Ah, off season, we meet again.
A time to refresh, recharge and, yes, prepare for another season wondering if anyone can beat Tadej?
For some of us the end of the pro racing calendar for another year is a chance to forget about bikes for a while. Put the feet up, enjoy the festive season, let your leg hair grow back a little and maybe even follow the cricket for a couple of months.
Of course for many others here in Australia it’s the exact opposite, a chance to break free of SBS (or your VPN) for a while and take the opportunity to ride further and more frequently, day after day, with legs turbo-charged by the absence of European-timezone-induced sleep deprivation.
Arm warmers and long fingered gloves can be safely packed away. This time of year is all about sunscreen especially now the magpies are beginning to settle back down.
Bunches are caressed by warmer weather, days begin with earlier and lighter mornings, before ending with golden twilights that stretch deep into the evening.
Where I live, the Blue Mountains, it’s a magical time of year to hit the gravel trails, you just need to keep your eye out for those pesky red bellies and copperheads lurking in the shadows that look way too much like branches until the last moment. That said, snake dodging is an excellent way to improve your bike handling skills.
One of my good friends, a true pro cycling tragic, uses his off-season to rewatch the biggest races of years gone by, typically as he spins the legs on the trainer. Giros from the 90’s. Tours from the Cadel years. Monuments of every vintage. To paraphrase Roy and HG ‘too much cycling is barely enough’ for him.
With annual pilgrimages to the Tour Down Under just over the horizon, or perhaps the Festive 500 over Christmas, it’s an ideal time for many Aussie cyclists to get some serious kilometres in the legs in preparation. Greenhill Road and the Corkscrew aren’t getting any easier, after all.
Yet whether we prefer to ride or rest at this time of year, before we know it the off-season will be done.
The National Championships begin in Perth on January 6, 2027. Then comes the Tour Down Under in Adelaide from January 16-24, closely followed by the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong from January 17-31.
Then it’s off to the UAE Tour from February 15 and Opening Weekend in Belgium a fortnight later.
Thus, the cycle begins again.
Peter Maniaty
Peter Maniaty - Peter is Bicycling Australia’s senior journalist, and highly respected in the world of cycling. From bike reviews, to destination features and nitty gritty opinion pieces, he’s a gun writer.
