Not progressing your training

As you get closer and closer to the first events of the season, whether it’s a sportive or road race, then your training needs to adapt. If you carry on doing what you have for the last two months then you won’t be stretching yourself in training.

As you approach the season your rides need to become more and more specific. For example, if you are a sportive rider targeting a major European event then you should start to incorporate more sweetspot work into your training order to replicate the effort required on climbs.

– Jens Voigt: how to suffer like a pro –

On the other hand, if you’re a criterium rider then you need to start introducing short, hard sprints to prepare for the intensity and on-off efforts of a race. Identify the main components of your target events and introduce those elements into your training plan.

Most riders have a limited amount of time to train each week so use that as a base and with each training block increase the intensity of your rides. Whereas in December you might have planned a two-hour ride with 2×10 minutes at sweetspot, in January you might want to up the intensity of those intervals to 2×10 minutes at threshold, and in February that might increase again 3×10 minutes at threshold.

The overall duration of that ride hasn’t changed but it goes without saying that the session in February is a lot harder than the one in December.

Not getting enough recovery

Without adequate recovery, your body won’t have the chance to adapt to the training stimulus and you won’t see any improvement in your fitness. Therefore, you need to ensure that after each training block you are fresh enough to start the next one.

– Six things you need to know about… recovery –

During winter your capacity to recovery will be slightly less than in the summer – the impact of riding in the cold and wet shouldn’t be underestimated. Your body is working hard just to stay warm on the bike.

There are many ways to keep tabs on recovery and whether you’re at risk of overtraining, including the fitness and freshness tool on Strava (I’ve previously covered how to use that), but there is one golden rule which holds true whether you are riding for five hours a week or aiming for the Tour de France: if you feel like you are getting grumpy or lacking motivation then it’s time for a rest.

– What is over-training and how can you avoid it? –

We all ride bikes because we love riding bikes, and it’s easy to forget that if you get too caught up in ‘training’. As a result, if the motivation isn’t there to grab the bike and go out and ride, then your body is telling you it’s tired and ready for a few easy days.

This doesn’t need to be a session-by-session plan but a good broad stroke overview is undoubtedly beneficial for most riders. For example, you might block out 2-3 weeks to work on sweetspot training, then plan in an easy week, and move on to a 2-3 week block to work on your threshold.

The best way to put this plan together is to work backwards from the first event of the season. Identify what you need to work on between now and the first event, rank these elements by intensity and start with the least intense first.

– Three training sessions to improve your FTP –

I would recommend only working on one or two elements in a single session or training block. That way you can really focus in and see specific improvements. Once you are happy with the improvements made take some recovery and then move onto the next element.

When writing your plan it’s important to make it realistic and also consider what else is going on in your life. For example, if you are lucky enough to go away skiing this winter then that week could be used as a perfect active recovery week.

Getting sick

If there’s one thing that interrupts winter training then it’s illness.

First, let’s dispel a myth – riding in the rain doesn’t make you sick. However, it may weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to getting sick. Most people become ill during the winter because we provide the perfect breeding ground for bacteria in our own homes, offices, cars etc. We come in from a hard ride in the cold and rain with a weakened immune system and expose ourselves to bugs.

There are, however, some very simple things you can do to help stop you from getting sick. First and foremost, don’t overtrain. The more tired you are, the more pressure your immune system will be under. It’s better to train at 80 per cent of your capacity for a whole winter than to try and train at 100 per cent for a few weeks only to get sick and miss the next two weeks.

– How to manage a cold or illness when training –

The second thing you can do is to simply wash your hands. This sounds like advice coming from a primary school teacher but if Team Sky make all their riders and staff wash their hands with alcohol-based hand wash before they sit down for each meal, then it’s something we can all learn from and an easy away to avoid the spread of infection.

Finally, get a much fresh air as possible. Open your windows and, if possible, avoid crowded hot places after hard rides. As traditional as the club run café stop is, sitting in a hot room full of strangers coughing and spluttering after you have done 50 miles on the bike might not be the best idea.

Riding outside on ice and snow

We have all done it… looked outside on a frosty morning and thought, ‘it will be ok, I’ll stick to main roads.’ Don’t take the risk! No ride is ever worth the risk of injury. It only takes one corner and a small patch of black ice to throw away a whole winter of training.

– Five of the best turbo trainer sessions –

If it’s icy then get on the turbo or rollers and do your workout there. Besides, as tortuous as the turbo can be, it’s often a great way to ensure your training session is focused and well structured.

If you’re determined to get out then one thing you can do is, instead of meeting your friends at 9am for a ride, why not jump on the turbo for an hour-and-a-half and then meet at 10:30 to do a quick 90 minutes together. You get your ride in and be back home at the same time while reducing the risk of crashing by allowing the air temperature to warm up and ice to melt. If you are really organised you could even do the first one-and-a-half hours all together virtually on Zwift.

Another tip is to take an extra set of gloves in your back pocket. I can’t put in to words the wonders putting on a warm, dry pair of gloves can do for the last hour of a cold and wet ride.

– Buyer’s guide: the best reflective clothing for winter riding –

The two parts of your body that many people struggle with most are hands and feet, so I always find it strange that people layer up on their bodies, but then expect one pair of gloves to keep their hands warm. Liner gloves are another effective and relatively inexpensive way to add extra warmth. The same goes for your feet. Why not try a pair of toe covers under your normal overshoes? The extra warmth around your toes might just stop them from going numb.