The Mountain Bike Experience: A Complete Introduction to the Joys of Off-Road Riding - Softcover

If you live in an area with four seasons, it's wonderful to watch the year go by on a mountain bike. You see each cycle unfold and blend into the next. When the leaves turn to gold and skis and snowboards come out of the closet around the country, my mind turns to ... riding my bike at night in subfreezing temperatures, on bulletproof ice. Winter, especially, offers exhilarating riding -- if you prepare properly. When snow and silence blanket everything, the terrain becomes incredibly beautiful.

In a more practical vein, winter riding keeps you in shape by extending your season. Come spring, you won't have to start your training from scratch. Your rides won't be as long, and you probably won't ride as often as during the warm months, but at least you'll retain much of what you accomplished the previous season. Many road bikers take to mountain biking in the winter to maintain their training schedule. Since mountain bikes travel at much slower speeds than road bikes, there's less windchill.