Indoors or outdoors, riding your bike in winter

You know the quote. We’ve all seen it. From inspirational insta-posts to bike shop walls... “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.”

Sure, Eddy Merckx may have first uttered these infamous words long before the advent of turbo trainers and modern-day pain caves, but they still ring true for all of us today.

Sweat It In

The question is though; would The Cannibal have opted for a turbo and an avatar while dishing out pain to other riders on Zwift back then if he’d had the option?

Quite possibly.

Because there’s a whole lot to be said for an indoor sweat session and the results that it can achieve in a shorter burst of time. And, by gamifying indoor riding like this, training actually starts to feel kind of well, less painful. And fun even.

There are now numerous platforms that bring gamification to indoor riding, and with more than 1 million active monthly users, Zwift might be the most popular one. Combining real world training benefits and insights, with virtual, in-game rewards and bonuses, they keep us motivated and coming back for more.

Roller Blade Dreams

In the virtual garage within Zwift, riders can earn and add their favourite Cannondale road bikes; from CAAD13 to SuperSix EVO. To add to the fun on Zwift, as a special treat, we’ve introduced something rather special in the shape of a Halo Bike like no other.

(For Zwifters in the know, a Halo Bike is a high-performance, exclusive bike that’s only available to those riders who’ve gone above and beyond, while going all-in on bikes from a particular manufacturer.)

The R4000 Roller Blade was a fever dream concept bike, born in a time before UCI regulations shaped the bikes we all know today and designed with all-out aero gains in mind.

In fact, only one R4000 Roller Blade was every built, and reputedly only ever seen test-ridden successfully by one fearless man. And now, potentially by you too.

We’re looking forward to seeing who takes the leap and puts in the miles to unlock and upgrade to this incredibly unique ride. There definitely won’t be many of them in Watopia this winter, that’s for sure.

Toughing It Out

Fast forward a few decades and the innovative thinking that has always set Cannondale designers apart continues to flourish.

If Eddy Merckx was donning his merino base layers and getting out there for his winter training miles today, we’d like to think he’d be happy to do so on the latest Cannondale Synapse with SmartSense.

Wherever the road takes you, Synapse is designed to handle whatever comes its way, fast. Meaning you can bring WorldTour performance with you on your winter rides with an endurance rig designed with fast comfort in mind.
Just ask Lachlan Morton why Synapse was his bike of choice when setting off for his record-smashing FKT ride around Australia. This thing flies and does so with comfortable compliance through and through.

Visibly Awesome

Another reason that Synapse is the perfect match for those long winter miles comes in the shape of SmartSense; the integrated system of lights, rear-facing radar and smartphone app that’s only available on select Synapse models.

Not only do you bring more visibility with you on every ride, but you also get more awareness of other road-users around you. Meaning more confidence, whatever time of day or night you’re getting those winter base miles in.

Efficiency vs Adventure

If anything, the toughest thing nowadays is finding a valid excuse not to ride at this time of year.

In or out, hot or cold, as riders, we're all pretty lucky these days. We’ve never had it better in fact.

And with more reasons to ride more of the time, there’s really no wrong or right answer when it comes to winter miles.

As Eddy rightfully says, just riding is the most important thing we can do.