How do you stay motivated during the winter.

I took everyone's advice and bought a better bike last night. I don't
have it yet, but I broke down and spent a decent amount of money on
one. The Walmart Bike will be donated to my favorite charity. Now
that the weather is getting colder..rain today...I hope I stick with
this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter? I realize I won't
be riding when I go to Lake Tahoe next week....with all the snow...and
when I come back it will probably be snowing here...so what do you do?
Do you put your bikes away for the winter? I am afraid if I hang that
bike up on hooks in the garage....the next time I see it will be 10
years from now when I am cleaning out there or moving. How do you cope
with the winter and the snow? I'm sure alot of you must live in snowy
areas of the country. I think I might have started this hobby at a
bad time of year. Maybe I will have to move to Florida ;-) How do
you stay motivated during the long winter?

BTW I figured out how to put pics on a website...now I can track my
bicycle adventures....it took me all night to figure this out, but I
did it. Now I just have to have some adventures. ;-) The first pic
will be of my new bike. I really like it. These pics have nothing to
do with Bikes. But I figured it out. My 84 year old mother is on the
web site. She still walks miles every day. All 100 lbs of her. And I
whine about being 50. Shame on me.

http://www.geocities.com/lindaannbus...?1100212880789

http://hometown.aol.com/lbuset/

On 12 Nov 2004 02:52:54 -0800, (Maggie)
wrote:

Do you put your bikes away for the winter?

No. I ride them, outside, as nature intended :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Maggie wrote:

:: this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter?

Have a plan.

To me that means having a decent place to ride and having the proper
clothing.

During the winter, my goal is just to know lose ground. So I'm taking the
easy route. There is this 7-mile loop near my house that has no traffic
lights or stop signs. So every weekend, I'll be out there doing loops. I'm
like to work up to doing about 14 loops, or close to 100 miles. To break up
the boredom, I'll switch directions. What I like about this route is that I
can ride hard if I want to because there are no stops. So I can vary pace
as I please. Regular road routes seem to not offer me that ability as much.

If a warmer day comes along, I'll ride one of my several other normal road
routes that I won't mind getting out early in the am for. The main reason
for using the loop mentioned above if that it is basically good to ride any
time of day, including nighttime if you have lights.

Maggie wrote:
I took everyone's advice and bought a better bike last night. I don't
have it yet, but I broke down and spent a decent amount of money on
one. The Walmart Bike will be donated to my favorite charity. Now
that the weather is getting colder..rain today...I hope I stick with
this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter? I realize I won't
be riding when I go to Lake Tahoe next week....with all the snow...and
when I come back it will probably be snowing here...so what do you do?
Do you put your bikes away for the winter? I am afraid if I hang that
bike up on hooks in the garage....the next time I see it will be 10
years from now when I am cleaning out there or moving. How do you cope
with the winter and the snow? I'm sure alot of you must live in snowy
areas of the country. I think I might have started this hobby at a
bad time of year. Maybe I will have to move to Florida ;-) How do
you stay motivated during the long winter?

BTW I figured out how to put pics on a website...now I can track my
bicycle adventures....it took me all night to figure this out, but I
did it. Now I just have to have some adventures. ;-) The first pic
will be of my new bike. I really like it. These pics have nothing to
do with Bikes. But I figured it out. My 84 year old mother is on the
web site. She still walks miles every day. All 100 lbs of her. And I
whine about being 50. Shame on me.

http://www.geocities.com/lindaannbus...?1100212880789

http://hometown.aol.com/lbuset/

I love to XC ski in the snow. This time of year, I'm motivated for riding
the bike by thinking of staying in condition for when the snow flies.

I'm sure you can rent a pair of skies in Tahoe and there are XC ski areas.
--
Bob Burns
Mill Hall PA

:
: During the winter, my goal is just to know lose ground.

Do you mean "not" lose ground?

pat

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:53:59 -0500, "Roger Zoul"
wrote:

Maggie wrote:

:: this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter?

Have a plan.

To me that means having a decent place to ride and having the proper
clothing.

During the winter, my goal is just to know lose ground. So I'm taking the
easy route. There is this 7-mile loop near my house that has no traffic
lights or stop signs. So every weekend, I'll be out there doing loops. I'm
like to work up to doing about 14 loops, or close to 100 miles. To break up
the boredom, I'll switch directions. What I like about this route is that I
can ride hard if I want to because there are no stops. So I can vary pace
as I please. Regular road routes seem to not offer me that ability as much.

If a warmer day comes along, I'll ride one of my several other normal road
routes that I won't mind getting out early in the am for. The main reason
for using the loop mentioned above if that it is basically good to ride any
time of day, including nighttime if you have lights.

I'd be interested in knowing (from your experiment) if one can maintain
fitness riding just on weekends, and riding that much in one or two
sessions. Keep good records, like an excel spreadsheet so ya can share your
results, mebee?

My routine is almost exactly the opposite. I ride only about 20-30 miles
per day, often broken up in twice a day sessions, seven days a week.

For me (and I'm not dissing your plan in any way!) being out of the saddle
for 5 days followed by 100 mile rides on the weekend would just be the end
of my fitness. IOW, I'd spend all week (I think) hurting from the 100
miler, and due to the lack of frequent stimulation, I'd probably be down in
the dumps.

Now I know you workout at the gym, too, so pardon my idealizing your 'on
weekends' concept - I'm not at all trying to put ya on the defensive or
anything of the sort. Just offering a counterpoint and maybe a topic of
discussion.

Good luck, buddy.

-B

"Maggie" wrote in message
om...
I took everyone's advice and bought a better bike last night. I don't
have it yet, but I broke down and spent a decent amount of money on
one. The Walmart Bike will be donated to my favorite charity. Now
that the weather is getting colder..rain today...I hope I stick with
this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter? I realize I won't
be riding when I go to Lake Tahoe next week....with all the snow...and
when I come back it will probably be snowing here...so what do you do?
Do you put your bikes away for the winter? I am afraid if I hang that
bike up on hooks in the garage....the next time I see it will be 10
years from now when I am cleaning out there or moving. How do you cope
with the winter and the snow? I'm sure alot of you must live in snowy
areas of the country. I think I might have started this hobby at a
bad time of year. Maybe I will have to move to Florida ;-) How do
you stay motivated during the long winter?

BTW I figured out how to put pics on a website...now I can track my
bicycle adventures....it took me all night to figure this out, but I
did it. Now I just have to have some adventures. ;-) The first pic
will be of my new bike. I really like it. These pics have nothing to
do with Bikes. But I figured it out. My 84 year old mother is on the
web site. She still walks miles every day. All 100 lbs of her. And I
whine about being 50. Shame on me.


http://www.geocities.com/lindaannbus...?1100212880789

http://hometown.aol.com/lbuset/

I never put all the bikes away for winter. I keep the road bike and a
hybrid in the garage and put the extra bikes and trailer in the storage
shed. We normally don't get a lot of snow around here (SW Ohio) and it's
possible to ride during the winter months. With that said we'll probably
have one of those winters with tons on snow and ice.

We don't hold the weekly "Bike for the Health of It" program as most of the
participants put their bikes away for the winter. We do continue to patrol
the bike trails in the county but not as frequently. Winter patrols also
seem to include more coffee shop stops

In order to stay in shape over the winter months I just kick up the weight
training and treadmill work. This year I'm also looking into some spinning
classes at the gym. I don't know how this will work out but I'm going to
give it a try. I'm hoping to shorten the length of time it takes to get
back into condition for longer rides and climbing hills next spring.

Buy some winter gear, find a safe place to ride and enjoy the new bike!
Think about some other type of exercise for those days when you can't ride -
it will help retain conditioning.

Beverly

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 02:52:54 -0800, Maggie wrote:

I took everyone's advice and bought a better bike last night. I don't
have it yet, but I broke down and spent a decent amount of money on
one. The Walmart Bike will be donated to my favorite charity. Now
that the weather is getting colder..rain today...I hope I stick with
this.

Congrats on the new bike. Looking out at the rain, maybe you might
re-consider getting rid of the wal-mart special. You might use it as a
rain bike so your shiny new one stays clean and rust-free. You can also
add thins like fenders (wonderful things, fenders) to the rain bike.

*How do you manage to keep riding all winter?

I know I would be in terrible shape by Spring if I didn't.

I realize I won't
be riding when I go to Lake Tahoe next week....with all the snow...and
when I come back it will probably be snowing here...so what do you do?

Depends. Riding in a heavy snowstorm is hard to impossible. But riding
in light snow can be really delightful. And once the roads have been
cleared, riding (with those wonderful fenders) is not bad at all.

time of year. Maybe I will have to move to Florida ;-) How do you stay
motivated during the long winter?

A bad day on the bike beats a good day off it.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I can assure
_`\(,_ | you that mine are all greater. -- A. Einstein
(_)/ (_) |

Pat wrote:
::: During the winter, my goal is just to know lose ground.
::
:: Do you mean "not" lose ground?

Crap. Yes. My fingers and my brain are often in disagreement.

Badger wrote:
:: On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:53:59 -0500, "Roger Zoul"
:: wrote:
::
::: Maggie wrote:
:::
::::: this. How do you manage to keep riding all winter?
:::
::: Have a plan.
:::
::: To me that means having a decent place to ride and having the proper
::: clothing.
:::
::: During the winter, my goal is just to know lose ground. So I'm
::: taking the easy route. There is this 7-mile loop near my house
::: that has no traffic lights or stop signs. So every weekend, I'll
::: be out there doing loops. I'm like to work up to doing about 14
::: loops, or close to 100 miles. To break up the boredom, I'll switch
::: directions. What I like about this route is that I can ride hard
::: if I want to because there are no stops. So I can vary pace as I
::: please. Regular road routes seem to not offer me that ability as
::: much.
:::
::: If a warmer day comes along, I'll ride one of my several other
::: normal road routes that I won't mind getting out early in the am
::: for. The main reason for using the loop mentioned above if that it
::: is basically good to ride any time of day, including nighttime if
::: you have lights.
::
:: I'd be interested in knowing (from your experiment) if one can
:: maintain fitness riding just on weekends, and riding that much in
:: one or two sessions. Keep good records, like an excel spreadsheet so
:: ya can share your results, mebee?

Sure. I keep my records in Gary G's program Cyclistat (sp?). I'm sure my
results will be better than if I just didn't ride at all!

::
:: My routine is almost exactly the opposite. I ride only about 20-30
:: miles per day, often broken up in twice a day sessions, seven days a
:: week.

Hey, that where I started out in the summer. However, with short days and
working, I don't find time for AM and PM rides. I have a 40-mile commute to
work, but I'm not even considering riding that.
But I'd love get more rides in during the week, though.

::
:: For me (and I'm not dissing your plan in any way!) being out of the
:: saddle for 5 days followed by 100 mile rides on the weekend would
:: just be the end of my fitness. IOW, I'd spend all week (I think)
:: hurting from the 100 miler, and due to the lack of frequent
:: stimulation, I'd probably be down in the dumps.

Well, it won't be the END of your fitness, but you likely won't improve. The
general rule is 4 or more times for improving. I'm talking twice (sat and
sun) to maintain. My quads will be sore for days afterwards, but I liken it
to doing a 3X per week split routine in the gym. I'm sure you've done that
before. Bomb the hell out of chest, shoulders, and tris on Monday, do back,
biceps, abs on Wednesday, and lower body on Friday. Or some other
variation.

::
:: Now I know you workout at the gym, too, so pardon my idealizing your
:: 'on weekends' concept - I'm not at all trying to put ya on the
:: defensive or anything of the sort. Just offering a counterpoint and
:: maybe a topic of discussion.

Don't worry, Badge. I don't offend easily.

::
:: Good luck, buddy.

BTW, I replied to an e-mail you sent me a couple of weeks ago. Did you get
it? I'm asking because I don't want you to think I was ignoring you.