Where is your cycling motivation at this time of the year? Old-man winter seems to encourage us to do nothing on the couch and chunk on some potato-chip pounds...
Dark, evil excuses are all too easy and come quickly to mind taking away the cycling motivations we had just a short few months ago...
It is dark, the days are short...the weather is cold, rainy, snowy, and windy...the roads are slick, icy, full of yuk, mud, water, and grit that seems to end up in every part of your bike and in your mouth...your chain screams in pure agony on every ride from the nasty, salty, wet grit and mud that is rapidly wearing it down to a quick death...you have a streak of mud up you back side that looks like you just diarrhea'd yourself.
Hmmm...a rather bleak picture if you let the winter blahs get you down. Personally I love winter riding...I love the cooler temps, wearing layers, the challenge of riding in adverse weather, and riding on snow...
This is the time of year to thumb your nose at the negative mind games winter plays on your weak psyche and find the wonderful positive aspects and challenging fun times that are to be had in winter riding...
I love it when people drive by rubber-necking and drop-jawed as I ride by on my bike in the snow, rain, or in cold temps. They just don't understand the party going on inside me while I ride.
This is the time of year that single-speeds rule since there is no drive-train to get gummed up with all the yuk-stuff. While other people are lifting weights and doing spin classes in the gym, I'm getting a full-body workout by power-stroking up steep hills with one gear and spinning my guts out everywhere else while enjoying the outdoors. Any day and any given time, outdoor cycling beats suffering in a stale, sweat smelling, in-door gym with some strange muscle-ego dudes and dudettes...I'm truly a little cycling wimp that feels like a caged lab rat in a gym.
So where does your winter motivation lead you? Are you a couch-turd chunking on fat from all the tasty goodies while complaining about your weight gains or are you smiling while riding your bike, taking on the challenge of winter, and laughing at those rubber-necking-jaw-dropped looks you are getting while riding a bike now?
