Feature

Fri 2 Oct, 1:00 pm UTC

Bring On The Winter

By Andy Wadsworth, What Mountain Bike

As summer draws to an end and wintery conditions take their toll on the trails, you may think that it’s the end of riding fun ’til next spring.

But think again: now’s your chance to take on new challenges, learn to enjoy winter riding and get yourself set for next spring.

To be a great mountain biker you need to be an all-rounder, so look at all aspects of your riding. One way to polish your skills and riding prowess is to look at areas of riding you dislike. If you find roots wrecking your ride or climbs causing you calamities, then those are the areas to target. The first step is to work out where your weaknesses are, and make improving these areas your goals for the winter.

Here are some suggestions of areas where your technique may need improving to get you started: you can pick the ones that apply best to you.

  • Technical singletrack
  • Uphill riding
  • Steep descents
  • Cadence and gear selection (cadence is the speed at which you spin the pedals round)
  • Upper body strength
  • Core stability
  • Motivation
  • Nutrition
  • Flexibility
  • Balance
  • Breathing technique

However, don’t just focus on mountain biking. Other disciplines and sporting activities will help to keep you it and motivated throughout the winter. A good example is cross-country running: pick a route that requires some concentration with lots of singletrack and tricky sections, so you improve your ability to read trails as you gain greater muscular stability, awareness and up your cardiovascular fitness.

Try swimming once a week. The technique of breathing while swimming – focusing on completely emptying your lungs before you take another breath – will give you greater breathing control, while the resistance of swimming will develop your upper body strength. And if you find yourself faltering, here’s a useful bit of motivation: 90% of your body’s cells will regenerate in 12 months, so you can either set yourself up to be a slob next year or turn yourself into a lean, mean mountain biking machine....

User Comments

There are 13 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 13 of 13 comments

  • Yep, sounds good. And all that time you spend washing your bike will burn a few calories too! Have to say, I find cleaning all the off-road kit in summer is bad enough - nice to have a break over the winter months!

  • We have a program of winter courses that could help you brush up on your bike handling skills. Taking a course can be a great way to where you're going wrong, or if your on the right track but just need more practice. Take a look at our website: http://www.astoundingadventures.co.uk/courses/mountain-biking/index.html

  • I say , keep going, in fact I increase my riding during the winter months.

    For one the conditions are a whole lot more challenging and rewarding , not to say...fun, plus, go out when the day is crappy, cold and wet , you'll be the only one and have all the trails you want without having to deal with all the 'fair weather' riders, the walkers and the doggies that clog up all the easier, sanitized and overcrowded summer trails.

    Roll on winter and those clear blue skied , white frosty and infinatly more interesting early morning winter rides.......

    and if you can't be bothered to clean 'em or service 'em even in the summer then you shouldn't ride 'em .........

  • Stiffy gets my vote ! Bring on the cold and frosty, mud splattered, frozen fingerd and numb'd toed epic winter rides!

    Maybe bike radar could do a follow up with a little more detail on how to address things like wet roots, winter riding gear, bike washing in winter and the like?

  • I say bring on winter, join a local club and take part in a winter league,have great fun, improve fitness for the next season and best of all your technique will improve no end.

    Winter night riding is the best fun that can be had on a bike.

  • Well as an added bonus you could add snow-chains onto your wheels to give more traction - now on a bike that might be a bit more difficult Hmmm!

  • a section on how to deal with clay would be great :D

  • i agree, cleaning your gear is probably the most important part of cycling, gives u chance to check everythings ok, i.e. loose spokes, frame cracks, mechanical issues, etc. to be fair its a part i enjoy, winding down with a sponge!

    I ride road also & am in the process of building a singlespeed for my 40 mile commute to work, (less mechanical parts to wear out)

    I keep all my old gear in a sack & drag it out for winter riding, put the good stuff away! i find it best to wash it as soon as you get back, get rid of all the corrosive road salt & grit, keep spray everything with GT85 then keep an old towel to dry it off with, then lube,

    I have rode the same road bike for the past 5 winters & would still be going strong if not for it being stolen!

    Its the same with my mountain bike, keep it clean & lubed, when you spend all your disposable income to buy the damn things & all your free time riding then, dont they deserve a little love?

  • Well, after doing 50 miles a week commuting last winter in temperatures that regularly dropped to -5C or less, with the chain slipping because the rear cassette had iced over, ice forming on my clothing, aching lungs, and ONLY cycling in the dark, this winter I am going to wimp out and turn to spinning to keep the fitness up (also no commute).

    I will still cycle outside most days, but I am abandoning the early morning stuff which was a real grind. I love cycling, but there comes a point where your humour evaporates away when cables freeze up, you lose gears and you only see the world with an orange (sodium lit) tinge.

  • Im one of few who feel winter is a more rewarding time to ride. I believe it improves your riding greatley, you still have the speed of the summer seaon and try to apply it to the winter trails. Only speed isnt the issue ,its the technical ability to hold the bike over the frosted ground and if you didnt read the trails before I bet you will now. The trails are super quiet that time of year too.

  • Just got in from an evening jaunt across the south downs - fantastic -just me, my bike and a few startled furry friends !

  • spent last winter on mtb, riding to a local forest in snow 3 hours round trip, if you dont get out in winter you go soft and weak. so yeah get out there!!

  • I live in Austria and cycle in all terrains all year round. I am not some ironman, just a 50-something weekend trail-rider of average fitness. In the worst weather (severely sub-zero or in snow) I put on three pairs of gloves (including chain mail liners to spread the warmth around) then lots of socks and neoprene overshoes. With Goretex thermal leggings, together with many hi-tech layers on top and a woolly hat I finally set off, just getting dressed having served as a good work up.

    The conditions determine the ride - short and hard spinning before heading for a warm gasthaus in the most severe weather or long and languid, admiring the beauty of winter's scenes on blue sky days. Breathing is often the issue - very cold air and my ageing lungs don't get on - so I breathe through a cloth face mask (which occasionally grows icicles from my damp breathing and probably efficiently recycles my CO2 - but that's life (or chemical asphyxiation).

    I try to stay out of claggy mud because clearing it from the bike on trail can lead to pretty quick chilling while you're standing still with gloves off. Similarly, I don't go wading streams unless I'm feeling particularly macho (i.e. mentally deranged). All common sense really. Why would I not do any of this? Laziness. Once out there, there is great fun and fitness to be had all winter long.

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