Originally Posted by mcallaghan

Once the now arrives, it will be virtually impossible (and insane) to be riding my bike outside until the snow melts. The peaks around here have already started to get some dustings, so in another month or so I expect to be seeing snow covering my backyard through to April. I live 8000ft up in the Rockies, so winter outdoor riding is out of the question. We don't see pavement here until the spring once the season gets going. I'm contemplating getting snow-tired on my old MTB and riding it the 2 - 3 miles to work though the hill here scares me (cruise at 25mph with out pedaling on my road bike).

Gym membership is out of my budget here and is too large of a trip to make it worth getting out there after a long day of work anyways. I do live near a golf course though - I think they do XC Skiing there during the winter? I think I've tried skate-skis before...fine until going down a hill trying to stop. I think I might look for some local lessons (I think I get a discount on such things working for a Ski Company Resort) and go from there since I was in my teens the only time I've tried that. I'll certainly be doing down-hill skiing once a week if not more. A quick google search of my location reveals 60 miles of free access XC trails.

I can also XC ski most of my way to work if I take the trail (once it snows). They groom the path and create ski-tracks on the side for the XC skiers - I assume skateskiing doesn't follow the tracks? I could do that to/from work everyday. I will look into acquiring some sort of XC Ski setup - a quick look shows them not to be too expensive (compared to skis)!

I went ahead and ordered a Cyclops Roller w/ Resistance. Pushing the budget but I plan to give it a good 30 - 60 min ride once home each night. Should I get a beaded tire for it?