I tried winter swimming... the winter before last. I was never a great swimmer. Getting older didn't improve my swimming skills. I found the process of driving to the [swimming] center, checking in, changing, showering, getting a lane position, swimming, showering, drying, changing and then driving back home to begin my day.... a little labor some for 20 minutes in the pool.

Maybe if I was a better swimmer it would have been more fun or seemed like more of a benefit. I was surprised and disappointed when swimming didn't work out for me.

I don't bicycle for exercise. I bicycle because I love cycling. I have yet to find a cycling replacement... for any season. But I continue try different off-season exercises in hopes to find another sport as a fill-in for cycling. Last year I tried jogging... or jog/walking. I enjoyed that and still do a bit of that even in warm weather. It felt really great to get to a place where I can run... effortlessly.

This year/winter/off-season I bought a mountain bike and will be trying winter bicycling. I might give yoga class a try this winter as well. The main thing is TRY ANYTHING... and everything. Keep active, and keep being active, interesting.

If you are swimming just 20 minutes, yes, that is a huge lot of amount of time suck compared to actual swim time.
Generally on weekdays I swim for at least an hour and usually 75-90 minutes.

The time it takes me to for an after-work bikeride with my club isn't much different from going to the pool - it actually takes more time to ride my bike. Factoring out normal car commute time:
That morning - pack my clothes and gear; fill gel flask; load it all into the car. Carry the empty water bottles to my office.
After work, fill 2 water bottles at work (maybe add electrolyte tablets), drive to the ride start.
Change clothes and shoes, apply lube, put on HRM. Pump up tires, put bike computer, water, and lights on bike. Pack wallet, phone, safety glasses, gel, park pass. Put on skullcap, gloves, helmet. Lock car and pack keys. Start lights and computers.
Ride 75 -100 minutes.
Fish out car keys and unlock car. Turn off lights, computers. Take bike computer, lights, bottles off bike. Load bike into car. Take off gloves, helmet, glasses. Empty jersey pockets. Drink some more water. Maybe put on a jacket. Drive home.
Bring bike + gear into house, bring work clothes backpack into house, put lights on recharger, upload computers, clean water bottles, put gel flask into fridge.
Shower and start laundry.
For a 5:30pm bikeride that takes 75 minutes, I am leaving work before 4:45pm and I don't get home until after 7:30pm. Add the 10 minutes in the morning and 25 in the evening, subtract the normal car commute time; and that bikeride chewed at least an extra 3 hrs out of my day.

For a 6:30pm swim (75 minutes) with my team, I leave work at 5:30pm and arrive at the pool 6:15. I get home by 8:15pm already showered. I can fill my water bottle at the pool. The swim gear lives in my car. I just hang up the swimsuit and towel to dry and upload my HRM data. So add 5 minutes in the morning and 10 in the evening. That swim took an extra 2:40 out of my day.


Changing subjects:
I was intrigued by the rowing machines at my gym. I would be interested if the machines could be connected to a video display of rowing scenery and a fan where the amount of effort you put into the machine was reflected by faster video and stronger headwinds. Already there are options for something similar to strava using some kind of metrics the machines manage, but the gym I use hasn't enabled that feature. Rowing is also a whole-body workout that includes cycling muscles.