The last few weeks – after really struggling with commuting up to Christmas, when I finished my job (and I’ll be walking to my new one) I’ve really struggled to build any enthusiasm for riding. It’s wet and miserable outside, my bike’s making a horrible noise, I’m skint for petrol money… I’ve got excuses coming out of my ears.

And do you know what? I’m actually fine with that. Usually when I get riding lethargy I get really annoyed with myself, but actually I’m enjoying having a break, getting a bit fat and catching up with some books and the Xbox. I’ve nothing to train for next year (though I do have some adventures planned) so nothing really to worry about.

There was no real point to this post, just felt like I needed to share.

I’m the same. The weather has been that miserable – it seems to be constantly lashing down – and the moors are so Somme-esque I just can’t be bothered. The only thing that got me motivated was when it snowed the other week, cos riding in snow is ace! Riding in axle deep mud, not so much

I’ve just been going out walking instead. That way you’ve a set of boots to clean when you get home, not absolutely caked riding gear, and a bike you can no longer tell the colour of.

And you don’t have to worry about keeping one eye on your bike outside when you get to the pub 😀

We’re off up to the lakes for a few days, tomorrow. Having seen the weather forecast (high winds and horizontal rain), no bikes will be accompanying us. The walking boots most definitely will be!

Eventually it stops raining and there is some good weather. Both Saturday and Sunday morning were sunny round here. The problem is it takes quite a few days of good weather for the mud and slop to harden. This is why I like a road bike in my quiver; roads don’t get muddy. I’ve had some fantastic sunny rides on dry roads in between rain and snow showers.

There was no real point to this post, just felt like I needed to share.

That’s nice.

Enjoy what you do!
Winter time, behind the oven reading a good book: not stupid at all.

new enthusiasm (if desired), later the year: sometimes helpful to try a totally different new bike….
😯

Same here, the bikes are cleaned and prepped ready to go, but i haven’t mustered up the inclination to ride them over the holidays.

Walking with the hound has been getting me out and about, looking for new trail options. Found some different routes around home, so the next few weeks will be popping out to ‘walk the dog’ with the secateurs, mini saw and a small shovel to clear some trails for when the mood hits.

Nowt wrong with it OP, i do it every year and it keeps things fresh, not the same old same old.

Stilltortoise ..roads don’t get muddy ?
Try living around here mate ..

Have been feeling similar recently, even bought a spanking new bike on Xmas Eve and haven’t ridden it once yet (!).

Not sure if others agree, but as I’ve hit middle age I’ve found that I feel the cold a whole lot more than I used to. I used to love heading out for night rides but this winter anything under 10 degrees and I find an excuse not to head out..

The persistent rain and boggy slippery surfaces have been the worst culprit this winter though

roads don’t get muddy

My broken bone was due to riding on muddy roads

roads don’t get muddy

Err…

[/url]Cotswold roads. by martinddd, on Flickr[/img]

yea, they do!

I’ve quite peeved because I thought it would be unwise to ride indoors or out since Saturday, having somehow caught a stomach bug, which has kept me off work.

Not the start to 2018 I had planned! 👿

It’s not even properly cold and snowy, it’s just wet and miserable. I can’t find anyone who wants to go out and ride at the moment – it’s just unpleasant 🙁

It’s totally understandable and just the nature of riding in the UK through the winter, the constant battle to clean and dry gear that’s caked in wet mud and maintain the bike…it’s not that I mind getting cold & dirty, its the clean up that’s soul destroying. 😥

I think I managed a total of 4 rides in December, the weather was either icy or pissing it down…..I’m just try to keep the legs turning, even just a little so when things hopefully get a little better i’ll still have some fitness,.

Had flu, cold and acute back pain toward the end of 2017 – it’s knocked the wind out of my sails a bit and I’ve gone from mad keen riding at every opportunity to just a couple of times a week.

Not sure if I’m bothered about it or not, still enjoying my riding and compared to a year or so ago I actually embrace the slop and enjoy getting a bit loose now. Just not feeling so “must ride bike all the time”.

Nice to hear that i’m not the only one. I seemed to have gained motivation to ride in the slop now (surprisingly fun) and cleaning kit and bike is just normal now. I’d say not ride until you eager to and the positives out way the negative.

In a nutshell just lower your expectations.

Got to agree with slimjim. Now i’m old and feeling increasingly decrepit, the knee injuries I sustained playing rugby and chucking motorbikes down the road when I was young and stupid, don’t half give me grief now i’m old and stupid once the temperature drops.

It’s a case now of ‘choose your battles’

Going for a doss around in the snow? Brilliant!!!

Slogging through axle deep filth in cold, driving rain? I think i’ll Leave it

No choice for me with commuting. And If I’m doing it for work then I may as well do it for fun. 3rd chain on this cassette is just approaching .75 wear so nothing will be replaced for a while and I’ll replace the drive train in the better weather.
I don’t clean the bike too much.

I still love riding the bike though, I have started a few rides feeling grumpy but it seldom lasts once it gets going. I do choose routes with care though.

This is why I like a road bike in my quiver

GET OUT

just at the end of a 6 week layoff after surgery.
i would give my right leg to be out on the mtb at present.

get out on your bike and stop the mithering……..because one day you will not be able.

I rode 1200 miles a month.Raced NPS xc,full regional xc series,full regional cx series, a few enduros and plenty of E1,2,3 road races.
I’ve probably ridden 500 miles in the intervening 3 years.
I might start riding again….then again I might not.

I think I’ve been out not more than a handful of times in December, I’m pretty sure I spent longer cleaning the bike than riding it on Sunday!

it’s the time of year, I’m planning an away trip to muster some enthusiasm to ride!

get out on your bike and stop the mithering……..because one day you will not be able.

This is what I always say to myself. What stops me nipping out for a quick ride is (as dumbot says) the cleanup which can take longer than I was out for.

Glad I don’t have to commute on a bike in this weather, enjoy the time off OP.

Buy a cheap 2nd hand bike and rediscover your love of winter riding. That and take up trail running so you only have to wash said fatbike once a week.

Or just hose the bugger off while the muds wet and re oil it, let’s face it you only paid £500 for it..

Enjoying the break here too. Not ridden since before Christmas. Might go for blast tomorrow. Toying with the idea of turbo training again.

Age is partly to blame. As is getting used to staying in. Just need to get out on my bike. CX SS might be the answer for me I think.

I think I managed a total of 4 rides in December

That’s a good month for me! 😯

GET OUT

I thought you’d like that 🙂

ton – Member
…get out on your bike and stop the mithering……..because one day you will not be able.

Well said.

At my age very few of my contemporaries can even ride a bike any distance let alone consider a mtb. Use it or lose it is very true.

And any pains you have now are only going to get worse, so you may as well put up with them when they’re not worse. 🙂

An antidote to bad weather is a pair of running shoes.

I’ve been running in slush, sleet, snow and slippery ice. Once you’re moving it’s quite refreshing and much less risk of injury.

I used to pretty much not ride in winter at all; then I bought a £160 rigid singlespeed with horrible Hayes disc brakes and a pair of CrudCatchers permanently attached.

Result: I ride in the winter, it gets no money spent on it and no maintenance other than a hose and some GT85 thrown at the chain if I remember. Means the good bike stays good and I find it easier to motivate myself to go out when I know I only have 5 minutes of cleanup afterwards.

Oh I don’t mind a bit of slop, but our local mud is that horrific clay that clarts up your wheels so much that you have to keep stopping to clean them with a stick so they’ll go round in the frame which I really can’t be arsed with. Which means it’s an hour and a half drive to anywhere fun, which is a pain when there’s only me playing out. I’ll likely be out somewhere with a better surface at the weekend (and I might get back into running too, though ironically that does always seem to injure me).

An antidote to bad weather is a pair of running shoes

Running is utter misery, regardless of the weather… I’d rather shoot myself in the face.

Whatever you choose to do with your time it should be fun and you should enjoy it,(running is not fun… never) and if you’re not feeling it, do summit else.

It seems the older I get it the harder it gets to get the enthusiasm to ride in winter. Didn’t seem to bother me 10+ years ago, I’ve just come back from Australia and was riding in hot sunshine, full of enthusiasm for a ride when I got back to the UK, nope it’s peeing down and seems to have been peeing down for weeks. Sitting here with the wind howling down the chimney plastic chairs blown around the garden and rain beating against the window I just want to hibernate. Back to work tomorrow and hoping to go by bike but that can be grim if the weather stays like it is – exposed coast so full force of the weather can hit you. Roll on spring!

dumbbot – Member
Running is utter misery, regardless of the weather…

Depends how you do it. I cruise along not worrying about speed, just enjoying being out in the landscape. (I don’t run in town)

Not sure whether this would be construed as rubbing your noses in it, but I’ve done tons of riding recently as we’ve had great trail conditions. It won’t last for long but I keep on telling myself to keep on riding before the rain arrives…
😉
It helps that I live on the North Shore of Vancouver, not on the edge of some godforsaken bleak windswept muddy moor…
😉

Well it is that period of winter when it feels like peak misery. I’ve come to accept that winter will always be slower with less riding, and that it takes more effort to do even the smaller rides. Also, set your riding standards lower/differently. Mileage will be lower, it’ll all be slower, and the type of enjoyment different. You’re not going to get 30 miles of blissful trails, or a nice comfortable road ride – it all takes more fortitude, and a 10 mile road ride on the mtb can feel like a triumph if you enjoy the fresh cold air and seeing some low winter sun on the hills.

It is worth plugging on, because it feels good when you have a good ride despite everything and it’s really good to enter spring with a little fitness to make the most of it. All of this is what i tell myself on a weekly basis when i’m dithering about going out!

TBH I’m actually still enjoying riding in this shitty weather, my motivation is I’m turning 50 in a few months and making the most of riding in the slop and a few races last year I rode shite in the bad weather…

Yes its a chore cleaning the bike and gear but thats how it is ! PLUS I need to ride the bike regardless as being diagnosed with PTSD I need it as a stress relief.

Struggling to get out at night new job means im not home till after 6 and the urge has past….

just gonna mtfu next week!

just gonna mtfu next week!

I’m gonna have to MTFU on Saturday & do a steady bimble with Ton!

Still commuting, which helps a lot, still enjoy it. Have moved office and am scoping out new routes. Didn’t cycle this morning as it was peeing down and cuoldn’t find my waterproof, grrr. Since found it, jumped on the tube though

The post muddy ride clean up is grim, I hate it, and it’s a faff for me to get my bike through the garage to the back of the house where the hose is, if I was doing that a lot it would definitely put me off.

These conditions are when rigid SS really becomes worthwhile, no cleaning required, just let it dry off and then pick off the mud. I have the advantage of living in a non technical non hilly (c. 600 odd ft per 10 miles) so that sort of bike is fine my way

Yep, I’ve hardly ridden since September, just not feeling it. All very well waiting for nicer weather, but I know I’ll be so unfit by then that I won’t enjoy it then either! About 7kg overweight, so need to get back on it, somehow. I’ve enjoyed the odd ride I’ve done, just need to force myself out more!

I’m debating a cheap pair of trainers and starting winter running for the same reasons, cleaning the endless slop off the bikes is a major PITA as there’s been lots of mild rain and 3+degrees weather which means the slop doesn’t freeze harden

I usually sack it off for a month or so around now. I feel better after a break

Running is the way to go this time of year

This is why I like a road bike in my quiver

GET OUT

Words or phrases that should be banned:
– Quiver
– Steed
– Weapon – when used to describe a bike
– Gnarpoon
– Body English