Sizing up the two words that surely haunt any cyclist, good or bad, pro or rank amateur, the most: ‘Winter Training’.

As I sit here writing this, 18 stories above the frozen, frigid and snow lined streets of Toronto, Ontario, we’re already entering the third week of January and depending on who you are and perhaps your location on the globe your 2012 cycling year will be at some stage or another. If you’re one of the paid few on the books of this new WorldTour, your season of racing is only a day away down at the Tour Down Under. If you’re an amateur enthusiast from a part of the world with an acceptable year round climate (ie. not Canada) you might well be trudging out the miles and racking up the stamina on those weekend road rides ahead of your season (if you race that is, for otherwise your season may never begin and therefore never end). Or, if you’re like me — the fair weather cyclist — in a climate that sits well into the negative digits for three-point-five months per year, with a mental allergy towards gyms, you’ll be on the fringes of beginning a pre-season — having put it off long enough — in the hopes that the mountain bike sitting in the spare room (soon to become a nursery) and very soon to be relegated to the storage cage until the snow melts, will get value for money when the hammer drops on the first race of the season in 15 weeks time.

Read more»