It is winter here now. 

I do this ‘thing.’ 

I don’t think you need to hear my ‘thing.’ 

I try my best to leave out talking about ‘moi moi moi.’ 

But I will just make a quick exception for the next few sentences. 

Only because it is something that I discovered. 

Have you ever been doing something, and you have been doing this something for a very long time, and then it hits you that there is a better way? 

For me, it was how I was getting my bikes tuned. 

I would take them in at the start of the season and not at the end. 

When spring came, I would take them to the shop and get them all tuned up and ready. 

…along with the other one hundred people. 

Then it hit me. 

I was doing it wrong. 

Why don’t I do it at the end of the season? 

That is what I do now, and it is wonderful. 

The shop is empty. 

This is how I do it. 

When I know my weeks are numbered, I finish my ride at the bike shop. 

I leave my bike, and I walk home.  

I then ride another bike while that one is getting tuned. 

I wait for the call from the shop, aka Steve, to tell me that my bike is ready to be picked up. 

I finish my ride at his shop, leave the bike I was riding, and pick up the one that is all shiny and tuned. 

I WALK IT HOME. 

I will not ride that bike until the spring. 

I (haha, I have a few) then ride the next bike and repeat this process until I am down to my last bike. 

I will ride this one as long as I can. 

It is the last one. 

I will ride it until the very last day. 

The day that precedes the day of 30 CM of snow. 

I am looking over at them right now. 

They are cleaned and tuned, with new brakes, chains, and a few new tires, and are as black as black can be. 

They are all good to go, champing at the bit for spring. 

I dusted one the other day. 

I know some of you are reading this from warm climates. 

The idea of not being able to ride year-round is not something that crosses your mind. 

It is a fact of life here. 

I mean, I could ride, but it is not the way I like to ride. 

I am not into it. 

Snow. 

Slush. 

Ice. 

Extra cautious. 

Slow on curves. 

Not too fast. 

Gradually with the brakes. 

Cold. 

Really messy. 

I switch to skiing. 

I switch to walking. 

I go on aimless walks in the winter. 

My city is great for that. 

When you drive, you drive right past things. 

When you ride, you notice things, you slow down. 

When you walk, you stop, you go in. 

It is a nice little rhythm. 

All the places I rode by, I know I will visit in the winter. 

I walk the paths I ride on and walk through forests I could never ride through. 

In the summer, on beautiful sunny days, I lock in my head how great it is. 

I have a few spots where I do this. 

I walk them in the winter, in blizzards, in the cold, and try to bring those rides back. 

If the bike season was the week, Monday to Friday would be the rides. 

The weekends would be the winter, and we would be at an early Saturday morning right now. 

I have a little way to go. 

BUT it is the weekend. 

On my walk today, I am going to stop and go in that really cool store I have ridden by all summer. 

‘If Riding Was a Week’ 

Insert toboggan emoji here. 

‘There is another way to ride.’