I’ve been battling through the winter mud and grime over the whole winter so far but TBH am finding it hard to maintain my motivation for wet, dark, muddy night rides or turbo sessions.

The lack of speed, Grrr, and general excitement is hard to find right now. I live on the South Coast, so pretty flat, damp and generally mucky…..so my question is

What can I do to liven up my riding between now and when the trails start to dry out a bit?

It needs to be bike related and a couple of specific criteria that need to be factored in are that I would like to make sure it’s aerobically good and adds to my winter fitness, and that it builds or adds to my current skill levels on a bike.

Any ideas much appreciated….

Get a BMX? I just got an old shagged out one to fix up with the intention of dicking about on it incompetently on days when I can’t be bothered getting muddy. Might even make me a better rider, which’d be nice but I’m not that bothered as long as it’s fun.

Get a road bike?

Got a road bike, but a bashed up mental state as had a couple of big accidents with cars in the last few years and decided to give up my road riding and racing as a result – only non-traffic venues for me I’m afraid

Mmmmmm……BMX, there’s a thought

how close to calshot?

+1 Road Bike.
Great for base fitness which will make the dry summer trails even more enjoyable. 😀

Road bike is great for fitness but not I feel for livening up riding.

So….no road riding

What else?

Just do some skills stuff. Practice wheelies, manuals, hops, whatever. Find your local dirt jump spot. Find an indoor BMX track. Accept that “having a ride” in winter can be a bit of a drag, so just “mess about” instead. Come summer you’ll the sickest rider on the south coast. I get loads more out of “XC” and “trail” rides since practicing some basic skills

How about a road bike the wrong way down a motorway?

That should get the pulse racing and improve your reactions.

bmx or herts shore 😉

Singlespeed and work out what trails will be dry and when

For example, riding single speed forces me to ride quicker on my own, and the lack fo skipping gears makes me faster on technical stuff as I’m more inclinded to get in a half pedal stroke between corners rather than just swapping feet over. It also makes bike maintenance a none issue over the winter.

As for dry trails, I know Swinley will always be OK if not perfectly dry, and dries out in only a couple of days. The chilterns on the other hand require a good dry week, or the mercury to drop below zero for a few dys to make the ground as hard as concret.

When neither’s an option I go on the road bike.

And commuting 3 weeks a month helps a lot with fitness, and just riding for fun on the 4th week makes it feel like both a rest, and re-charges my motivation to get off road.

Despit the crap conditions with a bit of planning I’ve had the best winter in years! Feels like I’ve barely missed summer, and with more riding I’ve appreciated the seasons more, the last few years its been like Summer + those horrible 3/4 of the year I couldn’t ride, with some good kit choices (warm clothes and SS) my ridings been almost as fun as the summer!

i second the road bike thang….

i get out for 50 miles or so each day… and ok the country roads can be a bit mucky but its far easier and quicker than a full off road clean up 😆

and with a good set of lights its never dark !!!

30 minutes runs (but buy some decent running shoes)

roadbike. I’ve been off the bike for a month or so and generally lethargic and peed off after a virus. got on roadbike this morn, out the door, not a lot in my legs TBH and a CBA attitude. came back 40miles later grinning and up for a weekend of riding. It takes one good ride to get back into it I think. slogging through shite isn’t the way!

edit: oops, didn’t see above post