The past two mornings, I have taken the initiative and gotten out on a 15 mile loop from home and started biking. I had planned to get some exercise as soon as I changed to the new schedule. The cold mornings have kept me indoors up till this week. But as of yesterday, I broke free.
The days have been windy! Mother suggested that I could take note of the wind direction to make it easier for myself. On a circular route, you will have to cycle into the wind on at least 3 of the 4 cardinal points. Cross winds slow you down a good bit when the wind is strong. Besides, I am doing this to get in shape. Harder is better. Today the gusts of wind slowed me down a lot. I managed rides in the 15 mph average range. I really don't know how good or bad that is. I expected with the shorter distance, I should be able to go faster!
Since I can only get in an hour of riding, I can compare the ride to time spent in spinning class. One advantage to riding is the time savings of getting up to the class and setting up the bike. I can be out of the drive and gone pretty quickly and that frees up time. I believe there are benefits to riding that I can't get in the class.