With winter fast approaching many clubs will be thinking about slowing down over the winter months and having a well-deserved break from a busy summer of coaching, racing and organising club sessions. However as West Wales Cycle Racing Team have discovered this is exactly the time of year when members need support to remain motivated during the dark and cold months ahead.

Club Head Coach, Michael Tarling gave us an insight into just what the club does to keep members active over the winter.  

With no purpose built cycle facility in the area the members of West Wales Cycle Racing Team have developed a number of ways to keep members active in the winter, which could be replicated by many clubs across Wales.

Turbo Training is not only a great way to develop your engine but also a social way of getting members of all ages and abilities together for a ride, where conditions are warm and dry, nobody gets dropped and even the less active club members can join in.

“The club sessions have proved really popular. Last year we were getting around 30 riders each week, and peaked at 43! We use a combination of spin bikes for the adults and older kids, our club Tacx turbos that we bought with Sport Wales Community Chest funding and people bring their own turbos. We even have a couple of 5 year olds who put stabilisers tipped up to get their back wheel off the floor.”

The sessions take place in the main  sports hall in Aberaeron as popularity saw the sessions outgrow the fitness room previously used. The sessions provide a great way to introduce and interact with the local public and have certainly helped to increase membership, The sessions have become so popular that the club turbo nights have now become the Leisure Centre’s biggest session.

With sessions running from October through to March the main focus is to try to keep everyone fit with a hard session which they enjoy too.

The solitude and boredom of hours spent on a turbo trainer will test the commitment of any cyclist but by getting everyone together and decloping a great atmosphere it helps to pass the 45 minute sessions each week.

Michael makes every session follow a theme that manages to incorporate a combination of shorter intervals, threshold work and the dreaded out of the saddle efforts.

“Some weeks we simulate a route that everyone knows, such as the Aberaeron to Aberystwyth route, other weeks we simulate pro-races with distinct courses and some weeks I create some bizarre events which we simulate.”

 Some examples of sessions last year:

• Tour de France in 45 minutes (including water pistols to simulate the rain)
• Winter Olympics Special (including spinning like mad for down hill skiing, out of the saddle efforts for cross country skiing with a dismount, lie on the floor and remount to simulate the shooting in Biathlon!)
• Christmas Nativity special (featuring the Kings v. Shepherds v. The Angels in a race to Bethlehem as pictured above)
• Track World Cup (featuring an effort for every type of effort in the Omnium)

“The aim is to make sure everyone rides at a level they feel comfortable with and we don’t push anyone to go harder or use bigger gears. However, if they come for repeated sessions they soon start to realise how hard they can push and they do end up getting a hard session. All our sessions contain boys versus girls and adults versus kids exercises and if you have a birthday during the winter months you get to do the birthday sprints. I also chuck in some cycling knowledge questions while they’re making some hard efforts to get everyone thinking while riding, not just head down and going for it.”

“By the end of the sessions everyone is shattered, but will have learned something, I judge the success of the session based on how many “I hate you” comments I get at the very end but they all come back the following week!”

The club have also knocked together a sponge trophy for rider who produces the biggest puddle at each session. So perhaps your club would be interested in getting the members together over the winter and trying some themed Turbo sessions this year?

If you would like to get involved and find your nearest cycle club, use our Club Finder tool and join in the fun!