Friluftsliv

 

The weather has been very close to my lower limits the past two weekends but I still managed to get a ride in. Both were mountain bike rides on trails. Going out in cold weather takes two things. First and most important is attitude. You have to believe that going out in the cold is better than staying inside and riding on a trainer. This is sort of the meaning of the Norwegian word Friluftsliv (roughly translated as "free life air") It is the belief that getting outside, no matter the weather, is good for your mental and physical health. My weekend bike rides are one of the things I look forward to every weekend and if I don't get one in then I'm very disappointed and it definitely affects my mood. That is why I will brave the cold and wind even when my body tells me it is going to be painful.

The second thing you need to ride in the cold is good clothing because as another Norwegian phase puts it. "There is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing". Over the years as I have ridden in the cold I have learned what works and what doesn't so that I know have clothing for most weather conditions and can ride comfortably down to about 25 degrees.  When comfortably I mean is that my hands, feet and most of my body is warm enough once I start riding. There is still the initial shock of the cold as  you get your bike out of the car and get ready to ride. This is the time I am usually questioning my decision to be out in the cold but once I get a few miles in I'm always glad I made the effort to come out. 

Going out in the cold is more than getting a few miles outside its about observing nature in the different seasons. For example. It was cold enough for ice to start forming on the Delaware river as the picture at the top of the blog shows. This doesn't happen that often and its interesting and cool to see and makes me glad I did the ride. 

Last week I did the Columbia trail with Laura and we ended up going down by the river. 

There is a certain stark desolation to the landscape in the winter that has its own beauty so it was again worth braving the cold. I did hit some ice and took a spill. Luckily I wasn't going very fast and ended up just falling over side ways. I did bruise my ass a little but was otherwise fine. 

I don't like all the extra layers I have to put on to ride in the cold. Also as I have gotten older the cold seems to cause me to have to ride a little slower to maintain a reasonable heart rate. But I'm happy to ride a little slower and shorter rides if it means I can still get outside on the bike each week.

Common Sense

 

Winter riding is always about trade offs. Even if have good warm cloths you are never completely comfortable. It's hard to dress correctly for cold weather you are either too warm and sweating or a little cold. It takes some common sense and planning to enjoy a ride in the cold weather. 

When, where and the direction you ride have a lot to do with not trying fighting against the elements for a miserable  ride. A couple of weeks ago with temperatures barely above freezing and a nasty north wind I took to the canal path to be sheltered from the wind and did a ride from Washington Crossing to Trenton and back. Riding my mountain bike on the canal path takes more energy which keeps me warmer so it good for rides when the temperatures are below 35 degrees.

Last weekend we had weather in the mid 40s with a south wind so I lead a ride from MCP to Bordentown. There was rain overnight that hung a little longer than expected on Saturday morning so we post pone the start time of the ride until the roads were a little dryer.

Laura and Pete joined me on the ride. It was one of those rides that I was a little over dressed and was sweating by mile10 but I didn't shed any layers because of the wind and the occasional clouds which kept the temperature more or less constant. In fact I think it got colder towards the end of the ride. 

In Bordentown we swung by the river and visited Tom Paine again. As the picture up top shows he didn't have a mask like he did last time we were there.

So either he got the vaccine or realized he was a statue and didn't really need a mask. 

It has been about a year since the first case of Covid was discovered in the US and its got a lot worse since then. We are probably close to the peak in terms of daily cases and deaths as the holiday surges are in full effect now. I know a couple people who were a little lack during the holidays and have gotten Covid although most of them have mild symptoms. 

I do think things will be getting slowly better with the vaccines rolling out and a new more fact base administration in Washington. So hopefully with a little common sense we can all make it through this winter and to a spring that should be better than last years.

So Far 2021 is a Cold Bitch

 

 So far 2021 isn't much better than the end of 2020 but we knew that would be the case. It has been mostly cold and cloudy for the past two weeks. I did lead a road ride last week. It was in the high 40s but there was a strong west wind so we headed from Cranbury over to the canal and back. The wind was a little tough in spots but it felt good coming back into with a tailwind Cranbury.

This Saturday with temperatures in the 30-35 range I decided to skip the road and ride the mountain bike. I was hoping it would have been a few degrees warmer as I wanted to do a ride out of Yardley with the Philly bike club but not at 35 degrees with a strong north wind. 

Instead I took the mountain bike from Washington Crossing down the Trenton and back on the canal path. I didn't get any body to join me but I did meet Jack just after I started heading down the PA side. We spent a few minutes catching up before I headed back down the trail and he headed towards Lambertville. 

At Yardley I left the trail and headed to the parking lot where the Philly bike club was starting their ride. I figured I would stop and say hi to Linda. I spent about 10 mins talking to Linda and a few others. It was nice to talked to some bikers who I don't normally see. Linda had a pretty big group for such a cold and hilly ride. There was even a guy there on a recumbent with electric assist. I'm sure it was an interesting ride but I'm glad I decided to stick to the canal path.  

Although it was around freezing it was sunny so once I got going I was warm enough. There were a few people on the path near Yardley but it thinned out as I got to Trenton. Once I started heading north from Trenton there weren't a lot of people just a bunch of ducks and a deer that actually swam across the canal. 

I know there are another couple of months of winter but I hope there will be a few warmer days ahead.