Its mid-January, it’s -20c outside and I’m looking for any reason I can find to avoid going out on the hill. Some might call me out for being such a wimp since regular Canadians deal with -20c or colder for months on end during the deep dark portion of winter. I feel no shame in avoiding the added wind-chill that 40-60km winds add to the mercurial dip, I’ve done my time. Living in Thunder Bay I actually enjoyed the deadly cold opting to go winter camping in a snow cave with my buddy just because it was forecast to be the coldest night in 100 years. Outside the snow cave, someone tripped over the extension cord providing the life line to my block heater and battery blanket (yes it is an actual electric blanket that keeps car batteries warm), the result of which meant my VW van’s battery froze solid and cracked the battery case. I have climbed ice in the Rockies in mid-winter and felt the pulsating agony of the “screaming barfies”, a painful phenomenon when warm blood returns to frozen fingers at the belay once the arms are no longer raised above the head clutching ice tools. I am comfortable in my wimpy-ness, I have nothing to prove to anyone.

At times like these I look back at hot and dusty summer riding with a particular fondness. Would those times be as savory without this opposite end of the spectrum? My bikes hang in a row in the garage, some cleaned and lubed and others still caked with the muck from those last rides of the season. Across the room stand the fleet of snowboards like the girls at the school dance too afraid to mix with the dirty boys on the other wall. If they were suddenly animated like a Disney movie, I wonder who would hang together. My guess is the Dirt Jumper would be pals with the park board talking about airs and transitions and such. The DH bike would no doubt hit it off with the big pow riding fish talking about floating over terrain at speed popping airs off side hits whenever possible. The split-board and XC bike would nerd-out on talk of backcountry epics, GPS apps and nutrition while the swing-bike and Noboard would just sit together and not talk, both too shy in their awkward Emo alternative way, shunned by the jocks around them.

By my count we have four months to go before Bike Park opening as I write this. The new issues of Decline will continue to grace my coffee table and the Park planning meetings will get more frequent at about the same rate as the days get longer. We will approve the ad campaigns and video projects for the year and get updates on projects that started last season. Pass prices will be set in stone and Crankworx courses will take shape at least on paper. The new bikes and uniforms will get built and shipped. The Bike Park trails may close but the work carries on behind the scenes. We have some exciting changes coming this season and I look forward to sharing them with you as we roll them out. Enjoy what’s left of winter, heal the injuries from last summer and do whatever it takes to stay in shape for riding season; it will be here sooner than you think.

BF