Stop Christmas pedaling

There are many ways to motivate yourself to go riding your bike this Christmas. If going hard and long isn't your thing there are other great alternatives to explore for you and your bike to head out.

18.12.2015 – Words by Jesper Grundahl

As a rider, and fan of cycling in general, I receive many newsletters weekly from brands around the world relating to Winter riding these days. The common theme relates to SUFFERING, DARK, COLD, WINTER, SNOW, FROST or putting yourself through a physical torture-chamber somewhere between now and New Year.

It has made me wonder what happened to the word ENJOYMENT and CHRISTMAS along the line ? If you are new to cycling, or can’t find yourself ticking any of the above extreme boxes, it doesn’t make you less of a cyclist.

Winter riding is different, for sure. For starters you are wearing much more cycling apparel, and it takes you longer to get out the door, but getting out the door doesn’t have to be a matter of misery , suffering and survival course. After all - riding your bike should be an enjoyment, and so it goes for winter riding too.

Legendary Tour de France winner Chris Froome recently stated:

“But I think to be able to set yourself small goals and objectives earlier on is key………I think it’s always useful to be able to set yourself these smaller, more achievable goals”. *

So if you, like me, isn’t charmed by the idea of riding hundreds and hundreds of kilometers between Christmas and New Year in subzero temperatures in pitch darkness, those “smaller goals” are a question of doing something entirely different on your bike to keep yourself motivated and getting out the door.

While a lot of people see Christmas as a stressful time, with shopping, Christmas parties etc., it is also worth remembering that it is rare your City is lid-up as spectacularly as it is these days. Your City looks amazing with all the Christmas lights lid in the late afternoon when dusk falls. Shops are competing with one another to have the best, most sparkling window decorations, so why not set yourself the small goal, and ride around your City by bike ?

Cross is usually connected to mud and wooden areas, but a spot of CHRISTMAS CITY CROSS gives you the perfect opportunity to explore parts of your City where your would otherwise never ride. The fact is, if you always ride the same routes without ever turning sharp right once you will never get to experience anything new, so head to the City for your ride.

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CHRISTMAS CITY CROSS isn’t only about finding the great unknown routes in your City, while enjoying the light fantastic. Set yourself the target to meet with friends. #stoppedalling - it’s Christmas. Park your bike and hang out with friends for an hour or two, sipping Hot Chocolate, eating Ginger Bread and SPEAK to your friends instead of shouting at them, on the open road, with the wind howling at Tinitus-splitting volume. As the famous British Telekom commercial always ended: “……..it’s good to talk”!

If navigating the traffic, meeting with friends or watching a Gazillion watts being switched on is not you thing then maybe riding your bike into the woods and escaping for two hours is ? Leaving the world behind, and getting lost on gravel sections is an unforgettable experience coming equally as highly recommended.

As the morning breaks, and the occasional deer or fox stare at you, it’s worth #stoppedalling and soak up the dead silence you can experience when enjoying GRAVEL RIDING in the morning. We live in a fast paced world where sounds are ringing out everywhere. If not your computer, then your phone or something else, but to stop your bike in the woods and listen to……..NOTHING……is without doubt one of the most incredible luxuries you can have these days. As The Tremeloes sang: “Silence is Golden”.

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There are as many ways of enjoying a bike ride as there are people. Riding your bike during Winter and Christmas doesn’t have to be a murdered-out training regime. Setting yourself smaller, fun goals and objectives, and enjoying the occasional #stoppedalling with friends, or enjoying the surroundings you find yourself in, are equally as vital in getting your through winter, and before your know of it, it will be spring again.

Merry Christmas Riding!

*Please note - none of the above suggested goals or objectives relates in any way to the training objectives of Chris Froome's in preparation for Tour de France 2016


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COMMENTS

  • CHRISTMAS PEDALLING

    gerard miller, France, 21.12.2015

    At the moment, where I live in the French Pyrenees, it's 13°C during the day and cycling's definitely on the menu until the New Year!

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