Winter Riding Options

By Dave Kraus

It doesn’t take a professional meteorologist to see that the traditional cycling season is over in upstate New York. The golds and reds of autumn have turned brown and the mercury is plunging.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t still pedal your way to cardio fitness, or hold onto those gains you’ve made with the bike you bought, or the one you pulled out of the basement to cope with Covid lockdown induced stress. There are still plenty of options to ride outdoors, at home, or at the gym with others or by yourself. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Keep riding outdoors. Yes, it can get cold and dark and messy. But there are still plenty of ways to take your ride outside. Ride the bike you already have with proper preparation and clothing. For tips on how to do that, see our story in the October issue at adksports.com/2020-10-bicycling. Keep in mind that safety and visibility are more important in the winter months with more hours of darkness and drivers who may not be expecting to see cyclists on the road. There’s no such thing as too many lights or too much reflective clothing when riding outdoors in winter.

Fat biking can also be a great way to enjoy the outdoors in the cold season. A “fat” bike is a mountain bike with tires at least 3.5” wide. The huge, low-pressure tires let you “float” over the snow, mud, sand and many obstacles. 

Want to try it out without buying a bike? Grey Ghost Bicycles in Glens Falls, High Peaks Cyclery and Placid Planet Bicycles, both in Lake Placid, offer fat bike rentals and can give you advice on where to go for a great ride. Visit greyghostbicycles.com, highpeakscyclery.com or placidplanet.com.

Or attend one of the fat bike events in the Capital Region. Gurney Lane Snowshoe & Fat Bike Day at the Gurney Lane Trails in Queensbury is scheduled the weekend of January 23-24 (@churneygurney on Facebook). The Saratoga Fat Bike Rally in Saratoga Spa State Park is still in the planning stages, but usually takes place in early February (@saratogafatbikerally on Facebook).

Do your pedaling indoors at the gym. This popular option is still available at the YMCAs, fitness clubs and other facilities, both with “spinning” type bikes in classes, or more traditional upright bikes that let you pedal, but don’t offer a cycling experience that is equally realistic. Keep in mind that many classes have gone to virtual options, and in-person classes are socially distanced and have reduced capacity, making it important to reserve your spot early. Check with your local fitness facility for details and remember that Covid conditions can lead to sudden changes in class availability.

Pedal indoors at home. It’s warm. It’s dry. No mask. Jump right off the bike and into the shower. What’s not to like? Unfortunately, not everybody has the self-discipline to get on a bike in the basement and pedal hard for an hour when there’s laundry to be done, Facebook a click away, or cold beer in the fridge.

The good news is that there are more ways than ever to bring the cycling experience into your home with the realism to keep you working out, improving fitness, and even “ride” and talk with your friends while doing it.

The easiest way is with one of the several types of “dumb” cycling trainers that don’t require a computer hookup or subscription fees. Buy the trainer, put your bike on it, and pedal away. You will probably also want a fan to keep you cool, a block to put under your front wheel, and a mat to keep the sweat from reaching the floor, but those are the basics.

The simplest and cheapest kind is a wheel-on trainer that attaches directly to your rear wheel. A roller presses against the rear tire to provide resistance produced by a small fan (noisy), magnets (less noisy), or a fan inside a fluid filled chamber (generally the quietest). You have to supply your own entertainment via TV or music, and you may need a new rear tire when spring arrives.

On a direct drive trainer, you remove the rear wheel and mount your bike on the trainer that has gears replacing the ones on your bike. This type generally a more realistic experience and doesn’t wear out your wheel or tire. Smart trainers range from sub-$500 to $1000-plus. Visit your local bike shop for recommendations and support them by buying local.

Also available, but less often used except by advanced cyclists, are rollers. The bike is not attached at all so it’s most like riding outside. You literally ride the bike on rotating tubes that are mounted to a frame sitting on the floor. It’s like a treadmill for your bike. Rollers help you develop balance, coordination and cardio fitness, especially if you use a resistance fan – that can also cool you. For safety, it’s best to place them in a doorway, near a wall or railing, or have raised steps on either side of you (our editor has been using upside-down milkcrates for years).

Many of these training devices can be turned into “smart” trainers that provide online or app connectivity that lets you read and record data such as speed, rpm, heart rate and more. There are a large variety of options in both how to read and view the performance data. Some have direct displays, while others connect to smart phone apps. Some manufacturers offer both “dumb” and “smart” versions of the same trainer and yes, the smart trainer will cost more in order to get the extra electronic features. Are they worth it? Only you can decide what’s right for your fitness needs after looking at the wide variety of manufacturers, features and price points.

You can also take your own bike, plus one of these trainers with a minimum level of smart features and use them with an online, interactive training and racing platform such as Zwift, which is currently the most popular of the 20 different apps. Zwift offers users the ability to ride on the roads of eight different virtual worlds via an avatar. There’s also the option of racing or just riding, plus sharing the course with every other Zwift user, or in a “meetup” with a group of your friends who are also riding at the same time. There are also “pace partners” – virtual bots that ride at a predetermined pace at different times of day so you can ride with someone, but not in a group. A Zwift account costs $14.99 per month, in addition to the cost of whatever smart trainer hardware you elect to use. 

The next step up the ladder of features, complexity – and cost – are specially-built indoor home bikes, such as the Peloton or alternatives such as NordicTrack, Echelon or MYX Fitness, that are designed to duplicate the experience of a live indoor cycling class. Bikes from Bowflex or Schwinn can link up the fitness app of your choosing (Peloton, Zwift or others). The Peloton is a high-end indoor bicycle with an integral Wi-Fi-enabled, 22-inch touchscreen tablet that streams live and on-demand classes. You can compete with other participants, comparing your total wattage produced with theirs, and get a cardio workout in the process.

The Peloton is not cheap, with a price tag starting at $1,895 for the bike, and the required $39 per month subscription cost to participate in unlimited cycling and fitness classes. Some alternatives are half the price, but with over 550,000 Pelotons sold, its popularity in undeniable. But again, only you can decide if your fitness is worth the investment.

Dave Kraus (dbkgrafik@gmail) is a longtime area cyclist, photographer, and writer who is always looking for new, interesting ways to experience the outdoors in upstate New York. Visit his website at KrausGrafik.com.