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Now that the wet and cold of winter is upon us, you may be considering adding a little group riding with your local cycle club to your routine. Or perhaps you’ll still ride on your own throughout the winter. Either way, it makes sense to make a few modifications to your bike if at all possible - and anything’s possible if you want to …

Here are my top 5 modifications to make your winter riding more pleasant:

1. Put mudguards on your bike. Yes, you heard me correctly, mudguards. If you’re going to ride in a group, this is simpy good manners. Nobody likes a face full of mud and … (I live in the country near lots of farms, you figure it out!). Ideally, add a flap to the end of the rear mudguard so that it nearly touches the road, this minimises the spray you’ll kick up. Most racing bikes have too little clearance for full mudguards, but you can either buy some very nifty clip-on ones or you can customise a pair of full ‘guards as I did. Your mates will appreciate it, trust me. Oh, and if you’re only going to ride on your own, at the very least you’ll have a dry backside.
2. Get some lights. And I do mean good lights. You need at least one red rear LED light just to be legal in most places, I’d have two - one constant beam, one flashing. I’d leave these on the bike for the whole winter, ‘cos I’ve lost count of the times I’ve ridden in poor light, mist and rain when lights just made sense. On the front, you need something that throws a good beam on the road. While strictly legal, flashing white LEDs are simply risking your safety - while you may be seen, they do nothing to help you see where you’re going. Get a good set of lights and you may even be able to get in good mileage at night this winter. A few years ago, I averaged an extra 200 miles per week by riding in the dark!
3. Change your tyres to a pair that are puncture-resistant. Wet weather plays havoc with tyres because little bits of grit and other muck gets stuck to the surface and then works its way into the tyre, leaving you standing by the side of the road trying to change a flat with numb hands in sub-zero conditions. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need lots of tread on a wet weather road bike tyre - tread on a car tyre is there to aid water dispersal and prevent aqua-planing. There isn’t enough surface area on a road bike tyre to cause you to aqua-plane, if you’ve fallen off in wet conditions, you probaby did something silly!
4. Buy a chain cleaner… and use it regularly. Nothing wears out componentry on your bicycle faster than grit on a chain. A number of companies make these things now and at a good price - certainly cheaper than buying new chains, cassettes and derailleurs all the time. And it’s a lot less messy than cleaning your chain manually all the time.
5. Finally, get yourself a can of water-dispersing lubricant (brands in the UK include GT85 & WD40). And again, use it regularly. Ideally, wash your bicycle down after every wet ride with warm soapy water, rinse it off and then spray anything that moves. You really will prolong the life of your bicycle. I know, you’ll be cold, wet and tired. And the last thing you want to do is to clean your bike, but think about all the salt, mud and … (farming area, remember!) and what it will do to your bike if you don’t. Oh, and remember to lubricate your chain with something else which is actually meant for the job.

With a bit of thought, you can make riding in a cold, wet winter a lot more pleaseant. In fact, there have been periods in my triathlon career when winter was my favourite time to ride. And if you get it right and ride consistently, next season you’ll be a whole lot faster.