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Tips for making winter cycling fun with Cycle-SOS

Time not miles

Measure your rides in time taken rather than distance travelled. An hour of pushing into a cold head wind will feel more challenging on your body than an hour of happily rolling along in the sunshine – even if you’re going faster or further. If you measure the success of your ride by miles or speed, then occasionally try leaving your bike computer at home or cover up speed and distance. Strong winds, cold weather and the need to be more cautious on slippery wet road surfaces means it is impossible to keep up your average summer speeds, trying to do so is just demoralising.

Plan in a reward stop

Winter cycling can be hard so treat yourself and celebrate that you’ve made the effort to get outside by enjoying some of your favourite snacks while you cycle. Forget dry tasteless sports snacks and fuel your ride with tasty chocolate, flapjacks, dried fruit or cake. Pick a café for a hot chocolate and use it as a chance to thaw out and fuel up for the rest of your ride.

Use apps to your advantage

Plan your ride for the best time of the day to avoid getting unnecessarily wet. With so many apps at your fingertips you can make educated decisions about when you ride, so there is no reason to dash out first thing in the rain if it will be clear by lunchtime. Use a tool called Epic Ride Weather to plan exactly when to start your ride and even decide where to go. Input a gpx file of your route and provide your average speed for the app to show you the conditions at every stage of your ride. You could even plan your route so you have a tail wind on the way home when you’re feeling most tired.

Another important tip is navigation – if the weather is bad or darkness is falling you need to know exactly where you are and have bail-out routes in place to cut your ride short if needed. We use Komoot or Strava  for planning our routes but when riding somewhere new in winter we also carry a paper map. You don’t want to leave anything to chance if conditions get bad.

Dress for the weather

Tackling tough conditions is much easier if you feel warm and dry. Winter cycling kit can be expensive but investing in good quality kit will increase the number of days you ride and the amount of fun you have when out on your bike. Layers are critical in the winter to help you maintain a good core body temperature and enable you to adjust your clothing as conditions change. Read more on our tips for dressing for winter here.

Fuel your ride

Eating well is especially important in winter as you need extra fuel to maintain your body temperature. If you’re feeling cold then digesting food will help to warm your body up – so always carry more snacks than you would in the summer months.

Even though it is cold and you don’t feel like drinking you will still be dehydrating as you ride. The mist you see when you breathe out on a cold day is moisture leaving your body and with all your warm layers on you will still be sweating, even in cold temperatures. To make drinking more palatable use an insulated bike bottle like these, so you can drink warm fluids all the way through your ride.

Find a friend

Finally, as with so many things in life, winter cycling is more fun with friends. Even the worst rides of winter can be enjoyable if you have someone to laugh with and share the misery! The hardest days are often the ones you remember the longest. Once you’re home and warm you will be glad you did it together.

In our experience if you are warm and well-fed throughout your ride even the worst of British weather is fun to cycle in!

For more information about our services or to start your claim, call 0808 100 9995 and speak to one of our specialist solicitors. We’re here to help. You can email us or schedule a callback.

Written By:

Emily Pheysey

Litigation Executive

Emily has over 7 years of experience in the legal sector, handling road traffic accident claims to recover compensation and support her clients. Her focus is to ensure all clients feel comfortable and at ease with the claims process so that they can focus on their recovery.

Emily considers rapport to be an essential part of the role and strives to always provide excellent client care.

Away from work, Emily enjoys spending time with her family and friends and travelling as much possible.

Diane Holderness

Litigation Executive

Diane is a Ministry of Justice (TOJ) Team Leader within our Cycle Department. She has 11 years’ experience managing road traffic accident claims, and 6 years’ experience managing MOJ claims.

Diane enjoys a challenge and always strives for the very best results for her customers; something that is clear in the way her team continually adapts its strategies in order to secure the most desired outcome. Diane has worked her way through the legal ranks here, and is proud to now have a strong, specialist team that is committed to customer satisfaction.

Diane believes that happy clients make a happy working environment, and it is this that ensures a productive and efficient workforce.

Nina Haddock

Chartered Legal Executive

Nina has over 30 years’ experience in the legal sector. She specialises in recovering compensation for injury claimants as a result of road traffic accidents. Her focus for each and every claim is to help her clients secure the funding that they need to pay for ongoing treatment and support.

Nina became a CILEX Fellow in 2006 and now helps her clients and their families at a time when they have been through a traumatic experience, and everything they hold dear to them appears to be changing.

One case Nina is particularly proud of is supporting a client who had successfully sought asylum in the UK, following a road traffic accident. The claim was successfully pursued through the MIB and the client was left with significant injuries. Her client was able to use the compensation to aid family members with their applications to seek asylum in the UK.

Julian Fox

Cycling Accident Solicitor

Julian qualified as a Solicitor in 2005 and has worked in all areas of personal injury since 2000. Julian has a well-rounded understanding of personal injury law, having represented both claimants and defendants.

Julian always aims for maximum damages to meet his clients’ needs for injury and rehabilitation expenses, and can often secure interim payments to help meet clients’ financial needs. Julian is highly proactive in ensuring cases are progressed, ensuring a timely conclusion.

When not at the office, Julian is a keen cyclist, both on roads and virtually -he will often do an hour of ‘Zwifting’ in the mornings before starting work.

Richard Atherton

Cycling Accident Solicitor

Richard has 12 years of legal experience and qualified as a Solicitor in February 2014. He has been a Team Manager with us since 2019. Throughout his career, Richard has specialised in personal injury, handling an array of Road Traffic Accident cases, in addition to employer and public liability.

Richard prides himself on his very strong strategic and planning skills, which come into their own in complex injury cases where more technical arguments are involved. On every case, he is committed to ensuring that his clients receive full compensation for their injuries.

Away from work, Richard enjoys sport; he is a season ticket holder at St Helens Rugby Club and a Liverpool FC fan. Not only a spectator, Richard also likes going to play golf as often as he can.

Dave Gardner

Litigation Executive

Dave has over 20 years of experience in the legal sector. His specialism is personal injury and he has dealt with hundreds of cycling injury claims during his career. Excellent client care and communication is paramount to Dave. He prides himself on being accessible and available, attending court hearings where damages are in dispute to ensure the best outcome for his clients. One case Dave is particularly proud of is when he supported an elderly client who suffered serious injuries following a road traffic incident. The police had not taken any action against the defendant, so Dave had to be proactive and act within a 24-hour window. The case proceeded and the client was in receipt of £30,000 in damages, which he would not have been entitled to had the client not approached Dave. He is also an avid supporter of Glasgow Rangers and travelled abroad on many occasions to see them play in European competitions.

Gerard Horton

Partner

Gerard is a Senior Solicitor at Cycle SOS. In his 13 years of experience, Gerard has built a national reputation in the catastrophic injury sector, dealing with high value and complex cases. Alongside his legal role, Gerard supports several charities including Headway Central Lancashire, Northwest Regional Spinal Injuries Centre and spinal injury charity, Back Up.

Julia Eyton

Partner

Julia brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Cycle SOS team.

Specialising in representing those who have had life changing injuries, Julia handles some of the most serious and complex personal injury cases both within Cycle SOS and nationally.

She often works on high value claims and is skilled in winning complex liability cases.

NADIA KERR

Partner

Nadia has over 30 years of legal expertise and has represented hundreds of vulnerable road users. With a focus on ensuring timely rehabilitation, speedy repair or replacement of bikes and kit, and securing fair compensation, Nadia is committed to advocating for justice and client rights. Alongside her legal career, Nadia actively participates in national campaigns to benefit vulnerable road users and acts as a Trustee/Director for the national cycling charity, Cycling UK. Nadia was named in Cycling UK’s ‘100 women’ and was a founding member, now running a women’s cycling group, TeamGlow in South Manchester. Among her many achievements, Nadia takes pride in her spot on BBC Breakfast, where she provided expert commentary on long term government funding for pothole repairs.

Caroline Morris

DIRECTOR OF SERIOUS INJURY

Caroline has specialised in personal injury for over 25 years, recovering more than £56 million in damages during that time, to help clients rebuild their lives after injury.

Caroline is committed to achieving rehabilitation options early, meaning her clients benefits from the best care and treatment at the earliest stage possible.