Back in the mid-nineties, I was playing in a band called The Atomics that, much like my current band Dingo Sanctuary, played a wide mix of original and cover songs. One of the songs we covered back then was by a band called Cry of Love, and was entitled Too Cold in the Winter. I thought of that song often over the past few months, because I can't remember a drearier, wetter, colder winter here in West Texas. I'm so sick of being cooped up that I've almost gone stir crazy a couple of times. No lie.

For the first time in years, I have stabilized the fuel in all my bikes and semi-mothballed them because the riding opportunities have been so few. We had a halfway decent riding day yesterday, but I didn't get free to roll until late in the afternoon, and by that time the temperature was starting to drop off drastically. Sad stuff. This time last year we were doing day rides and having a ball. This year so far, uh, not so much.

For those of you who live in the northern USA and other locales where it gets genuinely cold in the winter, know that I've never envied you and never will. I just don't see how you can stand it, especially if you're a rider. Prolonged cold snaps like the one we're experiencing in West Texas right now strengthen my opinion to that affect. I want it to be warm again.

Anyhow, here's a little Cry of Love from 1994 or so. Yes boys, in 2010, it is indeed too cold in the winter: