I thought you are meant to ride at a lower pace in winter.

AssOs

Is it me or does nobody really ride at a steady pace in winter.

I've had loads of people pass me at speeds faster than i can manage in the summer!

Anonymous

You need to get on a bike instead of walk!

Infamous

Riding slow in winter is a myth/out of date.

Blonde

People may unintentionally get slower in Winter because fitness can decline slightly with fewer and/or shorter days in the sadldle (due to Winter illnesses, the cold and/or inclement weather etc). If you are training for a particular event later in the year or have just finished a big ride or series of rides you may wish to have a less intensive time in Auntumn and Winter in order to recover and not burn out before the next Spring/Summer - and intentionally doing less will of course also lead to a slightly decreased level of fitness during this time, which could reduce your speed. Other than that there is no reason why you shouldn't ride at the same speed all year round. I certainly try to keep a good average speed all year round - but I do accept that due to ice, snow and rain, as well as fewer daylight hours, I just can't do as much cycling in Winter (not to mention the cold temperatures and the headwinds slowing you down on the rides you do get out on) and therefore some drop off in speed is to be expected.

ShaunL

only due to the fact i don't want to get up a sweat and then have the possibility that it could get chilled at a later point in the ride.

AssOs

Maybe that was my problem of not getting any quicker then.

Riding at a steady pace in the winter months and not thundering along like others.

gandhi

Maybe they are going at a steady pace, for them.

If a really good time trial rider can average nearly 30mph for a couple of hours, then averaging 22 would be pretty easy for them, but for most people riding on their own, that would be totally balls out.

I find my bike clubs "fast group" Sunday rides to be pretty sedate, but for a lot of the people there, that's as fast as they'll ever go.

Monty Dog

It's a well known concept called the 'winter racer' - rips the legs off everyone on the winter club rides and is completely knackered by April - finishes his first race dispondently and isn't seen again until after the summer, as which point the whole cycle starts again...

GavH

If anything I'm finding that I'm riding FASTER in winter than I did in summer. Put simply, I want to heat up quicker so I tend to start quicker and then blow hard trying to maintain my pace. Probably not very productive but at least it keeps me warm!!

trickeyja

There's no reason to ride more slowly in the winter really. My speed hasn't varied much from summer to winter, apart from on Tuesday when it was so icy I had to walk a mile at one point!

BUICK

I am riding more slowly in winter. Partly when the conditions are bad, partly because I've made a conscious choice to use lower gearing and keep my cadence a bit higher and partly because I'm not at the peak of fitness and don't want to get injured. It takes time to warm up properly and I'm allowing myself that time rather than go hammer and tongs with cold joints and ligaments! You might get away with it, of course. But you only need to get it wrong once and you've got an injury that may take weeks or months to come right

antfly

AssOs wrote:

Is it me or does nobody really ride at a steady pace in winter.

I've had loads of people pass me at speeds faster than i can manage in the summer!

Maybe you should ride quicker in the summer.

Smokin Joe

My speed drops in the winter. Multi layered clothing, cold air fueling the lungs and a heavier bike all add up.

hambones

I can confirm that after 6 weeks off the bike I am definitely riding slower at the moment!

I overdid it today with a 60 mile effort and the last 10 miles were hideous, finding myself at my default pootling speed of only 14mph!

Headhuunter

I have certainly read and understood that standard wisdom has it that during the winter months you should drop your speed and ride longer training rides. In the summer you push yourself harder on shorter rides. Something to do with getting your body into the habit of burning fat as well as carbs or something.... But someone above says this is out of date? Where did you hear that? Do you mean we should be thundering around our rides all year long?

Felix-da-house-mouse

i agree with headhunter. you go the same speed all year round you'll be knackered by the start of the season.

Tonymufc

Felix-da-house-mouse wrote:

i agree with headhunter. you go the same speed all year round you'll be knackered by the start of the season.

Surely this only applies to those that are competing. My pace drops purely because you're up against the elements, wind, rain cold. Someone else made this point aswell.