Here in Minnesota, it gets cold in winter-time. And I mean cold from November until early April. We're talking four-layers of clothing before you put your coat on, liners for your heavy chopper mittens, car exhaust freezing to pavement, covering all exposed skin for fear of frostbite, icicles forming on facial hair, and your boogers freezing. Remember January of this year? It didn't get much above 10 degrees and our cars took longer than the usual 15 minutes to warm up in the morning before work.
Okay, I might be exagerating a little about how miserable it is in the winter. There isn't much that's more pretty than a fresh dusting of snow on our trees and icicle lights. And I do actually (80% of the time) enjoy shoveling the driveway. As for sports, I enjoy downhill skiing, ice hockey, and I'd like to learn to snowboard this season. (Money is an issue.)
But, I digress. What's a girl to do when her "bike-on-the-brain" mindset clashes with plummeting temperatures and many more layers of clothing? Substitute and improvise. Here are a few ideas for when the snow flies:
-Shovel the walk/driveway/mailbox
-Beg/borrow/buy/rent cross-country skis and hit the proper trails
-Beg/borrow/buy/rent downhill skis and go find a hill
-Beg/borrow/buy/rent a snowboard and boots and go find a hill, mind your rear-end
-Beg/borrow/buy/rent a pair of snowshoes and hit the trails
-Try speedwalking in snowboots and snowpants around your neighborhood
Until next time, ride long and keep the rubber-side down.
