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How to use winter to improve your bike handling skills for tri

The off-season doesn’t, and shouldn’t, mean an automatic retreat indoors. In fact, when it comes to riding, it opens up a whole new world of options and possibilities. Ben Bright explains…

Ben Bright
man riding mountain bike wearing yellow jacket
(Credit: Getty Images)

Instead of getting down about winter’s short, cold and wet days, look at them as an opportunity to improve your bike handling skills for tri.

Winter also provides as much or more in the way of variety and training options as the summer does. 

And by exposing yourself to different stimuli and training intensities you can build a great platform for summer success. Let’s have a look at some ways to use the winter to sharpen your bike skills for triathlon.

Mountain biking

Three male cyclists cycling through wooded area on mountain bikes for an Xterra race
Mountain bike trails abound in many countries, so there should be some close to you (Credit: Jesse Peters/Xterra)

Mountain biking is well established with a huge network of specific trails and locations around the country. Because of the levels of concentration needed, time tends to fly by. 

The efforts you need to make on technical trails are very stochastic (meaning your power spikes up and down). This contrasts with typical off-season bike and run sessions.  

Mountain bikers tend to have extremely good pedalling efficiency due to the need to find grip at all times. Therefore, mountain biking can help sharpen your bike handling skills in the off-season as well.

If you’re looking to compete, events range from 90 minutes up to 24-hour enduros where you can race in a team relay. 

Cyclocross

Cyclist pushing bike in cyclocross race
Cyclocross acts a demanding all-body winter workout (Credit: Tom Photo)

Similar to mountain biking, cyclocross has been around in the UK for decades. 

If you’ve never attended one or raced a ‘cross event, it’s very similar to the atmosphere of a cross-country running race. Expect a very down-to-earth, welcoming and a lo-fi atmosphere. 

Because you race on a drop-bar bike the handling is similar to road riding.

But with it being off-road you get a lot more slipping and sliding – great for improving your bike handling skills for triathlon. If you fall off it’s almost always a soft landing.

Races tend to be between 45-60 minutes long. If you have children they almost always have shorter races in the programme so you can make a family day of it. 

Gravel

Canyon Grail gravel bike photographed on whire background
A gravel bike will take to you off-road pastures new in winter (Credit: Canyon)

Gravel is the newer kid on the block when it comes to off-road riding. 

It’s riding your bike wherever there’s a bit of unsurfaced road or a path. 

The beauty of bike technology these days is you can feasibly have one gravel bike that you could use for cyclocross, gravel and road just by changing tyres. 

The gravel season tends to be more in the summer but there are still plenty of riding and racing options through the winter.

 Gravel races tend to be longer, in the three-five hour or more bracket. This is great for your endurance and you will see parts of the countryside you otherwise never would. 

Indoor cycling

Racing triathlon on Zwift
A punchy Zwift race provides a dose of high-intensity riding in a safe, sociable setting (Credit: Zwift)

 Covid saw indoor cycling software platforms and hardware explode in popularity and opened a lot of people’s eyes to a world and community they never knew existed. 

The benefits of indoor riding include time efficiency and the ability to just focus on pedalling, not running into something. 

Using an online race as a high-intensity session also means you get more out of yourself. The suffering is more manageable too. 

Our winter cycling wisdom

To sum up, if you’re feeling a bit demotivated by the thought of that long ride in the rain on potholed roads, try something different. 

Variety within your off-season training plan is valuable both physically and mentally. You’ll also encounter new cycling communities.

Maybe the experience will even convince you to take up off-road triathlon?

Profile image of Ben Bright Ben Bright Triathlon coach

About

Ben Bright is national coaching consultant at British Triathlon and the founder of Triathlon Performance Solutions. A former professional triathlete, having represented New Zealand at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Ben moved into coaching, working in Hong Kong then the UK. Here, he became British Triathlon's Olympic men’s coach during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to that he was employed as a National Performance Centre coach, worked directly with ITU world champions such as Tim Don and Hollie Avil, and coached at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. He now runs his own coaching company Bright Triathlon (brighttriathlon.com)