Tonight’s ride is the first in a while where the ground hasn’t been frozen solid. The thaw set in Sunday afternoon and now normal winter service has returned, but despite some rain on Monday I’m hoping conditions will still be pretty dry under wheel.

Driving in to work this morning (if anyone travels via Dorking and the A25 toward Reigate, don’t—not for the next six weeks anyway), Box Hill was shrouded in mist which turned out to be heavy fog when I detoured and headed toward Pebblecome Hill via the Box Hill road. And fog has been the order of the day since.

So, atmospheric conditions for tonight’s ride (quite literally), not that I’m too bothered as I can throttle down the Exposure MaXx-D if the glare from the fog is too bright. Relatively warm, relatively dry, should be a good one. At the moment I’m really enjoying riding again and want to do as many rides as possible. Sadly, other life commitments are getting in the way!

Actually, on the subject of enjoying riding I reckon winter riding is a good antidote to winter SAD syndrome. It’s not something I generally suffer from but the last few years where I haven’t been able to get away for skiing or a late year sun boost I’ve found the winter months really drag. Whether that’s SAD or just boredom I don’t know.

But winter riding changes that. You have your mates around you, plenty of banter and importantly you get to see the season inexorably changing, which is important. Sat inside at home, or in the car or the office, winter becomes a shivering scurry between locations. Get outside for any length of time though with the blood pumping and something magical happens, you start smiling!

As with everything, the more you put in, the more you get out. And you’ll thank yourself for the effort when summer comes, I promise.

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About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.