I mountain bike in the spring, summer and fall and want to continue riding in the winter. Since I won't be able to access off-road trails, I'm considering buying a road bike.

Before I spend the money on an entirely new bike, I'd like to know if there are any adjustments I can make to my off-road bike to use it on-road. Can I buy new tires or do I really need to fork over the money for an entirely new bike? Any ideas about a road-biking workout plan? Thanks,
Jenny

Well, Jenny, you have a lot of options. The easiest way to do it is to just buy new tires and put them on your current wheels. Fat, knobby, off-road tires are heavier and have greater rolling resistance than road tires. Since you don't need bite on pavement like you would in the dirt, you can switch to slicks (tires without a raised tread), for riding around town and training on paved roads. Avocet, Specialized, Ritchey and Tioga all make 26" tires (that's the size of your mountain bike wheel) that are intended primarily for road use. You need to be sure that the smaller, narrower models will fit on your current rims.

Another tire option is a semi-slick tire. These tires have a flatter tread pattern in the middle, which cuts down on rolling resistance on hard packed trails, and knobs at the edges for bite while cornering where a slick tire would lose adhesion and slide out. Many off-road trails are hard packed or fire roads and you don't need the big knobbies in these conditions. You really only need the deep tread when you're riding on loose, or muddy trails. Ritchey, Continental, Panasonic and Corratec all make tires of this type.

I swapped my fat knobbies for semi-slick tires before my summer vacation when I went riding on the Cape Cod "Rail Trail" every day. They made my bike easier to accelerate, and allowed me to maintain my speed over undulations that would have slowed me down had I been running the slower tires. When I came home, I did a couple of 65 mile rides with my buddies who were on their road bikes, and I was able to hang on. I could have never done that with the big, studded tires.

The next step up would be to get a new set of wheels built that you could switch back and forth. That way you could ride a lighter pair of slicks on the road during the week, and switch to your heavier off-road wheels on the weekends.

Now your most expensive option is to purchase a road bike, but it is something you should seriously consider, Jenny. If you're going to ride on paved roads exclusively until, say, April, that's really almost half a year. If you live and work in a city, your off-road riding is probably limited to weekends and vacations, even in the warm months. If the majority of your mileage is going to be logged on the road, why not have a road bike too?

Most professional off-road cyclists do at least 60 percent of their training on improved roads. It's easier to get long, easy endurance rides done, and it's easier to be more precise while doing interval training on flatter, paved roads too. You'd have a hard time doing an easy, three-hour ride at no more than 70% of your max, if there are steep, hilly sections on your favorite trail in the boondocks.

For road riding, or any type of cycling, you want to build your endurance base first. Then add quality training in the form of intervals, time trials and hilly rides. Right now, use your time on the roads for building and maintaining your endurance base. As the weather gets really nasty, use an indoor trainer or stationary bike a couple of times per week to guard against missing too many workouts due to bad weather. Another option would be going to a gym. Weight train and ride the stationary bikes there. Or take a spinning class.

A really ordered cycling program takes some thought and more space than I have here. I recommend that you read Serious Training for Endurance Athletes by Steve Sleamaker, before delving into more cycling specific tomes. Read VeloNews for training articles, and to get a glimpse of what the competitive cycling scene is like. Catalogs from Nashbar, and Colorado Cyclist are great places to shop for tires and all your cycling gear.

As you can probably tell, Jenny, cycling is my favorite sport . . . if I don't sign off now, this answer will turn into a book!

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