Fed up now. Abandoned a ride this morning due to near freezing temperatures and constant rain and am about to ride one of two zwift events in the shed.

Swooping quickly along bluebell lined dusty trails in a short sleeve shirt savouring the sunshine seems so far away…

/minor moan.

It was dusty today, it’s overrated, skipping around and drifting through turns 🙁

Aye, it’s not nice at all out there

I always find it hard to motivate myself to go out in the rain but once you get going it’s fine if wearing decent waterproofs.

I don’t wash or clean my winter hardtail so save that additional down time!

Dry trails are great but sliding around trying to correct washouts and finding the limit of tyres in the mud is equally as fun.

The Bluebells are about 2-3 inches out of the ground in my garden already I’m hoping they aren’t being too optimistic , but until spring is sprung at least it’s warm and sheltered off road in the woods especially with a nice insulating coat of kentish mud on 8O.

Riding through the winter is a bit of a chore. Being injured tho and not be able to make the choice is worse. I tend to be pretty sick of the mud by the end of Feb but you know it’s going to get better then.

If I could, I’d go riding today even tho it’s proper horrible out there. I know I’d feel so much better having got wet and muddy even after the tedious post ride clean up.

So yeah dusty trails are ace. But not being able to ride whatever the weather is properly rubbish 🙁

/minor moan+1

Funny, I was just thinking how dry it’s been recently up here in the North East of Scotland. It seems to be the pattern recently (cold but dry Januarys). Trails are rock hard and if you find one with a dusting of snow on quite grippy. Just need to watch out for the ice though 😈

Been ill for two weeks so not been out but prior to that I was turning into a roadie.

Heavy sleet here. Grrr.

While I would agree immediately when it comes to wind & rain ..as Roverpig said earlier ..a day like we had yesterday hard frozen trails , blue skies , the right kind of snow ( grippy ) ..not much beats it ..

It’s been fabulous here. Snow and low temps mean the bike and gear remains clean (once the snow has melted off it). A big thaw expected this afternoon though so the trails will be mush for a while.

FWIW, 11C overnight at Lands End, -16C in parts of the Highlands!!

The Pennines, Horrible yesterday, extremely cold wet and muddy .. 2 1/2 hours to regain feeling in my feet .
I’d be going out today (staying dry on 29er mainly road) but got home and half the wallpaper in the living room was off and more of the same today, a sofa to order, led lights to replace and hopefully a bike sale and reduction in the fleet ..

May steal an hour later, as the drop handle needs a wash

Haven’t ridden for a month as I’m turning more into a fair weather cyclist but it doesn’t look like much fun ATM. Would rather sub zero temps and frozen rather than this cold and really weather crap we’re getting. At least its Rugby season for me so the trails should be drying out by the time I’m back to full time on the bike.

Would rather sub zero temps and frozen rather than this cold

Wet cold is much worse. Up above the snow line I felt warm with light snow falling. As soon as I dropped back down into the valley it was perishing.

Not complaining though. -13 at the Puffer last night, by the looks of it.

I woke up this morning convinced that I was going to ride my bike. Opened the curtains to see the impenetrable, grey misery and went straight back to bed.

I’m sick of slogging across frozen swamps. All effort, no fun. Bring on the Alps.

I’ve been very, very lucky for the last two weeks. Last weekend the trials were *perfect* an unseasonably dry week left them with the perfect mix of tacky and fast.

Yesterday was wetter but I managed to luck a two hour window in the weather so at least I wasn’t soaked through.

Would rather sub zero temps and frozen rather than this cold
Wet cold is much worse. Up above the snow line I felt warm with light snow falling. As soon as I dropped back down into the valley it was perishing.

Exactly. I think two years ago we had nearly a month of good frozen weather down south and it was great doing say and night rides on Rosen trails and sub zero temps. Layer up and enjoy. ATM it’s maybe 3 degrees and sleeting, soaking wet and would feel horrible after 30 mins of riding. It was cold playing rugby yesterday in the same conditions Bryant I find that far more tollerable than on a bike.

A great time for the washing machine to break… 🙄

However romantic looking the snowy landscapes are in the weekend riding threads, if you are required to drive to any good riding the roads are a pothole infested, icy death traps…

The front spring has gone on the car (thanks potholes), I’m sick of having to free my car from a block of ice in the morning… can’t even walk on the pavements or you will die.

So yeah, winter you can **** off anytime.

Can’t believe no ones mentioned ‘The Wrong/Right Clothes’ yet.

just admit you’re a pussy lol

kids didn’t mind being out in the cold, wet and ice yesterday

Not bad down here in Southern Spain:-)

Can’t believe no ones mentioned ‘The Wrong/Right Clothes’ yet.

Even a nice outfit won’t change attitudes this morose..

To be fair I’ve got a tree to cut down a fence to put up today and I just can’t bring myself to get dressed to do it. For me the really dispiriting weather is the grey, slightly wet, just a little cold sort that goes on for a week. It’s like the lurgy that’s just bad enough to make you feel rough but drags on for ages. Give me two days of puking and get it over with!

Lazlowoodbine. Feel your pain my fence blew down also and I can’t be arsed to fix it until the next dry sunny day

May have to quit Strava for a while. Too many bloody Zwift activities from fair weather riders 😛

To be fair, it really is shit out there at the moment and I’ve been spending the weekend in the warm indoors. Still not going to ride a bike indoors though. Fettle bikes, yes 😀

Sorry for hijacking a trail thread with talk of bikes on tarmac, but it’s kind of related…

From late September 2017, up to and including Xmas Day morning, I was quite happy keeping my fitness ticking over by doing ~10000+ feet of hill reps each week around Copsewood/Dell/Woodmill. Usually extending my commute home to do 1000 feet, plus a few longer training sessions in MAMIL gear, with a vast majority of the sessions on the Wazoo.

In early December, I grabbed some better winter clothing kit, thinking I would continue doing this type of routine until spring.

But then I treated myself to a risky purchase of an Elite Direto just before Xmas, given its expense, my limited disposable income and my last basic turbo maybe getting 10 hours tops over its time with me until TimP on here bought it with my Tricross Singlecross.

And then on 28th December, I randomly decided to visit the South Downs cat4s, for the first time in almost a month… Loved it until I reached the plateau of Old Winchester Hill and then came so close to my first serious crash since Xmas 2013 on black ice!

Turbo training has its own negatives, like not getting outside to help alleviate SAD symptoms a little, plus learning to battle the sweat-fest and put as much effort into riding as I do outside… But that “near miss” on the 28th has overwhelmed me with negative thoughts of what if my front wheel goes from under me while I’m freewheeling down Woodmill at ~30mph, in the damp or on frost/ice.

I’ve even begrudgingly joined Zwift despite the £13pcm urine-taking price, but it’s keeping me going, ~300 miles and ~23000 feet over the last two weeks (while Dan Evans has done an insane amount of miles and climbing this week in Gran Canaria on the STW Strava leaderboad!).

Roll on 10-20C temperatures and hopefully a bit of dry weather!

Struggling to get excited at all about riding at the moment.

The choice of impenetrable clag or wet clay and chalk or an hour+ to find something that’s on sandier soil that’s vaguely interesting is not an appealing one.

It’s been mild and deluge after deluge these last few weeks. The lawn is squelching and oozing muddy water under foot. Usually I like a bit of slip and slide and some grin inducing winter slop but it’s gone past that point.

A week or so of vaguely dry and all will be good again.

I have a distant memory of commuting to work at 5:30am wearing shorts and a t shirt…..

Go for a run instead.

Much less hassle.

Decent kit can help, but really, riding in all weathers is much more about attitude than anything else. There are few conditions that don’t offer some advantages if you really think about it.

Heavy freezing rain and strong wind on a dark night ride in February is my biggest challenge. But, pick a trail with a fair bit of hardpack and a bit of slippy stuff for fun, stick a flask of tea and a change of clothes in the car then just try and hammer it as fast as you can. There is something manically wonderful about trying to hammer it while a storm rages “come on then Reaper, if you think you’re hard enough”. Back to the car, totally exhausted, then into dry clothes and you can really enjoy that cup of tea. Nothing like it !

Could be worse, you could’ve spanked a load of cash on a trip to South America to arrive in time for some unseasonably cold weather, 2 weeks of rain and grey skies with snow once you got to any altitude.

Had 2 great days of hard frost and sunny rides, trails running really fast and no need to clean bike of any mud.

mikewsmith – Member
It was dusty today, it’s overrated, skipping around and drifting through turns

Sounds like my ride this morning.. 8)

Back to work this afternoon though 🙁

I discovered the secret to winter riding unfortunately you have to buy a new bike

Managed an hour and a half. Got a bit cold, finding actually in the woods is best for keeping warm and dry.

Sleet and rain.

Beans on sourdough for lunch though.

Go for a run instead.

Much less hassle.

What, with these knees?

I’ve never ridden in snow or bad weather before, what’s it like?

Lovely and dry this morning in East Lothian. Love the sound of frozen mud being squashed by tyres.

@ Essel
Is this where you bring out that picture of your bike in the snow ( again )..
I’ve seen it at least 3 times and I’m fairly new on here .. 😆

I don’t mind riding in the rain or in muddy conditions, its makes it more fun

What i dislike is the clean up afterwards, especially as the bike has to go into the back of the car then when i get back home it has to go through the house to be washed along with me as im caked in mud

Ive now got a portable washer to get the worst of the mud off before the bike goes back in the car

@ Essel
Is this where you bring out that picture of your bike in the snow ( again )..
I’ve seen it at least 3 times and I’m fairly new on here ..

Well that’s the one that makes me look the grumpiest, but here’s one from 1994 ish dropping off the top of Great Dun Fell..

Plenty more but they need scanning cos I didn’t have a digital camera!