• This topic has 23 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by rjj.
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  • Am I a summer rider only?
  • rjj
    Free Member

    Hi,

    Back story – I broke my hip just after Xmas last year after falling on some ice on my road bike and spent some time in hospital and off work for two months. I got back on the road again in April time and slowly built my confidence back up and was doing 40 mile road rides during the summer – really got back in to it. However over the last couple of weeks as the weather has begun to turn (albeit slowly) I seemed to have lost confidence and motivation to go out. I get up in the morning and it just always seems a little too damp or windy and the kids are up. I have a turbo trainer and usually do two or three sessions a week on that so hopefully maintaining some fitness.

    I think that it is a combination of A)Fear of falling again in autumnal conditions B) Guilt that if I fall when the weather is not ideal then I am going to make life difficult for my family again.

    Any suggestions of how to overcome this or should I just accept that I will only ride my bike when it is warm and sunny.

    I should add that I do have an MTB but it takes about 40 minutes in the car to get anywhere decent to ride and TBH would rather do a turbo session than take it on the road pl

    Thanks for reading,

    Richard

    cloudnine
    Free Member

    Grippier tyres, mud guards, don’t fall off and toughen up princess.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Pick a nice MTB destination and meet up with some mates there for a ride before conditions get worse.

    Say the Surrey Hills, FoD, Chilterns or wherever you fancy. Make a day of it. Or find a social group of riders to meet up with for local night rides.

    Turbos and road riding in the winter will kill any fun you have left. Find the fun first.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Lately the thought of my drivetrain being ground to death is putting me off riding in the mud. But only because I have road as an alternative.

    Lawmanmx
    Free Member

    you said it yourself (Road bike) so just stick to the Mtb for the winter.
    I only ever ride my roadie in warmer dry weather for the same reason

    Trimix
    Free Member

    You can ride a MTB in the winter and not get it muddy. Lots of trail centres are mud proof and venues like Woburn don’t get muddy.

    Also, mud wont grind your drivechain to death, gritty mud might, but Chilterns mud is soft.

    I’ve worn out a set of pads in the summer in Surrey just because it had rained and the puddles were full of fine sandpaper grit.

    So winter does not have to be the end of riding. Just pick a spot / bunch of mates and the right day and your still able to have fun.

    Of course, if you cant do that, you are a summer rider and that’s fine.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    You can ride a MTB in the winter and not get it muddy. Lots of trail centres are mud proof and venues like Woburn don’t get muddy.

    If you live near one or don’t mind driving a few hours, but that’s not how everyone arranges their rides. Plus where I live the mud is most certainly gritty 🙂

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Where are you based then ?

    Could be an excuse for a fully ridged singlespeed just for the winter.

    tomd
    Free Member

    There’s no rule that says you have to ride all year. Why not try something new over the winter? You might find you’re fitter and more keen come the spring.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I’m in South Wales, with its Sandstone. It’s not too bad really, nothing like the slime fest you get in some parts of the country, but I certainly MTB less in the winter purely from a cost point of view. But I don’t mind that much as I don’t mind the road.

    I just don’t do social rides with mates any more 🙂

    binners
    Full Member

    I find I go through a sort of transitional period around this time of year. Especially after a decent summer of dry dusty trails. I mourn the sunny evening rides, and can’t quite get my arse into gear to go out and the cold and the wet. Once I do though, then thats me for the winter.

    Until last night I hadn’t ridden for 3 weeks. I’d come up with a variety of excuses, none of which were ‘I’m a massive shandy, and I’m going to go to the pub, or bang the heating on and sit watching the tellybox instead, due to being such a big Susan!’

    I got around to MTFU and went out last night. The moors were a slithering tractionless bog. The damp rocky descents were sketchy as anything. My bike was coated in drive-chain-destroying gunk within a mile. So was I! It was absolutely bloody brilliant!!!! 😀

    Just get out there! You’ll love it! Theres nothing like getting back to a nice cozy pub for a post ride pint after a winter night ride

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Oddly, Im more of a winter rider.

    I hardly rode for the past 9months, but once the nights start drawing in I start making an hour night ride part of my evening routine and I get out 3, 4 or maybe 5 times a week now. I like to think that in some hairshirt kind of way, skitting about on a rigid SS over wet leaves and slime makes me a better bike handler than if I spent all summer on perfect trails with suspension at each end. But that’s probably bollox 🙂

    Trimix
    Free Member

    I’m with you on the transition bit Binners.

    I normally come back from an overseas holiday just as the summer ends and get all depressed about the lack of light and impending doom of mud/rain/cold/shite/darkness.

    But having done a few night rides recently in the fallen leaves I’m loving the change now.

    Seems to take a while and your there. But it also takes a little preparation, proper kit, good facilities to wash and lube the bike, seat cover for the drive home etc. all help. Plus a bunch of mates to ride with – not sure if Id enjoy it as much on my own.

    hooli
    Full Member

    For me it varies, right now I am really enjoying the MTB because the trails are quite dry and a lot of the undergrowth has died back. When it gets really sloppy, I will give the road bike more use. When it is really, really nasty, I will use the turbo.

    I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it, just enjoy it.

    cbmotorsport
    Free Member

    I should add that I do have an MTB but it takes about 40 minutes in the car to get anywhere decent to ride and TBH would rather do a turbo session than take it on the road

    Do you night ride? Even mundane local bridleways take on a new dimension when it’s dark and you’ve got your lights on.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I went out last week and, while there was plenty of mud, it was also raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock, so my bike was as clean as a butler’s ringpiece when I got home!

    binners
    Full Member

    Can I just applaud your wonderfully illustrative use of the English language there great ape? 😀

    freeagent
    Free Member

    +1 Great Ape – love it.

    rjj
    Free Member

    thanks for replies – will look at getting MTB out and seeing how that feels on the road. Gonna pop some 25s on the road bike and see if that makes a difference as well. I think that it is more a case of mind over matter – the fear of falling again. Might try and convince the wife to let me a get a CX bike as well! But in the end I might just have to find something else to do on Sunday mornings over winter

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I studied hard in English lessons….

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    I ride more in winter than I do in summer, always have done. If it’s nice weather, I like to get out with the family too, but in the shitty weather I can ride as I please whilst my brood are couped up with the onesies on and fire lit. 😀

    Lawmanmx
    Free Member

    thegreatape:

    best post of the week 😆

    fr0sty125
    Free Member

    40 minutes isn’t that far to go for a ride

    rjj
    Free Member

    It is when you only want to be out for three hours. Reason I took up the road in the first place was that I was spending too much time getting to and from the woods.

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