- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
forum
Freezing outside, motivation waning.
It was freezing outside this morning and suddenly my yearly distance target seems not as important as before. I am currently on 8645km for the year and need 700km to beat last year. The magical 10KK never seems to happen. Either I break a rib or my bike is out of action for weeks. It probably doesn't sound that far to some of you but I have to go to work and all the other things... I need to do the work in the summer and get close enough that I don't wimp out in December.
Also I was in a very expensive bike shop trying on a very expensive bike jacket, the kind that drys when you shake it. And it was lovely just sooo expensive, like most-peoples-bikes-cost expensive. The guy said his friend has one and is up in the Peaks and swears by it. I said I wasn't much of a climber and that it was worth thinking about. I just imagine buying such a thing and then only having the motivaion to head out in the conditions it is meant for once a year.
What gets you out on the road at this time of year?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
Latest Forum Topics
Latest Comments
- hawkinspeter 1 hour 5 min ago
Looks to me like they crashed into a "give way" sign
- jamesha100 1 hour 50 min ago
This is so sad but also so sadly familiar. I am not sure whether more punitive sentences - e.g. life driving bans - would make any difference but...
- chrisonabike 2 hours 9 min ago
Probably. But ... applied / enforced by whom? (See Private Eye's "Rotten Boroughs" page for evidence of how well that might work).
- Miller 2 hours 35 min ago
Because the reframing work in post is a right pain in the neck, the reframed quality doesn't match normal action cams, because the cameras are...
- Simon E 2 hours 40 min ago
The whole basis of drivers v cyclists conveniently forgetting that the majority of cyclists also drive a car....
- staticV3 2 hours 44 min ago
Someone please explain to me. My Rockbros Q5 has:...
- David9694 3 hours 17 min ago
"This will kill tourism" fury as Devon price hikes confirmed...
- dubwise 3 hours 27 min ago
Didn't realise vehicles had eyes.
Add new comment
35 comments
1. My commute - no respecter of a delicate constitution.
2. One of those shaky coats - the only one that I can really wear without turning into a complete sweaty mess (just a partial one - I overheat if no breeze at all gets to my arms.
3. A tiny gilet - see above.
4. But for most averagely drizzly, cold conditions (i.e not bouncing off the pavements) Stolen Goat Orkaan - puts Castelli Gabba/Perfetto and Sportful no rain in their place (at the bottom of the clothing pile). I was out in the rain last week wearing a Stolen Goat Orkaan jersey, a non-waterproof gilet and Sportful No Rain armwarmers- dry and warm upper half, soaking arms.
5. Neoprene overshoes and de feet woolie boolie socks. If it's raining hard, waterproof socks (Sealskinz or Altura) with a few wraps of masking tape around the top to stop them filling with water from the top (I'm not hard enough for gaffer tape).
6. Neoprene gloves for rain. Decathlon triban 900 for cold.
7. It's never as bad as you think once you're going, so long as you're warm and wet
It's slightly warmer in the afternoon, have a lie in, go out a little later.
Having the right gear so that I'm warm enough without overheating, and dry enough when it rains. That also makes the commutes much more tolerable.
1. Ditto. Commute. Either I bike or I have to rely on iffy and slow public transport. Simply the commute nets me a bit over 6 k km/year.
2. I have a couple of biggish cycling events coming up in 2020 that I absolutely want to pull off (one of them is 3 climbs of Ventoux in a single day) and it's either get out and train hard or die in a ditch for sure. I'm not dying in a ditch.
But I admit that low temperatures, wind, rain...don't help. I use peer pressure and go riding with a couple of mates every weekend, whatever the weather. Nobody wants to wimp out so I do stuff that I probably wouldn't if I were alone.
What gets me out on the bike at this time of year?
1. Necessity, i.e. the commute.
2. Having a target. Like you, my target recently has been the magic 10k and I should reach it sometime this week; I suspect my motivation will drop off rapidly after that. For you I think 10k is unlikely to be reachable this year (unfortunately real life can get in the way of cycling), but why not try to beat last year's distance? 700k should be quite possible this month, particularly if you do the festive 500.
3. Setting myself a major event to do next year and starting to train for it. Though in my case this only starts working in January.
If all those fail, there's nothing wrong with putting your feet up for a bit. After a while you will start missing riding and want to get out again.
Pages