The day has come…winter is officially almost here in South Florida! It is glorious and not all at the same time. Last week here in MIA we paid the price, having to deal with no riding at all due to five days of rain. There is no riding on the road because of the torrents of rain and no riding the mountain bike since the trails will get destroyed if you ride them in the rain–there is no winning.
no one likes wet feet!
ruined trails...
Finally, the rain passed, and out came the sun–and–the cold!!! Brrrr….60 degree mornings in Miami are here! Time to dust off the vest, break out the arm warmers, and my favorite part–the long socks!! I love rocking ridiculously crazy long socks while riding on the road or trail–but nothing beats the priceless looks you get from uptight “european cyclists” roadie types when you show up like this on a cold morning:
my awesome crazy socks (one of the many pair)
On my team’s regularly scheduled Friday “chatty paced” ride (yeah, we have a ride deemed “chatty” paced, time to get together, chat about life, weekend ride/race plans, and have fun–my fav ride of the week) I was reminded that riding in the cold sucks! It is time to head to the woods! I feel as though there are few major benefits of riding on the ol’ mtb trails more regularly this time of year: a) it is the season b) the trees that keep trails cool in the day keep that heat in at night in the winter c) if it is windy, which front season usually is, there is less wind in the trails d) there is lots to look at and concentrate on so you are not thinking about the “cold” and e) its fun–you can hit some sweet jumps!
I was happy to run into other mtb buddies once our Friday ride had concluded at the local coffee shop (as always on the Friday ride, no matter what group you are in, you stop and get either a cortadito, coolada, a cefecito):
We all were riding on the road, and couldn’t stop talking about and thinking about riding the trails…especially after watching a vid like this one recently:
Tell me that you don’t want to go do that now!…Yup–its official, after watching a video like that, it is not just me jonesing to hit the trails!…it is definitely that time of year….go grab your mountain bike and get on the trails!! And, if you don’t have a mtb, go get one!
"Ma" is also ready to hit the trails!
Duffy, like Buffy with a "D" 