November to February in the northern hemisphere. Roads closed, no editions, and the wallet is on training camps rather than events.

Cape Town in March is the exception that proves the shape. The alpine and dolomite events cluster in a nine-week window because that is when the high passes are reliably open.

March and April carry a second peak from the spring classics sportives and Mallorca. Maratona ballot opens in January for July.

Club websites and club WhatsApp, Strava clubs and segment leaderboards, event Facebook groups that spike three months out, Weight Weenies for gear, Rouleur and Escape Collective for the culture, local bike shop as the physical clubhouse. Club runs every Sunday, winter chaingangs, a WhatsApp group per trip, one person who always books the van and the apartment and resents it, Strava kudos as the social glue, a shared spreadsheet of who is bringing what spares.

Cape Town Cycle Tour (March), Mallorca 312 and the Paris-Roubaix and Flanders challenge rides (April), Gran Fondo New York (May), Maratona dles Dolomites and La Marmotte and L'Etape du Tour (early to mid July), the autumn Italian fondos through September.