I am a huge proponent of active transportation. Year round. In all kinds of weather.
But, I hit a wall with no reprieve in sight from the copious amounts of snow that we have with yet another 20+ cm that fell this past weekend, which has been marginally cleared.
I have had some excellent cross-country skis out my back door in my local park and I am still walking the dog and for school runs. I will get back on the bike in a few days, with a shovel on board for self-rescue; but yesterday I simply had this huge urge to just RUN and let my legs stretch out at a consistent pace — none of this stop-start with Herculean efforts to get my cargo bike through a windrow bullshit — I just wanted to go and feel my lungs burn. It is doable but a bit tricky outside to really just GO due to the ice and snow.
So, this morning I drove my youngest to preschool.
Drove to the gym.
Hopped on a treadmill and ran for a solid 45 minutes.
It was boring as hell but it felt so damn good to be free and move.
My body aches when it doesn’t move enough and I feel so much better now. Plus, the cobwebs of winter grumps were dusted from my head and I am ready to push through the next few weeks til spring appears (on paper, at least).
Reflection
A life of active transportation doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Some times you gotta do what you gotta do. For me, that is usually unabashedly riding my bike or walking, outside, whatever the conditions. Circumstances dictated that for today, it was inside and on a machine. It was a cultural experience for me and I am very, very glad that it is not my norm. I am also very fortunate to have been able to just go for it today.
I would be even more fortunate if my winter city could just get their shit together and improve their snow management. Oh no wait, the main roads were in impeccable shape. They just prioritize people in cars first.
I scoped out a few transitions that I don’t use as frequently by bike and they looked awful.
