It's already been a pretty tough summer. The trails never really dried out. Bikes were never coated in the golden dust of summer's singletrack. Instead, we've had the usual regime of ride, wash, ride, wash - where each time, the wash takes longer than the ride.
This does nothing for the soul. I didn't get into this for the bike-maintenance, I'm in it for the pleasure.
But like any sport, pastime or hobby, it never is plain sailing. Not even sailing is plain sailing! I suppose it's that whole karma thing; for every good ride, there's a bad one. The eternal rotation of spring and summer evolving into autumn and winter is a classic example of this. And I am truly grateful we live on an island with a gloriously diverse (enough) weather system - never too hot, too cold, too windy or snowy, we seem to have just the right sort of weather for mountain biking.
So, looking at this positively, what does winter have to offer:
For starters, nobody else is out riding, rambling or getting in the way, so you’ll have even the most congested summer trails to yourself.
You’ll realise that the weather is hardly ever as bad as you think, and that the rain always looks worse hitting a window than it does when you’re hitting the trails.
When it freezes properly, you’ll find the fastest trails, clearest skies and freshest air that you’ll get all year, and you can’t beat ending a ride with a strong coffee and a bacon butty/slice of cake by a roaring fire.
So get out there. Muster up the energy - you won't regret it.
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