Winter training is a subject that, perhaps, I shouldn\’t talk about. Where I live, snow is a great rarity. We haven\’t had any since the December 2008 snowfall; and that didn\’t stick more than a few hours. Thus I have zero experience in riding through the snow.

Winter, they say, is a good time to get in some cross-training; especially if conditions prohibit outdoor cycling. I usually walk to work at least once a week; a round trip of about two miles. But is that enough to count as cross-training?

Last January we got a freak cold snap that froze pipes and knocked out the water supply for several days. My workplace was closed for a day or two because the weather was so frigid.

It was so cold that I didn\’t want to go outside at all. In this uninsulated place, if  I wasn\’t right in front of the electric heater it was as cold indoors as it was outdoors. It was so cold that I didn\’t even want to set up the trainer and let my legs get a bit of a workout. Doing so, however, would have provided me with some cross-training. For instance, I could have practiced one-legged pedaling drills. And really, the activity would have warmed me up.

Maybe one day I\’ll live where there\’s snow, and I can get in some snow-shoeing as cross-training; real Winter training, for a change. Until then, I\’ll keep riding year-round, as I\’ve always done.