As bike riding goes, January was to be endured. I rode about 465 miles of which about 111 was on my trainer in the basement. I say “about” because I really can only guess at how far I rode by the time involved. I did manage to get in 10 commutes totaling 265 1/2 miles. Leaving merely three outdoor rides of 79 1/2 miles on the weekends. In January 2013 I rode 585 miles including 18 commutes. And all of my riding was outdoors.
The Mule bore most of the load this month, 318 1/2 miles. Big Nellie did 131 miles, but only 20 outdoors. Little Nellie with only 6 1/2 miles is feeling neglected.
It has been unusually cold here in DC this year. As far as bike riding is concerned, this is actually a pretty normal January. I’d have ridden more outside but for the ice and snow on the Mount Vernon Trail which the National Park Service owns and refuses to clear. The typical excuse is that it is used by cross country skiers but I didn’t see a single one on the MVT all month. The NPS’s refusal to clear the trail is really about priorities and budgets. At least nearby Arlington County decided to clear its trails (after much shaming by area cyclists).
On the bright side, the days are getting longer. We’ll be done with ninja dodging soon.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
If more and more people are riding (as the Washington Post recently reported in their article about undeterred year round riders), I wish the NPS (and others) would invest in clearing our multi-use paths so we are not having to stop riding because the trails are snow- and ice-covered. We don’t all want to buy studded tires for year round riding. Is that asking too much? It seems so.
Just when our roadways have reduced capacity from the snow and ice bike commuters like me end up having to drive. It only makes a bad situation worse for everyone.