I have really been planning on riding as much as possible this winter, but now, I don't know...

Yesterday was the Cape Cod NEMBA chapter's Toys for Tots ride, and as I usually don't get to ride with them and the weather was so great I showed up with my Barbie and mtb and took off on the Trail of Tears. There were about 20 riders, all better than me, and I planned on doing the Beginners' loop. Everyone else was doing the Intermediate loop. There was about 2 inches of snow and some icy places on some of the trails. I walked parts that looked too scary, had a couple of slow-motion uphill falls as I lost traction while climbing, but basically had a pretty good time.
I met up with the rest of the riders after a while and two of them convinced me to continue with them on the intermediate trail. Okay, I'm game... had several more frustration falls, kept getting my cleats packed with icy snow because I had to walk the steep parts and decided I wasn't having too much fun.

At the next trail intersection/bailout I headed back on my own. Doing OK, came to a slightly steep downhill with some rocks and snow and for some reason freaked and grabbed a tree! Bike of course slid out from under me, onto my leg...scrapes and bruises...definitely not my favorite ride. Made it back to the car and limped on home.

So today I decied to stay on the pavement and take a ride down the Cape Cod Canal road. Nice smooth bike path, plowed, the roads have been clear with the 40+ degree sunshine. Beautiful afternoon: sunny, no one out on the canal. There were a few patches of slush, a little ice, in the places that stay shaded. Got past the first bridge and into a little more icy slush, and then BOOM: black ice! I went down in an instant onto my right thigh and whacked my head (helmet) pretty hard. Luckily my housemate was home and came with his truck to carry me home. The hematoma on my thigh is slowly getting bigger, but my head seems to be OK.

So now the mountain bike is hung up in the shed and the road bike's on the trainer. Maybe I'll get out if the roads or trails are truly free of ice and snow. But that probably won't be until spring anyway! So for now it's spinning on the trainer, going to the gym, and hoping we get enough snow to cross country ski and snow shoe. This in-between stuff s***s!

Thanks for letting me rant.