Categories: Belgian AffirmationsThe HardmenTradition

Winter Training

There is drafting, and then there’s this.

Merckx famously professed that after a night of sinning, the body must be cleansed. He obviously meant this figuratively, not literally, because those mud guards on his bike aren’t going to take a big bite out of whatever that lorry has to offer him by way of a Flandrian facial.

Winter is a tough time for those of us pawing about in search of our climbing weight. With the shortening of days, the nesting instinct awakens. Darkness falls in late afternoon and when we wake, we are greeted by the same darkness that wrapped us all through the evening. Nature urges us to combat the darkness with food and drink; summer’s dinner salads are replaced by slow-cooked meat and potatoes served with a side of pasta and bacon and washed down with a few bottles of red.

Weight defies the conservation of mass; it is more easily gained than lost. Fitness occupies the opposite realm; it is more easily lost than gained. Riders like Kelly, Merckx, and De Vlaeminck were famous for their discipline throughout winter; training long and hard to lay the groundwork for their Spring and Summer campaigns. With a sea of months between us and next season’s goals, there is little urgency to train properly. But keeping our weight down and putting in the long base kilometers will reward us throughout the season. Besides, it hardens the character to train in the cold, wet winds that characterize the winter months. The training we do in summer feels a luxury by comparison.

I cherish the winter months when my training is peaceful and free of pressure. I look forward to the sun warming my muscles, but for now I am content to stock up on fresh Flandrian Best, prepare the bike for the winter roads, and submit to the solitude of the cold training hours that lie before me.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Cyclops says:

Oct 29 2013 at 6:52 am

@RedRanger

@Cyclops vacation down here for a week

Where is "here"?
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:21 am

@Marcus

@frank If you are thining of a new trainer, may I suggest a combination? A set of rollers (must be Kreitler) to maintain souplesse, and a LeMond Revolution for interval sessions. You wont be sorry.

I use them both, even in good weather.

I would love a new LeMan one but still have a perfectly functioning Kurt Kinetic Pro stationary trainer (good for really killing it) and a set of 2.25 inch Kreitler Rollers. I almost always ride the rollers over the stationary trainer and get a great workout. The 2.25 inch are NOT hard to ride resistence-wise and would suggest anyone to get that size if you are buying some new ones.

@revchuck

@Inspector Gadget

The answer, of course, is yes. Movies help with trainer time; my favorites are Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. I don't do well with bike races, since I tend to model what I'm watching on the screen rather than what's called for in the workout.

Old cycling youtube videos or World Cycling Production videos are all that I watch while on the trainer/roller. Soooo cool seeing some of these 1960's/70's Giro's or Spring Classics, esp if they are in Italian or French.
Deakus says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:26 am

Forgive me father for I am about to sin.....can you request forgiveness before the act? I am afraid I will follow Big Migs winter regime...eat...drink...and be merry and worry about spring when spring comes. I will however still be riding but I lack the discipline....no fuck that...I simply do not want to deprive myself of all that the festive season has to offer...and...over indulge I shall!
RedRanger says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:31 am

@Cyclops Tucson
RedRanger says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:32 am

@Gianni Im originally from NYC and I spent 3 years in the twin cities. I can deal with some cold.
Bumbleberger says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:34 am

@Optimiste

That workhorse looks built for the task. I ain't knockin' it.

The Red Pony is a good girl. She has a knack for bearing my sorry ass to Painsylvania and back that other bikes don't have.

But about that EPMS. Although those are extreme conditions (which may justify one), that one seems on the order of a Eurasian Posterior Man-Satchel.

So noted, though you are quite correct with regard to environmental conditions. To my mind, the Rules are not license to get all haphazard about gear.
Chris says:

Oct 29 2013 at 7:58 am

@Optimiste

@Inspector Gadget Indoor, hands down. The rigors of outside winter training are soon supplanted by the knowledge you are connecting with your ideal badass. Even if that badass is freezing. However, on the trainer you are constantly battling the voice saying you can just stop pedaling anytime. Go ahead. It's easy. No one will know.

Aah, the voices. So very true. They also speak of doubt.

You can't really keep that effort up, not for another fifteen minutes. Ease off, let the cadence drop, just snick it onto a bigger cog.
dissolved says:

Oct 29 2013 at 8:23 am

I was all set for the idea of heaven @deakus had set before us until I decided to try for a space on the RVV or LBL sportives, now it looks like the holiday period will be all velodrome and turbo sessions if the weather is beyond a stern application of Rule 9.

I can't wait!
Lukas says:

Oct 29 2013 at 8:34 am

@frank Perhaps the guidance should be that tasteful fenders when deployed for rule 9 riding are acceptable. The flagrant no-no would be one of those awful seat post mounted plastic tail things. Properly fitted fenders can give a bicycle an air of utilitarian functionality and don't necessarily ruin the visual line of the machine.
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 29 2013 at 8:46 am

@dissolved

I was all set for the idea of heaven @deakus had set before us until I decided to try for a space on the RVV or LBL sportives, now it looks like the holiday period will be all velodrome and turbo sessions if the weather is beyond a stern application of Rule #9.

I can't wait!

You're signed for these??? Oh MAN! How awesome!!! If full course you will indeed be needing to kill yourself this winter! So jealous!!!