I love being outdoors. I crave fresh air and nature the way other people crave shopping sprees. I’ve spent most of this year weight training in the gym and at home once the gyms closed. I enjoy lifting weights and building muscle. But I have missed my regular outdoor exercise.

I run once or twice a week but last summer I started cycling with my friend, Monica, as she ran. She runs ultramarathon distances for fun. My kind of crazy lady! We did hours of biking/running together. It is wonderful to get to spend so much time with your friend talking, getting exercise and fresh air. Last year I used Monica’s bike or my daughter’s because my old one was broken.

Monica is increasing her running distance and I told her I would do her longest ones with her. She started training a few weeks ago and I knew that if I waited until the snow melted to get on a bike, I wouldn’t have time to build up my own endurance.

I thought about getting a fat bike with the big tires since we are deep into our Canadian winter. We have ice and snow to deal with for a couple more months. But then I would still need to buy a regular bike for the summer.

My fiancé, Frank, made it his mission to find me a great all purpose bike. We got it last week and I immediately took it out for a quick test drive up in the woods at my home. Then later in the week on the snow covered dirt road with my Vizsla, Ripley. She and I did 10km in an hour. Taking our time and being careful of ice. I wore my ski helmet. Worked perfectly. I froze my butt off though. FYI, don’t wear the clothes you run in, to bike in. Not in winter anyway.

On Saturday, I joined Monica for her long run. It was snowing and I was nervous about the roads being hard to cycle in but I really wanted to try. I made the plan that if I really wasn’t comfortable, Frank would come pick me and the bike up. So I gave it a go.

It was awesome. I was dressed much warmer. Even had heated ski gloves and a ski mask. Once you get gear for one sport, you can often make them work for others. Which leads to more fun activities. My tip, do NOT skimp on gear. If you’re comfortable, you’ll do it more. If you’re not, you’ll do it less.

The snow was so pretty. A real winter wonderland. We did a big 21 km loop together and had the roads mostly to ourselves. We got to chat for 2.5 hours. So much better than the usual 6km/40 minute runs we do together. Since I’ve been weight training and building muscle mass I’ve been keeping my runs short.

I wore my ski mask, helmet, couple shirts, running jacket, heated gloves, two thin pairs of pants, my winter hiking socks and boots. We got some super cold wind towards the end but the only thing that got really cold were my feet. Next time, I’ll put some disposable heat pads in my boots.

I really enjoyed winter cycling and will be going every week from now on. Can’t wait to increase my distance and explore the surrounding area.

One of my big life lessons has been to surround yourself with people who inspire you. Who believe in goals, who motivate you and who never tell you that your idea is too hard or too crazy.

Go crazy. Dream big. Try new things!

What was the last new thing you have tried?

Was it a new sport, a new hairstyle, a new restaurant?

Tell me in the comments below.

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