…. by braving the cold only to find the trails aren’t in fact frozen and are still 6 inches of mud.

But I’m going to be, aren’t I….*

*considers not bothering today

#5.

Lol. Ice on the roads, freezing muddy slush on the trails, or biscuits and coffee indoors…

All riding’s good.

Sunday’s ride was a mudfest but a real scream – think of it as preparation for SITS/Mayhem etc 🙂

All ridings good

I used to believe that nonsense as well, but then I realised that it’s not. And sometimes there are better things to do.

I used to believe that nonsense as well

I grew up in Norfolk on the edge of the Fens, I never believed it.

+1. Sometimes rather than just beasting yourself after a hard week at work there are other hobbies/activities that you can do. If you insist on JUST riding all year round then you aren’t listening to your body or common sense.

All riding is good, its the cleaning up afterwards that is less pleasant. Esp after a night ride.

My body is fine.

Limited time too as I have work con-calls from 12:30 so its now or never, but it is winter so no need to stress myself until summer comes (ahem).

still 6 inches of mud

and the rest ! ’til May by the looks of it round there Stan!
Depressing.

The older I get the more of a fair weather rider I’m becoming – which means I barely rode at all in 2012!

As this is the view from the Cat and Fiddle Webcam right now:

I think discretion might be the better part of valour tonight and it’ll be a pootle around the fire-roads of Macc Forest rather than a slither and slide down Charity Lane…

The older I get the more of a fair weather rider I’m becoming – which means I barely rode at all in 2012!

The thing is riding into a minus headwind on a Sat morning for 3hours with a average descent performance to normal as you’re knackered just isn’t funny. You can kinda loose alittle bit of love for the bike bit by bit. (Why some people give up as they get older).

Ride sensible. Then enjoy the rides you do do. As you’ll cherish them.

i agree, its the cleaning that annoys me most.
so after sundays ride, i rolled the bike into the shed, when i roll it out again, all the mud will be dry and will brush off easily enough

crunching and sploshing through hub deep mud for miles on end, is not fun tho, so route choice is critical at the minute.

In this weather I just mix it up – once a week ride with the club as the social aspect makes it fun, then hiking / running in the hills for my outdoors / fresh air fix combined with a evening session on the turbo to keep up my cycling fitness.

My main thought when its icy isn’t so much getting cold etc, it’s the increased risk of crashing and knowing how frustrated I’d be to have to spend weeks off the bike recovering from injury.

senor j – Member

still 6 inches of mud

and the rest ! ’til May by the looks of it round there Stan!
Depressing.

Indeed – last week was 6″ of water on top of the normal 6″ of mud. Good Christmas Senor J?

For the record, I’ve decided to ride once in the week on Thursday only (probably road), and bin today. No point trying around manic stylee pre-work when the conditions dictate caution / plodding. Better 20 miles of Z2 later than broken bones today. 😳

Good Christmas Senor J?

Yes ta…..I’m going to avoid Epping til the great drought…… 😯
Back lanes/cx and maybe a trip to Surrey beckon.
We’ll have to hook up soon. Do you know Woburn?

Back lanes/cx and maybe a trip to Surrey beckon.
We’ll have to hook up soon. Do you know Woburn?

Nope I’ve never done, happy to explore and Surrey’s also good – I can get a couple of other’s out if you want to do a group ride in Surrey.

I’m mostly oin the road bike to, well, between ice ages….

Depends where you currently are with your desire to ride.

If you’re a bit lacking in desire there’s no point heading out in conditions where it’s going to put you off even more.

If you’re in the right mindset then all riding is good fun. Fortunately I’m in that mode now and the bike gets a good clean before it goes in the back of the van and before I get clean and dry.

When in the first mood I find that heading out will either break the mood and I’ll have a fantastic ride or I’ll have a terrible day, unable to pick right lines, unable to pick up the flow and worst of all taking no enjoyment from it. If the later happens I can put myself off for weeks so find it really isn’t worth the risk of hating riding.

The Hils are a mess right now & Woburn’s not great – happily sort something out whenever you feel like it though.

I used to believe that nonsense as well, but then I realised that it’s not. And sometimes there are better things to do.

It might be nonsense in your world but if a) I want to ride & b) I have the opportunity to ride, why wouldn’t I ride? Riding in conditions that aren’t ideal is good in different ways – bike handling, more effort, concentration levels etc. it’s always better than sitting behind a keyboard wasting time…

Today 🙂

Today 15 Jan 2012 by SGMTB, on Flickr

footflaps – Member
The older I get the more of a fair weather rider I’m becoming – which means I barely rode at all in 2012!

That’s me, that is! 🙁

Sue_W – Member

In this weather I just mix it up – once a week ride with the club as the social aspect makes it fun, then hiking / running in the hills for my outdoors / fresh air fix combined with a evening session on the turbo to keep up my cycling fitness.

My main thought when its icy isn’t so much getting cold etc, it’s the increased risk of crashing and knowing how frustrated I’d be to have to spend weeks off the bike recovering from injury.

I understand what you mean about the ice and falling off 🙁

I had been looking forward to going out this evening (first night ride of 2013), but when I got home it was -2C and there is a lot of ice everywhere as we have had a lot of light snow showers today, which have thawed slightly and then frozen.

A night ride, yes, an icy ride during the day, okay(ish), but an icy night ride = no thanks!

What would the pro’s do?

Road
Ride in better climate
..

Cross train

Turbo Trainer

Woburn …happily sort something out whenever you feel like it though.

🙂

After 3 weeks off work I’m back commuting this week and I’ve opted for the road for the first 2 days back but 2 days is about my limit so it’ll be back to the usual mudfest off road route tomorrow.

TBH, there quite a few bits of Woburn that are riding nicely now! Don’t believe me? Well, come back in summer (if we get one) and try riding up a steep slope covered in 6″ deep dry soft sand for a couple of hundred yards…………. 😉

Lol @ Teasel.

Nice b………

Ramsey Neil – Member
Turbo Trainer

I got rid of one as I got bored on it, but as I’m registered for 5 events already and have discovered the joy of riding on par on the road bike I’m seriously reconsidering. The whole wheel/cassette/tyre puts me off but once I’ve bought one…..

I’ll be out on the SS on Thursday, to see if the forest trails are frozen yet.

You need an old “hack bike” that you can use purely to turbo train on .

Not sure Mrs k will allow a 5th bike….

What would the pro’s do?

Pros fly abroad for 4 months training somewhere nice and warm eg South Africa…

Woburn’s not great – happily sort something out whenever you feel like it though

– Nobby – longshot – how about friday afternoon??
I went on my own before crimbo but didn’t have enough time for a proper explore…

Kryton- will send you a text….will see when the missus gives me a pass for Surrey, I have been good so maybe this weekend…
I have a lovely(imo) xc route from Westhumble area.

Can’t do Friday.

Would need to get Bullet out for his local knowledge too – Teasel’s post above relates to the last time I led a few around there…..

Hora – you’re not allowed to comment on threads like this as everyone knows you won’t leave the house if there’s any chance of even light drizzle. You massive lord!!! 😛

It’s not dry frozen trails weather, at least not here.

You need it to be dry and cold. It’s been snowing and cold, which means it’ll be a mess.

Used to ride twice a week no matter what the weather, but due to most of my rides being solo these days i find it harder to gain motivation..

I gave up winter riding in Nov 11 due to being plain sick of the mudfest of my local trails.
I vowed to not go out on the bike again until we had at least three dry consecutive days.. that took until mid march 2012..
Usually after a period of slacking i fall in love with biking all over again but if im honest i really didnt feel it at all last year and got more into ice hockey and skating to get my fitness fix.
Hopefully this year will be better weather and give me the bug again.

First ride on hard ground in ages last night. Bit of snow and ice but mainly frozen mud. Grip fast and straight into the pub to sit by the fire at the end.

Best ride in ages.

Teasel’s post above relates to the last time I led a few around there…..

That was real? I thought it was just a freakish nightmare ;-/