Michael Banovsky

I was fighting a headwind on the way to work yesterday. It reminded me of the first time I experienced blustery weather on the way into work. It was horrible.

I was on my heavy Batavus city bicycle, loaded down with a laptop, change of clothes, lunch, and things for work. The whole ensemble—including me, obviously—weighed close to 300 lbs, I’m sure. 

No matter what gear I was in, no matter how much I tried to crouch, I couldn’t make the journey any easier on myself.

It’s been a solid year of commuting nearly every day by bicycle along Lake Ontario, and my approach is completely different now.

Instead of the heavy Batavus, I take instead a nimble, sporty single speed bike. Instead of a heavy pack, I take only the essentials. No change of clothes, no laptop, no papers for work.

But the biggest change is how I ride. I now look straight ahead, into the wind, instead of looking down. I don’t fight it; I pick a constant speed and look to where I’m going.

I don’t try to out-accelerate any cyclists, I just try to maintain a comfortable, constant speed.

What I’m saying is that when you encounter resistance, learn what you can compensate for and what you’ll have to accept. Never stop moving forward, even if you’re going a little more slowly initially.

Turns out that constant, deliberate actions usually give the best results.

I wasn’t even breaking a sweat, which is better than the mess I arrived in a year ago.