Why do/did(not sure if it's still around or not) guys ride Iditabike(sp?). Sometimes it can be the different competitive environments...like you said different strokes for different folks.

Sometimes it can simply be the fact of knowing you can do it if you know what hits the fan and you have to do it. With the ways things are going on around the United States/world in this day and age...you better be prepared to be able to do anything...anytime of the year...under any circumstances. That's why I like winter riding. It preps me for the worse case scenario. Any wimp can ride their bike long distances during the summer months when the going is easy, but it takes a real person to do it during the winter months. You have to know your body and equipment. When everything goes you know where, you'll wish you did know how to get by without the television, the internet, the cellphone, electricity, the car, running water, heat in your house, etc. Could you do it...prove it.

I live by one simple motto, I don't know what/when crap may hit the fan but...I prepare and educate myself for it ahead of time.

Yeah, I'm a bit nervous about this winter. I was hoping to be down south this winter on a winter long bike trip/tour down south...away from the snow. I love riding in the cold. I would much rather ride in below freezing temps than above freezing temps. I don't want to see snow this winter. My balls are already bigger than my brains and that isn't a good sign. Hope I don't get my head crushed by a passing vehicle this winter during a snow storm.

I doubt many people have ever tried something like the NT during the winter so Max you could be one the first to do it. If you have the resources, moneywise, go for it. Prep yourself for when ***** hits the fan. Challenge yourself to do something a bit crazy. Normally the crazier something sounds the more you ought to do. The more outlandish it sounds the more you ought to go for it. When things get too commonplace that it's...oh well...then it's time to step up to a new plate and challenge yourself further.

Some people simply have the smarts to know their is an easy time to prepare and spend their time preparing/getting educated/experience with roughing it while others are to busy keeping up with the Joneses(not one Jones but multi Jones) and a result they know nothing. Which do you choose...wait til everything goes to he!! or prep now so you know how to do when the time comes.