In a Cold Cycle

Crap. It's the end of my bike riding season. For outdoor bike riding that is. Time to move things inside to the stationary bike. Blech! I hate the stationary bike. What rider doesn't? It's too boring. I'd much rather be outside riding the real thing with the air and scenery going by. But now it's getting too cold. I hate riding a bike in the cold. Besides being real cold it saps my strength like you wouldn't believe. My last ride was earlier this week and it was 38º F out. I had to cut it short. It was too much effort to ride. Exhausting. I was tired after that short ride. I pushed through on a cold ride a couple of days earlier and payed the price of fatigue for the rest of the day. Can't do that anymore.

Mornings are my time to exercise so I have a tough time waiting for the afternoons to roll around when the day warms up a little. I could ride for a couple of more weeks in the afternoons but I have much less energy in the afternoons. Besides it doesn't warm up that much because these autumn winds are cold. I even got myself a windbreaker this year and it works well. It's much warmer with it on but the cold still saps my strength. I wasn't actually too cold but too weak. I guess when the body's energy has to be used to keep warm there is less of it for the legs. I'd have to warm up a lot first to keep my strength up. That would take even more time.

There is also something to be said about the psychological factor of winter coming compared to spring. Cycling in the cold of the early spring is easier because I know that the mornings will be getting warmer day by day. That's something to look forward to. In the winter it's the opposite. I keep wondering, "Is this the day that will be too cold?". That's a distraction. You don't want those out on the road. Snow, ice, and wind aren't very good either. It can be tough to cycle in a warm wind and in a cold one near impossible.

So now I'll sit in one place and pedal. I'll watch some TV while I do this but that still doesn't make it very interesting. It's less exercise in the same amount of time too. When I'm out on the road I go up some pretty big hills. I can turn the resistance up on the stationary bike and pedal harder but it's not the same. It takes more effort but less concentration to go up a real hill on a real bike. After all, I have no choice. I have to keep going or I won't get home. My legs will keep on pedaling even if I'm not as focused as I could be. On the stationary bike if I get a little tired and lose concentration I can just stop pedaling or turn down the resistance. And it's easy to lose concentration when you're going no where.

I think I'll start hitting the stationary bike in the morning and taking a walk in the afternoon. After all my bike ride also serves to get me out of the house and away from the computer screen or the drawing board for a while. Otherwise I'm inside all day and that can lead to a bit of cabin fever. Especially in the winter time. And here comes the ol' papa winter to say hello.