Who said you can't ride in Winter at all? How about using the weather forecast to help determain what days will be OK and what days to avoid. I personally would not ride even into the Fall without studded tires. You only need to hit a small patch of ice to have a bad day. In the Fall the weather tends to be wet and with the temperatures going up and down like a yo-yo sooner or later you'll be out and come accros some ice. I have been suprised at how much I've been able to cycle. The only time consistant time I've been off me bike was the last two weeks, but it was for two reasons:
First, we had some seriously bad sleet come down two weeks ago somewhat unexpectedly. I could barely walk outside, but things started out OK on the bike. I did have the rear end slip out from under me and hit the pavement pretty hard. My shoulder definitely needed a few days off after that. Considering the roads and sidewalk were covered completely with a layer of Ice I still can't believe the cycling went as well as it did. Walking was pretty much impossible. When I got home my gloves, and bags were covered with a layer of ice. It would have been smarter to call my wife for a ride on that day... hind sight it 20/20.
Second the day after my fall I came down with a good cold and have had a nasty cough ever since. Last week I was completely drained of energy. Sore shoulder + no energy + heavy wind meant staying off the bike a few days.
Over the weekend my head congestion has pretty much gone away and the cough is getting much lighter. I have plenty of engergy again. I also was able to get some swimming in, and have been working my arm a bunch to gently streach it out and work on getting my full mobility back. The pain is almost all gone!
Today I got back on the bike and it felt SO GOOD! I can't imaging parking my bike for a few months just because it is Winter. If the weather looks bad, I'll take the car for a day. I'll check the weather again the following day. If the weather has improved I can ride again. I love getting out in the Winter.
Enjoy the ride,
André