I know, I stole that from the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. November is a funny month. The daylight hours are short, we’ve changed back to standard time and it seems we have more cloudy and cold days than nice bike riding days. Also some people consider this the beginning of eating season, with left over Halloween candy and all the Thanksgiving Day goodies coming up. Let’s not even get into the Christmas parties of December. That is why November is a witching month, full of pits and pratfalls for the cyclist.
How do we avoid the witch? Well, I signed up for the 2015 D2R2 and set a goal to finish the 115k ride. I have also stepped up my training. Once people get into November, they put the bike away as well as their good eating habits. This is not good. A short break is fine but get back into training mode. If it’s cold where you live buy a compu-trainer. If you can’t afford one, check out your local bike shops and see if they offer compu-trainer classes. If you are out of luck that way, sign up for a gym for a few months. Do something! Also keep a training diary. But train, but don’t overdue it so much that you get burned out.
Hopefully, I will be successful in this off season, so that when Spring comes I will be ready to take on a century. I have set some long term goals and now I just need to set up some short term goals to get me to the long term goal.
It’s okay to overindulge during the Holidays, just make sure that you are aware of it and you are able to get back on track quickly. Just because you blow it on one day, does it mean you have to blow it for the rest of the week. So keep active during the winter, it will make those Spring time rides less painful.