The weather we've had in Southern Alberta has been pretty terrible this summer. August was the only month so far this calendar year that we haven't had snow. We've had very few hot days, and my short-wearing days were less this year than I remember them being ever. After a terrible, cool, wet summer, it's hard to get excited about winter coming.
Until I remember how much fun winter cycling is. I almost think I prefer it to summer cycling. Everything about it is a little more epic. Lights, studded bike tires, careful wardrobe selection, and the fact that a perfectly flat and straight gravel road can turn into an almost impossible-to-ride trail with the slush and snow. Winter is harder on the bikes, and every ride pretty much requires an after ride wash-down, but it's a little funner. There's a greater feeling of achievement after a winter ride than a summer ride. Not that I don't love a nice warm ramble in the country on a hot summer day, stopping to take pictures and drink water while the birds and bugs sing around you. Those are great too, and I"m sure I'll be missing them come mid-January when I'm staring outside at -30 degrees.
I'm not sure why (and I think it's kind of sick) but, I'm pretty stoked for winter cycling to be coming around.
