Open TrainingPeaks and scroll back to January.

Ask yourself how the season went and you'll get a feeling. The feeling is usually kinder than the calendar. I remember riding 420 watts at 68kg for 25 minutes to podium the hill climb champs in 2012. I'm 80-plus kilos now, and my head still thinks I can do that. I can't

So don't trust the feeling. Score the season out of 10 on six areas. Your lowest numbers tell you underdeveloped areas you could show some extra attention to this winter.

1. Training structure and adherence

Look at your TrainingPeaks and count the sessions you did against the sessions you planned. A few weeks of that tells you if your plan was realistic. Then look at session follow through. Were your zone 1 and zone 2 rides easy? Where was the intensity distribution for the ride?

Was the Saturday group ride really endurance, or two hours of attacks and hanging on?

If you scored yourself below 5 out of 10, that's an area to work on this winter. The plan didn't fit your week, and we can fix that next season.

2. Nutrition

Did you fuel your rides, or did you wait until you were empty? When I had Dr Sam Impey on the podcast, everyone wanted to talk about 120 grams of carbohydrate an hour. His advice for amateurs was simpler.

If I apply his advice to this scoring system it would be:

Below 5 out of 10: start with fuelling on the bike. Aim for about 60 grams an hour, one gram a minute, and practise it on your long rides so you find out what your stomach tolerates before an event does. Eat more on hard days and less on easy ones.

It's not complicated but it's a great start.

Performance nutritionist Evan Lynch shared a simple food-first tip on the podcast: kefir yoghurt, chia seeds and blueberries. Fermented food, fibre and polyphenols in one bowl. Fuel your rides, but don't neglect what you eat off the bike either.

3. Strength and conditioning

Did you lift this year? Dr Andy Galpin told me riding alone isn't enough. (Especially if you're like me, now the wrong side of 40)

The kick goes first: the jump out of a corner, the surge on a climb.

Everyone needs to lift. Get a few sessions with a good trainer and learn a squat or leg press, a hip hinge, a single-leg exercise, a pull, a push and some trunk work. Two thirty-minute sessions a week is enough to start. A 2025 review pooled seventeen studies in endurance cyclists, and heavy strength training improved cycling efficiency and performance on average.

Score your gym work.

4. Training group and community

Who did you train with, and who would have noticed if you stopped?

If you score below 5 out of 10, do this: put one fixed appointment with another person in the diary. A friend waiting outside the bike shop with lights on, this Tuesday at 6pm after work, is a much clearer plan than 'I'll squeeze something in.'

5. Recovery

How did you sleep? Not just what your wearable says. Marry the wearable score with your subjective analysis. Do you have bad sleep hygiene (phone scrolling just before bed)?

Score below 5 out of 10: and you've some easy gains.

When Joe Friel came on the podcast and I asked about ageing and performance, sleep was one of the first things he brought up. It's such an easy win if you're doing it badly.

6. Goal setting

Did you have something to build towards? Did you have supporting goals on the way to main goal. Did you have process goals (check points along the way)

If this is an area you neglected lock it in for next season. A solid goal has got me out the door on so many dark nights.

Tot them up. Your two lowest scores should be a big focus this winter.

Which one scored lowest for you? Hit reply and tell me.

P.S. New on the podcast: The Best & Worst Cycling Sessions To Get Faster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cocruIsv69A

P.P.S. Applications are open for our Not Done Yet coaching program: roadmancycling.com/apply

Anthony