Winter Cycling… Why?!
Scott reflects on why he chooses to ride his bike through the winter… in Winnipeg!
By Scott Gerbrandt, Manitoba Director
February 4, 2025
Just last week I participated in a UofM student’s study on winter cycling in Winnipeg. I was asked to take 20 pictures on my winter commute to my office, and then be interviewed answering 10 questions and rating the quality of my ride from high to low based on the 20 photos I took.
“Why do you ride your bike in the winter?” (one of the 10 questions that I was asked.)
Periodically, I get this question from people. It is usually in the context of me telling a recent story of one of my rides and it is often delivered in a mixed tone of awe, bewilderment, respect, and disgust.
But the question is legitimate. Why do I ride in a place where winters can have temperatures below -31 (-43 with windchill!)?
Often, I have a quick, cheeky and intentionally inaccurate response…
“It’s a mix: 30% is due to poor transit routes to my office; 30% is poor character (stubbornness & fierce independence); 20% is because it helps me integrate physical exercise into my daily routines; 10% for the environment and 10% because I like it… AND 100% is bragging rights! (yes – another character flaw)”
However, today as I reflect a bit more deeply on my “whys” behind biking and how the daily commute has shaped me I find that my “whys” have matured. It is no longer just an ‘efficiency hack’ for daily exercise; nor is it a cynical response to my shrewd and miserly thoughts of family economics. These are now utterly insufficient to describe the experience I have of the local environment with my body, mind, spirit. Most simply put – my morning commute has become one of the most integrated practices of self and the world that I do each day.
To be clear, my daily commute is rarely a utopian flow of unicorns and rainbows (some days are better than others). There are plenty of days that have:
“Ugh – I don’t wanna…”
“WHAT AM I DOING?!” (when the days are -25 and it feels like I’m riding an exercise bike turned up to 10 through sand).
However, almost every ride has me at some point mixing my thinking, my prayers for me, my prayers for others all inter-mingled in the sensory adventure of sights, wind, sun, sounds, and smells. This past fall my commute had me standing up pedalling hard against some 70 km winds while I interceded in prayer for friends navigating significant challenges in their life.
I’ll also not forget the time where I was able to slow down and observe an eagle resting on a branch by the river shrouded in thick fog… on the very day of the US election.
So, why do I commute on my bicycle all year around? For me it has become a place where I am able to practice my full-self while rooted in my local environment. It has become a place where I practice hard things; and where I experience fleeting beauty in the rhythms and routines of the daily and ordinary.
What’s a practice that you participate in that engages YOUR whole-self?
Photos by: Scott Gerbrandt
Want to know more about what A Rocha is up to in Manitoba?
Come join Scott, Manitoba director, on Feb 24th, to hear stories of impact, the future direction of A Rocha in Manitoba, and discover how you can partner with us as we seek to fulfill our vision of a hope-filled world where communities flourish as people and nature thrive together.