR monitors are much cheaper than a power meter and can be used for more than just biking. I bought mine for $40 brand new (Wahoo) and use it to tell me the level of my intensity for the workout, my HR at the moment to prevent burning out too fast and to train in a specific zone. So far, it has been money well spent.

A PM is installed on a specific bike and a pain to transfer to another bike. The HRM goes on the rider, easy to transfer to another rider. You can use mine next time we ride Tom, and see for yourself.

noglider 

Fair points about HRMs and power meters. There are power meter pedals but moving them from bike to bike isn't super convenient, either. Maybe that's OK because I don't need to measure my power on every ride. But they are SPD-SL type pedals, so I'd need a new pair of shoes. And 3-bolt cleats are horrible for walking, so no, I see too many downsides.

The power meter hub is down (?) to $600, so maybe it will be $400 in a year. Lucky for me I'm good at building wheels myself.

Seattle Forrest

That's probably true, but you might be surprised. It depends what you want to get from your power meter.

One great thing you can do with a PM and appropriate software is measure your fitness and your fatigue. There's a chart that shows both of them, it can help you prepare for an event, or just be an easy, visual way to stay on top of what you're doing. That's not what most people get a PM for and many PM users don't use that chart. But, if it becomes important to you, you'll want to measure your power on every ride because otherwise the chart almost becomes useless.