After our Silver Sneakers orientation Facebook Live presentation earlier this week (videos to be found on the office Facebook page), I received several questions from folks wondering how they can replace some of the cardio workouts they have been getting from outdoor walking, especially since the fieldhouse at the Cannon Falls school has been closed. We have been lucky with a mild winter so far, but soon the temps will drop and the roads and trails will have a treacherous layer of ice.

One simple solution that we have implemented at my house is to find a new life for one of of our outdoor bikes. My husband and I , and a few members of our pandemic bubble, have made the best of the COVID summer by avidly exploring new bike trails in the neighborhood over the past 6 months. This came to an end with one last hurray on Thanksgiving morning. Not ready to invest in a high quality stationary bike, a friend suggesting converting one of our summer bikes into an exercise bike by mounting it on a trainer. Bingo, I found a good used magnetic trainer on Craigslist and baited a handy friend to pin the back wheel. at least twice a week or more, I hop on it in the morning for a robust 30-40 pedaling session.

So think about that option is you have a decent bike that spends half the year in the garage. A good used magnetic trainer will cost you between 100-200$. You can mount it indoors for the winter and revert it to a regular outdoor bike for the sunny months.

There are also a trove of free online bike exercise workouts that will prevent the boredom of just mindlessly pedaling. I have been using the free videos from the Global Cycling Network on Youtube. Pretty fun and some British accent to boost.