The views of late winter

Sometimes I feel like I’m fighting the seasons. I’m not in tune, not living according to the chapters that nature has set out for us. This winter has been dominated by the drive to be fast on my bike this summer. It’s a pursuit I’m really enjoying – I feel like I’m living for something and making progress. But it causes some friction with the Colorado weather. it’s hard to accept that the snow should be here. It should be on the ground, coating the hills in a protective layer of moisture to stave off the fire season for as long as possible. The weather is doing its best for the big picture, and sometimes I need to stand back and take in the view, too.Sam riding down Sunshine Canyon with Sugarloaf Mountain in the Background.

Another from Sunshine Canyon - There are endless tangents that sprout off the main routes in Boulder County. The cold weather may suck motivation, but it keeps the mud at bay - a thin coating of snow is one of my favourite surfaces to ride on.

Valmont Bike Park has been closed for most of January to let it recover from the National Championships. I took advantage of one of the smaller snow storms we've had to lay down some fresh tracks. It felt great to be making some tentative turns off-road after taking a little hiatus from the MTB. It was about –2*C, and I had the whole park to myself.

Like normal, the snow didn't hang around for long. The Colorado sun did its best to burn the ground dry again, so Bryan and I headed up to Hall Ranch in Lyons for some trail time. I haven't ridden this trail for a while, and it made me suffer. It's regarded as one of the hardest around the Front Range, and that’s on a dry day. This time around, we had wet sand on slippery rocks to contend with. The Ponderosa Pines (which are common in the foothills) were holding on to little pockets of snow; each time the wind blew, we'd get a mini snow storm between the rays of sunlight.

I ended up with a lot of bike maintenance to do this week as well. I'm really happy to be riding a Turner Czar this year, but until it arrives, I'm having to keep last years bikes healthy. I gave my Mountain Bike a whole new complement of spinning parts - those hidden little things inside a bike that makes it feel like new. With new bearings, cables and tyres, it really did feel like a new bike. Now just to make the road bike and cyclocross bike as equally happy, and I’m sure the cycle of maintenance will begin again.