Festivus for the rest of us

This change of seasons is really getting me down. I am strongly affected by the plunging temperatures which mark the end of summer and of the road race season. It's little wonder that I'm holding on by registering for Saturday's crit. Also plan to do Jamestown, but NOT in the rain... Took today as a rest day, but after work couldn't resist the sunny weather and I took a 30 minute spin on the cross bike. Rode over the River Point Park and did four laps on my private loop... Thinking this path I found is more like a mtb course than a cross course.. Lots of gravel patches and deep fissures to navigate over. No grass (unless I cut over the playing fields) Surprisingly, powering over such terrain with off-road tires on a 20 pound bike takes a lot out of you! Today I subconsciously decided that I most likely will not be driving far and wide and paying entry fees just to be pack fodder in cross races. That might take the fun out of it. Lest I forget, these are the real reasons why I bought the FUJI Cross Pro:

• A friend needed some quick cash and I wanted to help him out by buying his bike
• Was looking for a bike anyway, to use for the winter, something which would survive road salt and sand and my general neglectfulness (other than my new Look 486)
• Wanted a bike which I wouldn't mind hooking our son's trailer to (wouldn't do it to my carbon bike)
• Loved the eyelets on the Fuji, making it possible to add fenders or a rack in back (always admired Phil Anderson's granny training bike I saw in the film "21 Days in July")
• Thought it would be fun to spend the winter bombing through the woods on the dirt (and snow?), sheltered from the wind and the traffic

Needless to say, it also occurred to me that I can try a few cross races in the course of the winter, but who am I kidding? My right ankle is still all messed up and I can't run to save my life, forget doing it off-road with a bike to carry. Finding myself out of breath after two minutes in the woods scared me.. Seems to me that cross racing is nothing more than an off-road mass start time trial, on a bike which feels like it has two flats.. and I hate time trials... and running.. and flats. I resolve to make it a FUN winter in which I preserve my good form and hit the roads again in March with guns blazing. I believe that this can be achieved without demoralizing myself doing a sport which favors those who don't hate the winter cold. Heck I use arm warmers when it's under 60 degrees, hat and leg warmers when it's under 50... This sprained ankle I suffered in June is also going to make it impossible for me to play indoor soccer this winter.. Damn and blast it.