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Winter Training Tips to Stay in Shape for Summer Cycling

Winter is in full swing, and if you’re anything like us at Bike the US for MS, you’re dreading the first long rides of summer where you curse yourself for not keeping in better cycling shape over the colder months. 

Whether you’re training for a long-distance cycling trip or just keeping up your fitness, it’s important to get yourself into the saddle even when it’s the last thing you want to do.

Beat the winter slump with these tips to make cold-weather training more enjoyable and effective: 

Bike the US for MS Alum Amanda Williams demonstrating effective layering

Layer Up

Treat yourself to some high-quality winter cycling gear like waterproof gloves, a helmet liner, and a lightweight shell. The technology for waterproof- and windproof-yet-breathable fabrics keeps getting better and better, so long-gone are the days of turning your plasticky jacket into a sauna on a tough ride.

A good riding buddy will motivate you and keep you from taking the easy way out!

Get a Riding Buddy to Hold You Accountable

Make plans with a friend or a group of riding buddies to increase your likelihood of getting yourself out for a winter ride – you’re more likely to stick to your guns if other people are holding you to it. Keep an eye on the weather for sunnier or less-frigid days and block out a time for a ride together.

A little indoor warmup goes a long way!

Get Your Blood Pumping Indoors First

If the thought of getting off the couch and braving the cold gives you the shivers, warm up by putting on your cycling gear and doing some jumping jacks, lunges, jump squats, and jogging in place in your living room. You might get some strange looks from family members but we promise it’s not as stupid as it sounds! You’ll be ready to get outside into the cold once you work up a sweat. 

A warm post-ride coffee or treat feels even better after being out in the cold

Incentivize Yourself

Ride to a warm brunch spot or coffee shop with friends, or treat yourself to a cozy holiday cocktail after a long ride. Think about how much better than normal a warm shower will feel after you dry off your bike and peel off your layers. If you need bigger stakes to get motivated, sign up for a long-distance ride this spring or summer that will give you no choice but to train this winter!

No shame in retiring the bike to the trainer and working up a sweat indoors!

Get on the Trainer or Exercise Bike

Indoor cycling may be mild torture at best, but it’s a great way to stay in shape and build your endurance when there’s snow on the ground and temps are dangerously low. If you have the means, try out a spin class or put your regular road bike on an indoor trainer. Watch TV on the exercise bike at a local gym. You’ll feel amazing when it’s over! 

Strength training will make you a more powerful athlete

Cross-Train for Better Rides

Stay in shape with workouts in the gym and other forms of cardio! Getting on the stairmaster will help your heart be ready for big hill climbs. Resistance training like squats, lunges, and deadlifts will strengthen the muscles in your lower body that allow you to pedal more powerfully on hills or intense speed efforts. Strengthening your core and upper body will also help with balance and get you out of the saddle easily on steep climbs.

It’s not too late to sign up for a ride in warm, sunny Florida this winter!

Sign Up for a Long-Distance Ride in a Tropical Place

If winter blues are hitting hard and you really can’t force yourself to get outside to cycle in the cold, why not take your bike to the tropics? Sign up for a ride based in Florida for a chance to escape the rain and snow with gorgeous cycling temperatures and sunny beaches. 

Have any tips to share that have helped you stave off the winter training slump? Share them in the comments below to help out your fellow cyclists suffering from seasonal affective disorder!

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How Northern Tier Cyclist and PhD Candidate Mia Cozart is changing the Future of MS Treatment


Meet Mia – a badass PhD student at Georgetown University who’s planning to ride across the country on our Northern Tier route this summer. She’s set to complete her thesis about a potential new drug target for multiple sclerosis treatment this spring.


Both her research and her upcoming ride across the country have been inspired by her mom, Deb Cozart, who was diagnosed with MS when Mia was four years old.

Mia and her mom, Deb


Mia was kind enough to answer a few interview questions about her groundbreaking research and her mom as her inspiration for cycling across the country:


Rayna: Can you tell us a little about your PhD thesis research? What are you studying and what have you found?


Mia: Current FDA approved therapies for MS help slow disease progression but do not stop it in its tracks. Chronic, prolonged inflammation in the brain and spinal cord is what causes disease progression in people with MS. There is a need for discovering new drug targets that combat this chronic inflammation. My PhD thesis is focused on a potential new drug target found on T cells, an immune cell that is known to be the orchestrator and initiator of most inflammatory processes. This drug target is a protein channel that allows metabolic fuel, such as amino acids, into the cell. Just as our muscles use protein as fuel to function and grow, our cells use amino acids to do the same. My data has shown that without this protein target allowing amino acids into T cells, mouse models of MS do not develop the disease.

Rayna: What might your results mean for the future of MS treatment?


Mia: In MS, the immune system attacks the cells that create the myelin sheath in our brain and spinal cord. If you think of your neurons as wires in an electrical cord, the cells that create myelin sheath serve the same purpose as a rubber wire coating would by giving support and protection to our neurons. A new drug target that stops chronic inflammation targeting the myelin sheath would help with the recovery process that fails in most people living with MS. This recovery process is called remyelination, in which our body’s own stem cells are recruited to the site of damage created by the immune system in the brain and spinal cord.


However, more needs to be understood about recovery for those living with progressive stages of MS. A deeper understanding of the cause MS is also an important focus in the field. With the last few years showing more promise than ever pointing towards a cause involving infections like Epstein Barr Virus in combination with environmental or epigenetic factors. I have hope that we will see some great advances in the field in our lifetime and I’m honored to contribute to even a small part!

Rayna: How has your mom inspired you in your research and your daily life?


Mia: I was 4 years old when my mom was diagnosed with MS. I grew up watching her struggle with the disease while simultaneously being the best mom to ever exist. The most inspiring thing about my mom is her positive mental attitude towards every situation, good or bad. Her positive attitude and sense of humor has made such an unpredictable disease seem so manageable and has held our family together through the toughest times. Around my second year of college, I was taking classes thinking I wanted to major in architecture but that was the time my mom’s MS began to progress to a point where she had lost a lot of her independence. This was a huge change for my family and seeing my dad take on the role as her caretaker has been one of the most profound acts of love I’ve seen from any human. It was at this time that I declared my major in neuroscience and haven’t looked back since towards dedicating my life to understanding multiple sclerosis.

I am grateful for the perspective that I have being a scientist making new discoveries for a disease I have lived with for most of my life. This perspective allows me to understand the disease from all angles, it has given me the empathy to understand what each person living with MS is really going through, it has allowed me to communicate my research in a way everyone can understand, and has motivated me to work towards the goal of a world without MS.

Rayna: What are you most looking forward to about riding across the country with our Northern Tier team? What are you most nervous about?


Mia: Being in a PhD for 5 years, the best way I have managed my stress was through exercise. I became a spinning instructor at school and have enjoyed every minute of being part of others fitness journeys! I’m so excited to meet others impacted by MS and ride across the country with them for such a great cause! I’m most nervous about finding a trail buddy. Although some rides will be nice at my own pace I’m definitely looking for people who will push me!


Rayna: Is there anything else you want to talk about or an answer to a question you wish I had asked?


Mia: 1 in 300 people in the US have MS but if you consider everyone impacted by MS (caretakers, family members, children, parents, friends) that number is much higher. Maybe one day we will live in a world without MS but for now I’m honored to be part of that contribution through my research and through organizations like BiketheUSforMS! #doitforDeb

If you’re as inspired by Mia as we are, consider donating to her fundraising page for the Northern Tier. We can’t wait to see the amazing things Mia accomplishes and the impact she has on the future of treatment for people living with MS.