Photo by Sito Bello

Why keep riding in conditions that are miserable for mountain biking when you could actually enjoy the hell out of the same conditions on a snowboard or pair of skis?

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Photo by Ben Winder We get snow in this part of Western Washington, but it’s not the kind of bury-the-house snow many of you undoubtedly endure. I’ve done time in Buffalo, New York, so I’m intimately familiar with the kinds of winters that require snow blowers, cross-country skis and fancy-dress balaclavas. It’s easy--I will be the first to admit--for someone like me to ride through winter when the snow is less than knee deep. Much harder to do the same when the snow is so deep that you can’t find your car when you wake up in the morning. Still, even in those dark, cold Buffalo winters, I was that guy turning clumsy circles and hitting the icy deck while dressed like a neon snowman. So, this not taking the winter off thing? I’ve toed the line even in much harsher winter conditions.



Are you hanging up your helmet this winter? There are certainly plenty of good reasons to take a break from riding during the Winter, but will you hang up your helmet when it gets truly cold and wet or are you gutting this one out? I always take winter off. It's called winter for a reason.

Well, I can't exactly ski or snowboard in August, so I guess I might as well do it in December.

I'll ride through most of winter, but when the snow gets too deep, why force it?

I'll do a bit of riding, a bit of recuperating...not taking the season off, but not charging it either.

It probably makes sense to take the winter off, but I can't stand to.

I never stop riding, no matter how crap the weather becomes.

I live in the desert, so the winter riding is fine by me.

I live in the southern hemisphere, so this poll doesn't make much sense to me.

The riding is always good somewhere warmer...I'll just migrate this winter. Responses: 13708 Faves: 0 Comments: 7

I was hanging out with a bunch of other bike nerds the other night when somebody asked if I ski. I live within an hour’s drive of a resort, so it was a logical question. Nevertheless, I was kind of surprised. Skiing? If I skied or went snowboarding, I’d have even less time to ride than I do now. Screw that.My friend pointed to the window, through which we could see that AngryGodAlmighty was busy trying to drown Portland for all its hipster sins. It was ugly. The weather up here is already a wintertime cocktail of crappy, cold and wet. When it storms, the trails become a slaughterhouse of slimy roots and jagged, mossy rocks… In a month or two, there’ll be snow and ice.I could see his point. In fact, I cansee his point. It’s logical. And yet, nope, I’m not having any of it.I’m just not the kind of guy who takes the winter off. As a work-at-home dad, my rides are often of the one to two-hour variety. There’s never enough time to ride as much as I want to ride in spring and summer. Taking any time off now just feels…wrong.And yet there is plenty of common sense and scientific evidence pointing to the wisdom of taking an annual break from whatever it is that you’re obsessed with the other 9 months of the year. Muscles need to repair. Tendons and ligaments must heal. There’s a fine line between maintaining peak fitness and burning out. I know all that, but I’ll still be damned if I take the winter off. Of course, I freely admit that I am privileged by geography on that score.But that’s me. What about you? There are certainly plenty of good reasons to take a break.Winter is coming. Are you going to take the season off, ditch the bike for a while and do something else?