Thanks for all the responses...especially the funny ones and the ones that made me wonder "this guy's kidding, right?" My favorite line so far was "If you prefer to ride in the basement, so be it."

Anyway, no, I am not a cyclist. I'm just a guy who has been riding a bicycle all my life for fun and ecology/economy-friendly transportation. Of course there have been many days since my original post that I regretted having "put the bike away," but I find that once my head gets into winter mode, I'm done riding, no matter how warm it gets.

Again, thanks for all the encouragement (and the berating, when done with good intentions). Enjoy your rides, everyone.