Winter Miles ???

Sunday saw the Velo M club ride head out for a first run of winter and for some steady miles onto the edges of the Peak District. And well it got me thinking what is a winter run and its base miles. We all band it around but what should we be looking to get out of it.



Well for me its two fold, its getting out on the bike despite the weather and just enjoying being out on the bike with friends.
But in terms of training to be fitter and faster what should our miles look like ?, and what the bugger are winter miles anyway?


Well my take on it, is that winter is a time to ease back on intesity and think of it as a base for evertyhing else to come from, a foundation. The better the foundation the higher the peak will be. This is where your endurance comes from, but dont be fooled into thinking that your foundation is flat, you still need hill miles if you want to ride hills in summer, but they should be controlled and done in your levels/zones, none of your foundation should be done at peak levels. In the past it was thought the best way to build a base was, get out on the bike and ride lots of miles. This resulted in a lot of ‘junk miles’. ‘Junk miles’ refers to miles added into your training plan with no purpose other than to increase your mileage count. However Junk miles are some of my favourite miles, but then I suppose Im a bit strange. I like the wind, rain, snow and fog, but thats because I like winter boots, Gore Jackets and Gloves, not to mention lights and winter bikes.

Princy checking his Make up at the back of the group.