Curing cabin fever

That's one of the coping strategies employed by a group of upper Midwest bicyclists as the cold, wind, snow and ice of winter make outdoor cycling nearly impossible to all but the intrepid short-distance commuter.

Simply called "George's group" for its organizer, George Stutter, of Roberts, Wisconsin, this band of bike riders has been meeting at cabins in the middle of the winter in northern Wisconsin since the inception of the Great Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River (GRABAAWR) in 1986. The gathering place is currently an obscure resort, the Reel M Inn, located on Willow Road west of the Willow Flowage. The date is the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Seventeen cyclists, who met through bicycling and live as far away as the Chicago area, Dubuque area, and Oshkosh, Neenah and Madison areas, attended this year's gathering of George's group. They skied at Minocqua Winter Park and showshoed in the woods along the banks of the Willow River. Two even went ice fishing, and one of the group meals was a fish fry.

I have long maintained that exercise may be more mental than physical. We can debate the percentages, but commitment to go out the door comes from the mind, not the body, which often would prefer to curl up on the sofa. But both the mind and the body are the beneficiaries when the mind says get out and do something aerobic.

That's particularly difficult for cyclists when the north wind is howling and snow is piling up. It's a time when the mind is the key to coping with adverse conditions, seeking alternative activities suitable to winter and using social interaction and camaraderie to rekindle motivational fires and to inoculate against the plague of cabin fever.

George's group has found a way to do that. "It started when I moved to Wisconsin from New York in 1986," Stutter said. He said he got together with three other cyclists and "the three of us decided we'd meet up in Minocqua and do some skiing. Before you knew it, we had 20 people."

Two people even flew in from Alabama one year.

Because cycling is particularly subject to the weather, many cyclists take to skiing when the roads ice over. Bicycle shops have also found out that the way to survive winter is to have an inventory of skis and related accessories and apparel.

In Madison, there is great overlap between memberships in the Bombay Bicycle Club, the road touring organization, and the Madison Nordic Ski Club. But there are also other social activities that cope with cabin fever.

One is Bike With Out Bikes, Wednesday night dinners that replace Madison's Wednesday night bike rides during the winter months. Instead of pedaling, the cyclists socialize over dinner and drinks at area restaurants.

Some cyclists put on their own winter parties. An example is the First Sign of Relief Spring Party featuring live music at a Madison community center. Two bikers organize the March event.

Among GRABAAWR riders, cycling season is sort of ushered out by the Beaster Bash, a weekend of cycling and socializing organized by veteran GRABAAWR rider Bill Beaster, of Neenah. On the first weekend in May, I've been celebrating the return of warm weather and dry roads by organizing the Spring Fling.

All of this, and the potlucks held after rides during the cycling season, feed the social and mental aspects of cycling. Exercise alone can be lonesome, but friends can motivate you.

The moral is that fitness isn't just about the miles we log, the events we enter, the time we spend doing our silent thing. It's also about logging the not-so-silent friendships and relationships that are generated. Those help us stay motivated, stick with it and have fun while staying fit.