“So, what do you guys do in the off-season?”

Most of the time this gets asked by someone wondering about a “job.” From those a bit more knowledgeable about the sport, it’s referring to something we do to fill our time, figuring that the bike goes in the garage and gets to collect cobwebs ‘til the first camp gets things going again in a few months’ time. Not quite.

I should say right now that this is probably going to earn me some hate mail, or maybe stacks of projects on my doorstep to fill my new found free time. Either way, no sympathy asked for here. The off-season is like being retired, but better: You’re still young; you get paid to simply play or sit on your ass, depending on that day’s mood; and after a long season it goes by so quickly that you feel completely deserving and haven’t a moment where you say, “Jeez, I’m a slacker and should really be doing something productive with my time.” It’s just the right amount of time to soak it in, drink up (literally and figuratively), and recharge for the season ahead.

We all have different ways to fill our time, often starting with sleep. Lots of it. Followed by lounging mornings. One coffee with the paper, one over some web browsing, a bit of breakfast, some stretching —only after an appropriately long hour or two to get going can a cyclist in the off-season attack the day ahead.

Of course, there are the days of mountain biking, hiking, skiing, running, swimming, yoga, or other “training” activities — often the ones that you crave during the season but are too busy and/or one-dimensional to take up. But lots of time gets spent working on the stack of projects built up over the course of the season.

My list generally starts up in mid-April with the things that need attention around the house. For me, and a lot of other guys it seems, this is a big time-consumer. Whether it’s yard and garden work, garage organization, painting, cleaning, re-tiling the bathroom, replacing the hinges on that door that’s been squeaking for the past threee years, or building a new deck to enjoy the off-season on, the list seems to become endless. Then there are the wants: Mine this year was to build a wood-fired pizza oven in the back yard. It looks like that one is going to get bumped back to the fall of ’09.

A few weeks of those, and amazingly it’s already time to start rebuilding a bit of structure — a few days a week in the gym, a bit more focus on the cross-training activities, and a bit more time back on the skinny-tired steed. Come mid-November we’re back on the bike for some significant hours. Normally there’s a camp in there, too, and a week is spent on the important press/PR side; taking the team pictures, meeting sponsors, getting new equipment together and having some fun with the guys during the one time all year that the entire team is in one place.

By mid-December there’s some real structure coming back in the rides and more of the surrounding time is devoted to taking better care of yourself, making sure to stretch a bit more, maybe getting a massage from time to time. Christmas and the New Year bring a few more rest days, letting you fully relax once again, knowing of the push ahead. By mid-January the camps have started up and the season is just around the corner. And then you’re suddenly back on the start line with a bunch of other pasty, bundled-up cyclists and the season is on.

It’s always a shock how fast the time off goes, so now’s the time to soak it in, look back on the season just completed, and then focus on what’s ahead — maybe sneaking in just a bit of fun first.

Will Frischkorn is a professional rider on the Garmin-Chipotle team who occasionally shares his journals with VeloNews.com readers.