Indoor training

Refuge from the Cold – Joyride 150

/ David / Leave a comment

The weather here in Southern Ontario can’t quite make up its mind, so mountain biking is off the table for the time being. To help combat the itch to ride trails, my friend Andrew and I made the trek up to Markham, Ontario to check out Joyride 150.

Joyride 150 is a two-wheeled refuge from the harshness of Canadian winter. Housed in a warehouse are a beginner’s skills area, an 800m xc loop, jump lines (beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert), pump tracks, skinnies, a street plaza, and a vert park. More than enough to entertain both the most beginner and the most advanced riders seeking adrenaline. Check out the video below for a quick lap around the xc loop, pump tracks, and skinnies.

Setting Goals

One of the main reasons why I wanted to check out Joyride 150 was so I could have a controlled environment to build up my bike skills. After a few laps to get my bearings, and check out the whole complex, I spent most of my day whipping around the xc loop and working on my bike handling skills on both the pumptracks and the skinnies.

The skinnies were a great place for me to work on my bike control. There were at least 6 distinct lines, with more than a dozen different transfers and additions that could be made to the lines to keep things interesting. The skinnies had everything from wide boardwalks, to rocks and logs, and even a couple teeter-totters.

The first time I rolled through the skinnies, I noticed this maze of 2-4s that seemed nearly impossible. After a little studying, Andrew pointed out that the wide turns are for your front wheel, while your back wheel follows along on the more straight path. This skinny line became my new goal for the day.

It took a hell of a lot of trust in both my personal abilities and the fact that my bike could even follow through the maze properly, but I had to try it. The biggest thing I was scared that my front wheel would get stuck in a gap and send me tumbling down in front of all the “cool kids” that knew how to ride the whole park perfectly.

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Progression

The first number of tries ended with me simply dropping a foot before I even got to the part (as usual, the hardest part is the mental game). A few tries later, I was slowly rolling through the first corner, but getting unnerved as soon as I needed to try and pedal through to the next corner. The progression went like this throughout the day, inching closer and closer to completing it. However, in the end, I never quite managed to cleanly ride the entire line. The furthest I managed to get was to the last corner before my rear wheel skidded off and got stuck in the middle of the mess. Happy with my progression for the day, we decided to call it a day, but not before one last stop.

Foam Pit Fun

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Andrew getting some jumping advice.

There is no way we were leaving Joyride without at least one of us jumping into the foam pit. Andrew was the lucky one, as he was riding flats and I was riding clips (that’s definitely the only reason I didn’t do it, I swear!). At the risk of ending our friendship… here is the glorious footage of Andrew attempting his first jump into the foam pit. As you can see, it wasn’t the smoothest!

Bottom Line: Should you go?

Hell yeah! It’s a little pricey, but definitely worth the trip to escape from the cold and ride bikes for a day.

5 Ways to Stay Motivated This Winter

/ David / 2 Comments

The roads are covered in salt and snow, the sun seems to drop behind the horizon even faster than the thermometer, and here I am curled up under blankets letting all my summer gains shrink.

Keeping myself motivated during the winter is probably one of the hardest parts of cycling for me. It takes every fibre of my being to put on my kit and get on the trainer. If you struggle with this as much as I do, here are a few of the things that help me.

1. Put Your Kit On

The hardest part of training for me is turning off Netflix and coming out from the blanket cocoon I’ve formed. However, I’ve found that once I suck it up and put my cycling gear on, I’m a lot more motivated to go get on the trainer. Just be careful, long trainer sessions can wear out kit faster than you might think, so maybe don’t wear that favourite jersey you just got for Christmas!

2. Pick the right playlist

Sure, it can’t beat the sun on your face and the wind at your back, but a good playlist can get you in the mood to put the power to your pedals and put the work in. Look for a mix of decent tempo music with parts that get you stoked. For the best results, use music that is heavy on the bass and can be cranked up to 11 (sorry neighbours). Here is one of the playlists that has helped me.

3. Have a goal

The only thing worse than being stuck inside on a trainer is aimlessly spinning away on your trainer with no end goal. Pick a reasonable goal for your winter training. Maybe it’s to increase your FTP by a certain percentage, or you want to be able to destroy your riding buddies in the town sign sprints, or maybe you just want to be able to make it to the coffee shop without feeling like your lungs are going to explode.

As all my professors have drilled into my head, ensure that your goals are SMART goals. Make them Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goals. For example, don’t just say that your goal is simply to have a higher FTP. Instead set a goal of increasing your FTP by 5% by June 1st.

4. Quality Time With Your Bike

Spending some quality time with your bike, but off of it. Maybe you need to replace your chain, put new grip tape on, or want to learn how to properly index your gears. It seems a little convoluted, but spending time with your bike, in general, will remind you why you got into cycling in the first place. Plus, you’ll emerge in the spring with a cleaner, quieter, more efficient bike!

5. Give yourself rewards

Who doesn’t love treating themselves every once and a while? Sometimes a shiny new piece of kit or tech is exactly what you need to get you back on the bike. Have you been eying up a shiny new heart rate monitor? A power meter? A new pair of shorts? Hell, even just a box of your favourite bars or gels could be just the thing you need to regain your motivation.

Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself if the goal that you set for yourself doesn’t come to fruition. It sucks to not achieve a goal that you have set for yourself, but the reality is that it sometimes won’t work out.

I hope these tips might have helped someone else out there who is sick and tired of the cold and snow getting in the way of their riding. Don’t worry, summer will be here soon enough.