Cycling provides sense of freedom during pandemic
Cycling has been my salvation during the pandemic.
The most recent lockdown has left me feeling cooped up and confined most of the time, robbed of the things I enjoy about my life. I can’t go for a greasy-spoon breakfast or a weekend getaway with my wife or a junior hockey game with my Dad. The list of things I can’t do is agonizing long.
But I can still cycle. Even the most stringent lockdown measures still say it’s OK to go outside and get exercise and so I have been, racking up more kilometres of saddle time in January and February than ever before. Riding has given me a sense of freedom since I was a little kid and that’s never really changed — or been more important. Riding in the winter does have its challenges of course, mostly that it can be freezing cold.
On one recent outing, the sleeves of my jacket got wet and then froze more or less solid, making it more difficult to move my arms than expected. Keeping fingers and toes warm can be a constant battle.
But it’s amazing how the body adapts. With the right clothes — lots of layers is key — a decent set of gloves and boots as well as a ski helmet and goggles, even double-digit negative temperatures are bearable. Another key: stay out of the howling wind.
That means riding on snowcovered trails and while you don’t need a special kind of mountain bike to do that, it certainly does help. The key is tires: mine are both wide and studded, meaning I can float over loose snow and grind over grey ice. Yes, there is the occasional spill but falling into a snowbank is usually more of a laughing matter.
I’m hardly alone out there. The trails near my house have been busier than usual this winter with walkers, hikers, bikers and runners. There are lots of new puppies, too. Everybody gives each other a wide berth while usually offering a smile and wave, a friendly reminder that while life these days can feel very alone, we are all going through it together.
My plan is to keep riding into the spring and summer. A year into the pandemic, I’ve learned not to get my hopes up about life returning to some semblance of normalcy any time soon. There are vaccine delivery issues and variants and talk of a third wave and more lockdowns. It’s exhausting and frustrating and completely beyond my control.
What I can control: my bike and how often I ride it. As someone who has cycled consistently for the last 15 years or so, it’s always been an important element of my physical and emotional well-being. But during these strange times, it’s become something even more, a reminder that there is still joy in the simple things that bring me pleasure.