It's really about getting out into the air and getting personal with the weather. For years, I let dark, wintry weather keep me in a state of restless comfort seeking. I moved from my dark cave at home to my dark cave at work. My car, frequently stuck in congestion, was nothing but a tunnel or a semi-state between caves. The metro is worse, standing nut to butt with strangers with sad faces.
So I ride into the bitter wind, and even in cold sharp rain to feel alive for a couple hours a day. The last three Tuesdays have tested my mettle a bit. Into the wind, and through a deluge 3 weeks ago, I got so mad I thought I might hurl my bike into rt. 123 when the light wasn't fast enough. A hot shower fixed it all. I love it. It's never the same. Fun, right?
Getting uncomfortable more often has been enlightening. Be it running, or cycling across country with bags of nuts and a tent. It seems the most memorable moments, the challenging ones that stick, involve some level of discomfort. So cycling in winter is really not the point. The discomfort quiets the mind. Simple pleasures like a warm shower at the end take on significance. Fixing your own flat, picking yourself up off the pavement, or braving unsavory conditions show you something about yourself. The power to recognize intense beauty is enhanced as you see the day by day changes of certain trees, the slow yellowing of grass, the different hues of 1000 skies all become significant at unpredictable moments. This is why I find it compelling. This is why I ride in winter.
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