There are some days that I wake up and the entire world is black. This was one of those days. This blackness is exacerbated, oddly enough, when it happens on a holiday when my usual morning riding routine flies out the window.

I know this, and so even though I didn’t feel like riding–because when the blackness comes I don’t feel much like doing anything–I know that going for a ride is just what I need.

This is also why I have a solid riding partner and why we plan ahead.

Nate, resting majestially after the first climb.

Snow on the ground and snow falling.

Trail finds (though we left it at the park for its owner).

Riding hard up hills, slipping around on slushy singletrack and wet leaves, and bombing down bouncy rutted hills–that’s bike therapy.