Love Winter week: Your guide to riding through the colder months

All this week on Cycling Weekly our Love Winter specials will be celebrating the virtues of riding through winter and showing you how to best prepare you and your bike so you can enjoy it to the full.

For many, the arrival of the colder weather and the clocks going back signal the time to hang up the bike and hibernate, or just prepare for a few months on the turbo trainer. But it doesn't have to be that way, as the right kit and the essential changes to your bike can allow you to enjoy those crisp winter mornings in the lanes as much as you do in the height of summer.

Our tech articles will look at the most significant changes you can make to winterise your bike, including the type of tyres you should look out for and whether you need to change your wheels out for something winter-specific. Getting cold is of course the most important factor to consider before you head out for four hours in the winter months, and we'll show you how best protect your extremities as well as a checklist of the kit that is an absolute must.

Motivation can be a huge hurdle for all of us as the days get shorter and the sun maks fewer and fewer appearances, so we've asked the pros how they keep themselves driven to get out on the road bike and what other activities help them keep the motivation high.

Love Winter stories

- Winter kit checklist: what you need to keep riding

- Should you change your wheels for winter?

- Keeping clean: ways to protect you and your bike through winter

- What kind of tyres do you need for winter?

- No more numbness: how to keep the sensation in your hands and feet in the cold

- How to winterise your bike

- Here’s everything you need to keep you riding through the winter (promotional feature)

- How to stay motivated through winter – top tips from the pros