You cannot just grab your bike whenever you feel like it and disappear for hours. Well, you can, if you live alone or have successfully convinced everyone around you that you are unreliable by design. Most of us are not in that category. We have families, partners, kids, parents, plans. Christmas and New Year come with warmth, food, and company, and all of that quietly limits how and when riding fits in.
This is not about choosing one over the other. Riding is still part of the holidays, just not on your terms alone. It lives in the gaps. In early mornings, short afternoons, unexpected free hours, and days where it simply does not make sense at all.
Think of this as a loose calendar for normal people. Not a plan, not a challenge, and definitely not a checklist. After all, cycling is great, but not arguing with your significant other 2 weeks in a row, especially during the holidays, is even better.
So, let’s have a look at the calendar.
23 December
If you managed to finish your work, or successfully disappear from it, today is your last proper chance to ride like a normal person. This is the final window where riding does not feel suspicious.
You can go a bit longer. You can push a bit more. You can tell yourself this one counts because tomorrow things change. Offices are quiet, roads are quieter, and your calendar is already lying to you about what is possible next.
This is the ride where you leave feeling satisfied, not greedy. You do not need to empty yourself. You just need enough to feel like you earned the food that is coming. Think of it as closing a chapter, not opening a new one.
24 December
This day depends entirely on your situation, and honesty helps here.
If you have a family, riding is off limits. Christmas Eve belongs to other people. Taking time off work is a good idea. Taking time away from the kitchen while someone else cooks and cleans is not. Disappearing for a long ride while the house prepares for dinner is a terrible look, no matter how early you claim it was.
If you live close to your parents, there is a loophole. You offer help. You are politely refused. You insist once more. You are refused again. At that point, you have done your part. A longer ride becomes acceptable. You come back clean, calm, and carrying a good bottle of wine. Preferably something worthy of being called the blood of Christ, since you will be asking for forgiveness later anyway.
So, don’t push your luck. If you don’t have chores, better lay low, and if you can steal a couple of hours with your bike, take it. If not, that’s fine.
25 December
Scratch the Christmas Day ride. Especially if you have kids.
This is not the day to negotiate minutes or watts. This is the day to sit, eat, play, assemble things incorrectly, and pretend you are not thinking about the bike at all. Riding today is rarely worth the trade. Even when it works, it feels rushed. Even when it is short, it costs more than it gives.
There will be food. A lot of it. Potato salad, meat, desserts that make no sense outside of December. Accept it. Enjoy it. Riding will wait. The bike does not need you today, and neither do your legs.
26 December
This is where movement becomes useful again, but only if you redefine what riding means.
Today is made for a family ride. Nothing serious. Nothing structured. A park loop, a gentle path, maybe a Christmas market if one is still standing. The pace is slow, the clothes are wrong, and someone will complain about being cold.
That is fine. The point is not distance or effort. The point is moving together and remembering that bikes are allowed to be fun objects. You stretch your legs, everyone else gets fresh air, and no one needs to shower immediately afterward.
Call it riding if you want. It still counts.
27 December
This is your day.
The house has calmed down. The food damage is real. The social obligations loosen their grip. You finally have space to ride properly, without sneaking or apologizing.
Go longer. Go harder. Enjoy the fact that your legs feel heavy and willing at the same time. This is not punishment for what you ate. It is a celebration that you can still move after all of it.
Ride with purpose, but not with anger. You are not fixing anything today. You are enjoying the simple relief of effort after excess.
28 December
After yesterday, restraint suddenly sounds intelligent.
A recovery ride fits here, but keep it honest. Easy means easy. Two or three hours is plenty, even if the weather and empty roads try to convince you otherwise. Moderation is key, you know.
You roll, you breathe, you let the body settle. No proving, no chasing. Just enough movement to feel human again.
If yesterday was about freedom, today is about control. I mean, controlling the urge to attack that segment for the PR.
29 December
Hopefully, you are on PTO. If not, work, mate. Work. This is not the day to pretend otherwise.
If you are free, the day splits neatly in two. Errands first. Food, drinks, and things you forgot you needed for New Year’s Eve. Do this properly, or it will come back to haunt you later, usually when shops are closed, and patience is low.
If there is time left after that, riding fits nicely. Just a clean window where you can head out without watching the clock every five minutes. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, you still did the important part.+
30 December
This is a very good riding day. One of the best of the season.
Most people are either working half-heartedly or are already gone. Traffic thins out. Roads feel quieter than they have any right to be. For a few hours, it feels like the world forgot about you.
Take advantage of it, but don’t get carried away. Ride steady. Ride relaxed. Enjoy the space more than the effort. This is about solitude, not intensity.
Days like this do not come around often. Treat it as a gift, not a challenge.
31 December
You can steal a couple of hours today. That is the right word. Steal.
Keep it sensible. You will be up late. You will drink. You will stand around more than planned. Riding until you see stars is a poor investment. Save the throwing up for later, and preferably indoors.
This ride is about clearing your head, not emptying your legs. Spin, stretch things out, and come back feeling ready for the evening. You want to start the night tired in a good way, not already ruined.
Know when to stop. Today, rewards are moderated.
1 January
Why are you awake?
Go back to sleep. We will talk again tomorrow.
2 January
First workday of the year, unless you were smart enough to take PTO. If you are working, accept it and move on. If you are not, today has a very specific tone.
This is the ride where you quietly pretend you will honor your New Year’s resolutions. You burn off the excess, feel productive, and briefly believe this version of you is here to stay.
Enjoy that feeling. It is harmless and surprisingly motivating. Just don’t build a personality around it. Ride, come home, and let the rest figure itself out.
3 January
Short and easy works best here.
If you can, take the family along. A slow loop, a bit of fresh air, some mild complaining. Winter riding has a way of earning respect when experienced firsthand.
You keep it light. You keep it friendly. Nobody needs to suffer to learn anything today. The goal is shared movement, not persuasion.
Everyone finishes slightly cold and slightly happier. That is a win.
4 January
This is where the holiday bubble starts to deflate.
Chores you postponed begin knocking. Work looms. The rhythm shifts back toward normal. Riding today is less about effort and more about closure.
Go out if you can, but keep it contained. No big ideas. No grand finales. Just a reminder that the bike is still there, waiting patiently for routine to return.
The holidays end. Riding doesn’t.
When the calendar loses to real life
This calendar works until it doesn’t. Weather has a vote, and it is rarely polite about it. Ice, freezing rain, wind that cuts through everything you own, none of that cares how well a day was supposed to line up. Coming home soaked, shaking, and sick just to feel like you honored some imaginary cycling agreement is a terrible trade. The gods of cycling have enough sacrifices. They do not need yours.
That does not mean the holidays failed. It means you made a reasonable decision. Riding is meant to add something, not take it away. Skipping a day because conditions are miserable, because family needs you, or because rest simply makes more sense is part of doing this well.
The point of riding through the holidays is not consistency for its own sake. It is staying connected to something you enjoy while life briefly runs on a different schedule. Some days that means riding. Some days it means letting the bike wait and sitting down with the people you will remember long after the Strava files are forgotten.
When everything lines up, ride and enjoy it. When it doesn’t, let it go. The calendar was never the goal. The ride, when it actually fits, still is.
