AS THE warm embers of last night – Twelfth Night – fade, months of commuting to and from work in darkness lie ahead. Time in abundance to reflect on seasonal excesses – and to work them off at leisure.

Along with giving up drinking for the month or cutting down on sugars and fats, many will resolve to get some sport under their belts.

So, running, anyone? Nah! That might damage your knees – and who wants to trot along at a boring 6mph?

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Contact sports? Well, they’re good for a good cardiovascular work-out but they involve, well, contact. There are times when you just want to be left alone with your own thoughts, not in contact with anyone.

Cycling, then? In a cycle-friendly county like Oxfordshire, getting on your bike might be the best work-out – and the most fun.

Don’t be put off by the brightly coloured Lycra-clad riders flying around on lovely £2,000 road bikes. These Wiggo-wannabees may be the most visible aspect of cycling for sport, but in reality cycling is a multi-level activity with something for everyone.

My particular niche is mountain biking. Everywhere off-road at the moment is a fairly disgusting quagmire. Much worse than messing about in the mud up on Shotover or in the Chilterns, is the thought of leaving the cosiness of home to take the bike out on winter days.

Every winter ride ends with at least 20 minutes washing the chain and gears so the bike’s usable next time. Not to mention the piles of washing you get through. It’s a messy business and it’s easy to keep putting it off.

But, literally, every time I do make it out, I’m so glad I did.

January may not seem the most auspicious month for cycling, but whether the day is cold and bright or murky and foggy, filling your lungs with air and stretching your legs is seriously therapeutic and so worth it.

You don’t even have to get that muddy. What about trying a turbo trainer? With a turbo trainer, you take the rear wheel off the bike and put it in an A-shaped frame. An adjustable friction wheel under the A-frame gives you the resistance you want – and away you pedal, all in the warmth of your own home. I know people who do ‘miles’ on these every day.

So, time to blow off the cobwebs, get air in the tyres and get that bike on the road. You don’t need Lycra and you don’t have to get muddy. With warm gloves, these unseasonally sunny days could see you gliding along the Thames towpath or discovering the quiet backroads around the Cotswolds.

There’s no cheaper, quicker way of getting a thorough cardiovascular workout than by bike. Stuff the gym membership – cycle instead. And if you are a gym addict, do yourself and everyone else on the roads a favour and cycle there.

 


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