Technique

Five reasons to keep riding outside when the weather’s bad

The temptation to stay indoors can be overpowering as winter draws in, but there are more than a few reasons to head out and brave the elements...

Because you'll go mad on the turbo after an hour

If you're going to ride through autumn and winter then you better get used to the idea of getting wet
CAPTION
The only way to learn how to ride in the wet... is to ride in the wet
Summoning the motivation to get out and ride is often the hardest part (Pic: Deborah Malin/Media 24)
There's something very peaceful about riding in the rain
The 2013 edition of Milan-San Remo was beset by bad weather (Pic: Sirotti)

Because you'll go mad on the turbo after an hour

Indoor riding certainly has its place but let’s face it – riding a bike indoors involves all the parts of training we hate, and leaves out all the best bits.

If I wanted to spend an afternoon not enjoying myself I’d just crack out the staple gun and go to town on my legs rather than sit on a turbo trainer for hours (one hour’s the limit for me, that’s something I learned early on).

While you can’t deny that the turbo offers the opportunity to get quality training done in short time periods, there’s no substitute for being out on the road, enjoying all the sensations that come with riding.

And, frankly, riding outdoors in bad weather is an incentive in itself. If you want to keep warm you need to ride at a certain level of intensity, which means no five hour rides at 15kph. Getting out and riding a hard, focused 90 minute session in bad weather will keep you warm, be quality training time and you wont be able to let up otherwise you’ll start to feel cold. It’s like getting a head start on a crocodile in a swimming race: you’d better go hard if you want to keep your toes.