The Simple Pleasures (Type Two… ) of Riding in Winter

           

            Riding bicycles of all kinds is an incredible experience, there’s no doubting that fact. Especially in the summer, when daylight takes up the majority of our 24 hours, going outside in shorts is the norm, and flip flops are basically mandatory. It’s easy to get out for a ride in warm weather with the sun cheerfully shining down. The winter months here in the PNW are a different story. We’re fortunate enough to have the ability to ‘ride all year,’ but riding through the daylight-starved months is definitely not for the faint of heart.  It’s far harder to get motivated to face the driving rain and plastering mud. Only those dedicated or crazy enough willingly seek out frozen fingers, numb toes, the reality of cleaning equipment daily and far too many loads of laundry.

               But underneath the misery there’s a sense of accomplishment that comes with riding year-round. Having the commitment to continue practicing a sport through thick and thin, rain or shine, mud or dry, brings about a sense of the sport’s intricacies akin to no other. Learning how to corner through a puddle, discovering the best ways to keep proper circulation through hands and toes, or experiencing the dull taste of iron after a hard effort provides a whole new appreciation for riding a bicycle.

               I’m not sitting here saying everyone needs to willingly suffer to enjoy riding; not at all. To be completely honest, I can’t really recommend that everyone goes out and spends four hours in 35 degree rain, only to come home and sit on the floor in a fetal position fighting off the agony of reperfusion… it’s quite unenjoyable. If the goal is to get more people on bikes, then let’s make riding a pleasant experience full of sunshine and smiles. And if that what the sport means to you… that’s perfect. Hell, if I had the opportunity to never ride in leg warmers again I’d happily jump on board.

               All I’m saying is that there’s a feeling of accomplishment when you get home with a splatter-painted face of mud, when there’s a trail of wet clothes leading towards the shower, and when a cup of anything warm is the most incredible thing in the world. A smile is a smile, no matter whose face it occupies or whether or not said face is too frozen to actually form a smile… and there’s not many better ways to bring smiles to faces than riding a bicy
cle. Plus, when the sun finally breaks through the clouds and the elusive summer begins to creep over the horizon, when you can arrive home at 7:30 with ample daylight to spare… those hours spent riding in shorts and sun lenses are pure paradise.