Snow...lots of snow

Well, not that much snow actually.  My mate Jimbo is in New York at the moment, so I can't grumble about a light dusting of the white stuff when its SNOWMAGGEDON weather BOMB over there.  But it's still forcing me to sit here with a coffee writing this rather than getting my dose of MTFU on and heading out in the grimness.

Amateur dramatics aside, it does pose the question - is it better to head out and ride on proper roads or sit inside and do a quality session on the turbo?  Which should be fairly straight forward to answer - get your kit on and get outside.  However I've done quite a bit of Turbo work lately and in the time vs quality argument makes things slightly less clear.

Going out on the road last weekend after three sessions on the turbo during the week, I felt much stronger on the hills.  I also got back not feeling completely toasted which makes a nice change.  I was actually quicker too, not that it matters in the long run.  I think its fair to say that if you've only got an hour or so spare, you can get much better quality sat on the turbo than going out in the dark.  However, for the longer rides obviously the road is an improvement.

It goes without saying that if its icy out then its safer on the turbo, similarly if its dark you're running less of a risk not going out, especially in Kent where they (drivers) seem to aim for you.  But then theres the boredom element.  I've managed 2 hours as my longest turbo ride so far and despite all the music and Netflix in the world, it felt like I'd had a lobotomy of some sorts after getting off.   Maybe a mixture of the two is needed - a compromise, who'd have thought....

So, as I've alluded to in previous threads I need to get some big rides in over the next few months.  I'm going for quantity rather than quality which sounds the opposite of what an expert would tell you, but I'm no expert and I'm also not doing enough riding.  So more miles it is.

First off, introducing MEGA MILES FEB...the plan being to do as many miles as is possible starting tomorrow.  Ideally I'd want to get in 1000 miles.  In 28 days.  In one of the coldest months of the year.  Still, at least its getting lighter in the evenings.  Turbo miles will count (its my challenge so I make the rules yeah!) but even then obviously I'm looking at 250 a week.  I've also maybe got a weekend away towards the end of the month, so it'll certainly be a challenge.  What hopefully it will do is force me to recover properly and eat properly as I'm still eating rubbish.  Coincidentally MEGA MILES FEB also coincides with DRY NO BOOZE FEB, who'd have thought eh!

So what are my plans for big rides during MMF?  Well I'm kicking off the month with an endurance race well known by keen ultra-endurance riders - a cross race.  Yeah, 1 solid hour of riding round a muddy field.  I'll be doing it on an MTB so should manage at least 10 miles.  Awesome.  I've got my friend Jen coming to pit for me, so hopefully I can convince her to drive my car back and I'll ride home, just to up the mileage.  However what will probably happen is that I'll be cold, muddy and wet and want a sunday lunch.  So Sunday evening turbo session for me.

Its not started well this has it...?