11/20/04 1:15 PM

just some weekend fun. ---antney

Around here (in Colorado) the off-season or winter time would be October through February. --amr

Last edited by daforumadm!n on 11/20/04 2:31 PM; edited 2 times in total

11/20/04 1:30 PM

I ride all year. Mountain bike mostly from mid November to the end of January. No computer on my mountain bike so I have no idea how many km I do.

11/20/04 2:12 PM

Once I'm back on the bike, I'll ride a minimum of 16*5 = 80 miles per week.

11/20/04 2:37 PM

Herself and I just came in from our Saturday "Ride Behind Her and Keep Your Mouth Shut" ride. We cut the time from 3 hours to 1.5 due to obligations later this afternoon...and she was bummed by it. Good news...

Easy ride. Mid 40's; semi-cloudy and no wind. I've fendered her Bianchi, and she's planning to use it as her winter/cruddy roads bike.

We're off to visit the inlaws in Rochester on Tuesday. When I asked Der Spouse if she wanted to bring her bike, she commented: "Every outside ride is a day off the spinner". Hmmmmm...Looks like she'll be riding most/all of the winter. Another convert...

I'll cut back from about 100+/- per week to about 60-75, depending upon road conditions. I gave the studded tires away...no more of that for me. So, if it's above 15 degrees, and the roads are ice/snow freeish, I'm out there...


PH

OT: Andy,
How goes the recovery?

11/20/04 2:43 PM

before 01JAN...zero miles, but i'll do some running and spend time pushing some iron and doing laps in the pool.
after 01JAN...my training program starts building up saddle time logging base miles w/ 4X/week rides. my 1st ride of 2005 will be all of 20 minutes or so. phew...i'm getting tired just thinking about it!

11/20/04 3:15 PM

Pete:

Coming along, but check out my posting under the trainer thread for details...

11/20/04 3:21 PM

I'll ride outside every day it's above 20° F and the roads are snow/ice free. That could be practically every day or almost never depending on the winter we have. It usually averages about half of the winter season days.

Pete's wife has it exactly right; every day outside is a day off the trainer.

11/20/04 3:23 PM

...there's less wind, hence less wind chill factor...

When living in California, "winter" is a joke, at least for me anyway. I actually ride more in the cooler "winter" than in the hot summer.

In New York, I trade my road bike for my mtn bike in the winter. Milage drops dramatically, not so much the time spend on the bike. (well, perhaps I should say "time spend WITH the bike" since some of those time I wasn't exactly "on" the bike, but rather walking it up the hill, or picking it up after a minor crash plus walking it backwards to re-do the obstacle.) Still, due to the significantly lower speed on trail vs on road, mtn biking doesn't have as impressive in terms of milage as road biking.

Once it starts snowing, though, milage or hours spend with the bike goes to zero. Riding that white fluffy stuff wins ANY TIME!

Last edited by April on 11/20/04 4:17 PM; edited 1 time in total

11/20/04 3:43 PM

Winter I much prefer to xc ski, ice skate or snowshoe. For indoors, I have a weight machine and elliptical in my office, both of which I prefer to riding indoors. However I'll ride my RevMaster some (exercise not training) and take some rides on iced dirt roads on my cross bike with studded Hakkas. If I ride much, it means the winter sucks (no snow, lousy ice outdoors). Not that I don't love to ride, but other stuff is more fun for me in winter.

Plus, being on the far side of 50 and having no cycling ambitions, I think it's valuable to work the whole body and not just the muscles that cycling works.

11/20/04 3:58 PM

Ditto what Dan said about working the other body parts. Last winter I swam a lot but did very little else, and found myself to be in better base condition and far more flexible when the spring rolled around than I had been in quite a few years.

This year, maybe add rollerblading back in (my feet can tolerate the cold in blades better than in cycling shoes), maybe add some indoor rowing too.

11/20/04 8:28 PM

I ride all year 'round, but my mileage tapers off from ~ 200 miles per week during the warmer months to less than half of that from mid-December to early March.

My general rule of thumb for winter riding is that I can comfortably do the Fahrenheit temperature in miles until it warms up to around 40 degrees, at which point I'm good for normal distances. Roughly half my winter riding is fixed gear. If it's colder than the low 20's, or extremely windy, or if precipitation is forecast, or if the roads are slick or messy I won't ride outside but will do an hour on the rollers in the garage, listening to NPR on the car radio.

11/21/04 3:17 AM

no off season in Australia. Races all year round pretty much. One thing ends and another starts right away, also with plenty of overlap.

11/21/04 5:32 AM

Temp in F = miles

Plus this time of year, the fall, I have other hobbies that take away my weekends.

11/21/04 10:11 AM

Similar to what April said about California, the same holds true for Israel, especially for my area of the country. The temperture is never an issue, and even without riding in the rain, I tend to put in more mileage in the winter than during the summer months when the heat is such a factor. Cheers!

11/21/04 12:37 PM

Like April & Marc N., I ride all year round. Before the high desert scene, with it's windy days during the "winter", it was NorCal with its drizzly days during the "winter". I use the term "winter" euphemistically as I spent a major portion of my life in upstate NY where winter is *really* winter! The only issue I have here is the temperature. In spite of what many think, it does get VERY chilly on the desert without taking into account windchill!

11/21/04 7:38 PM

Today it was 50 degrees, crisp and clear. The best days of the year for riding IMO. I just got back onto the bike after a few weeks mostly off. I'll be easing into 12-20 hour weeks, maybe 15-20K feet of vertical a week, by jan/feb in preparation for my goals in april/may/june. Then it's gravy and fun MTB rides on residual fitness for the rest of the summer.

Sure feels nice to be cruising around the hills again.

11/21/04 8:15 PM

Seems like riding 3 times a week ought to give a weekly average around 90-100. Then again, if the weather is nice, a rider might do that much in a day.

Another confusing issue for me. I think I need to go back to school.

Jim

11/22/04 12:36 PM

Off season was two weeks in late September spent backpacking in Yosemite and hiking/eating/drinking in Tahoe. Non-race season is October - January. More weight work in the gym, and maybe 12 - 17 hours/week on the bike. And I'll still suck come spring ;-)

BTW - if you like to hike or backpack and have never been to Yosemite, it is the most awesome hiking I've ever done. Better than Yellowstone, Glacier, the Grand Canyon, SW Colorado, New Zealand (I thought I'd never put anyplace above New Zealand). Except it is crowded...

11/22/04 12:59 PM

Our last 'cross races both went off this weekend here for the Sacramento series, and I'd been training for our 9-race series since May, doing a couple hundred miles/week.

Now I'll likely cut it to about 120 total miles per week, about half of that commuting, erranding and woods riding in the canyons behind Auburn.

That's my "comfort level" for riding, with one 60-mile hilly training ride thrown in per week, made effortless by the ingestion of 12oz coffee (w/honey) after my 20-mile warm-up ride to the start.

11/22/04 1:15 PM

12.5 mile round trip X 5 days = >60 miles/wk, plus occasional weekend rides. Here in snowy New England I'll miss some days because of road conditions, but hopefully not too many.

11/22/04 1:36 PM

quote:

---

if you like to hike or backpack and have never been to Yosemite, it is the most awesome hiking I've ever done. Better than Yellowstone,

---

11/22/04 1:54 PM

Here in Central Florida the off season is limited (by my standards) to about 3-6 days where the temps dip below 40 degrees F. That leaves the rest of the winter to keep up the mileage. I know I could ride in colder weather but I never acquired the necessary clothing to do it - no real need to.

Therefore most weeks I will do at least 100 miles. According to some training theories, I am at a disadvantage since tapering down and cross training is supposedly beneficial to one's progress. Since I don't race, that is not really a concern of mine though. I have to continue to ride all winter to support my eating (without weight gain) habit.

11/22/04 2:39 PM

Hours roll back from 8-10+ to 4-6+

Weekday jaunts limited to afternoon dashes of 1.25 to 1.75 hrs as evening rides go away. Miles drop even more as wet &/or cold turn me toward the woods where a 2.5 hour ride will only get me a 15 or 20 mi credit!

11/28/04 7:31 PM

During daylight saving time, I am able to get some workweek rides in after work. But once standard time returns, it is almost dark when I get home. Not being a big fan of night riding, the start and finish of daylight saving time defines my "off-season". During daylight saving time I average about 50-75 miles a week, but during standard time I average about 25-40 miles a week. -Spoke

11/28/04 11:47 PM

Try the Marble Mountains and some areas deep in the Trinity Alps. There is some incredible stuff that just doesn't see any traffic.

Re. the Redwoods, I could tell you about a 3,000 foot singletrack descent through old-growth, but then I'd have to kill you. Plus, you might get caught and try and stick me with the ticket...

On a more serious note Re. the redwood country, the most primeviel Redwood forest I'm aware of is Jedediah Smith redwoods, near Crescent City. It's more lush and rainforesty than the stuff further south. 300 foot trees, too. Also, up in that area (just south of the mouth of the Klamath), there are places you can hike in a couple of miles through old-growth and pop out on the beach with noone within five miles. Bring a sweetie, a bottle of wine and a sleeping bag and you're in business.