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.