When I rode a motorcycle the last ride of the season was always pretty bittersweet. It was nice in a way, and I knew that putting the bike away for the winter made it easier to start on the annual maintenance as the weather got warmer in the spring but it still meant not being able to ride during the winter. Winter storage was part of the cycle of the riding year, and the mental break produced a change in mindset that made the return of the riding season so appealing. The annual motorcycle show here is always around Superbowl time, and by then most riders were anxiously awaiting the return of the riding season. I always liked seeing other riders sitting on the new bikes with the far away looks in their eyes as they dreamed of another year of riding.

Bicycling isn't like that in that I could ride outside all year if I wanted to, but I really don't have the desire/ability/space to ride all winter with parking indoors both at home and work and usually quit riding when the roads get too slippery or salty.

I may have had my last bicycle ride this year last night. It wasn't anything special as far as what happened then, but it was special because it may have been my last ride of the season. Depending on the salt/slime/slippery pavement I may or may not be done for the season, and there's really nothing different to do after that last ride like there was with the motorcycle as far as maintenance goes, especially since I'm not going to store the engine on the bicycle!

We've all got different criteria for ending the riding season, what's yours?