To start with, let’s be clear that not all breaks are bad for your cycling fitness. On the contrary, we’ve previously looked at a full six reasons to take an end of season break - a good block of downtime off the bike can help you rest, recover and reignite your competitive fire.
But on the other hand, kickstarting your riding after taking an unplanned (and relatively long) break is not the easiest thing to do. Being out of breath on a climb that you used to dance up with ease is quite often the unmotivating reality.
