Winter Cyclist's Frame of Mind

I got a call from my oldest daughter yesterday. She was walking home from a McGill library in Montreal. It was a particularly cold night, and she asked what I was up to...

"I just biked Jarvis home from his soccer practice," I said. "Before that I was biking Morgan home from school."

"They're biking with this windchill?", she replied.

"We haven't stopped biking!", I told her.

And there's the rub. My oldest daughter was biking daily in Montreal until she stopped because of the cold or snow or both. And now that she's out of the habit, she tells me it's tough to re-start. She's just not in cycling mode.

I totally get it. The secret to winter cycling, even with 8 and 10 year old children, is not having to re-start because you've never stopped. There's no need to switch on when you've never switched off.

Other than two days we took off a couple of weeks ago because the windchill had it at about -27, we layer up and bike to school and soccer because that's our transportation mode of choice.

It's the only civilized way to travel.