Is it SAD's or Just Winter Hibernation?

So I'm in the middle of winter with no motivation to ride, getting fat, tired and...unmotivated. The weather in winter typically gets me down - too much rain to ride, too cold to ride, too snowy to ride, too dark to ride, feeling sick,  blah blah blah....

Is this a mild form of depression like Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Some can say that. I think that weather affects me more than most and its easy for me to blame the weather to not go out.  When I force myself to ride, afterwards I think why was it such a struggle to get going in the first place.    During the winter, motivation is fairly elusive for me, and is such a frame of mind for me to overcome.  I understand it may be easy for some people to ride - suns out, lets ride.  For me, thoughts like - you should ride cause your fat; if you don't ride you'll get dropped by your friends; if you don't train, those Strava goals will remain elusive; and you're not getting any younger.  But also on the other side, it raining and cold - thats enough for me to not ride.  Not only that, I end up buying junk food to make me feel better. See the pattern?  

Anyway, how do I overcome such a viscous cycle?  Ride with friends, try new trails, try a new bike and build/help trails  - I'm doing all four and I can't wait to ride again. 

It's a mind game with yourself and sometimes you'll lose and buy a big bag of chips - but more often than not you will win and ride, ride ride!

---WAB1234---

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