It’s January and I’m super motivated with my training and keen to get out on my bike for some decent endurance rides. Especially as the roads are a bit quieter due to the covid restrictions and my work situation is also quieter.
I’ve got a long 3-4hrs ride in my plan but the weather is terrible. It’s either been below zero with a lot of ice and a heavy frost or foggy. I don’t mind a little bit of cold but I won’t risk the ice. The thought of spinning easy for hours on my turbo brings me out in a cold sweat. But the training has to get done so here are some suggestions of what you could do instead.
- Suck it up and get on the turbo for the same amount of time as your outdoor ride. It’s good mental toughness.
- Get your mountain bike out and go off road
- Split it up on the turbo. Do 90min in the morning and 90min in the evening.
- Split it up outside. Do 90min outside (or whatever is safe and you can manage) and 90min inside
- Have a bad weather route planned in advance. I know my roads and lanes pretty well so there are some sections that will have ice even if my own street is fine. So I have some routes planned on bigger roads for when the weather is dodgy.
- Do 3 hrs of exercise made up of different things. Eg a 2hr ride and a 1hr run. Or a 2hr ride, 30min run and 30min of circuits. It’s not quite the same but at least you’ll be working hard for 3hrs and won’t feel like you’ve mentally quit.
If you have any other suggestions or strategies get in touch to let me know. Watch this space for tips on how to make a long turbo session effective.