Not Long Now...

Seven days until the winter solstice. Described on Google as midwinter, the shortest day, or the longest night. Seven days is not long to wait for an event that changes the mindset and emotional feelings for so many like minded outdoor enthusiasts, restricted by what seems an eternal darkness. It can feel like we’ve waited that same eternity to get the 21st December in our sight. I say an eternity, well since June really, when the clocks went back and the glorious summer evenings reached the longest day. From then on winter draws closer, winter is coming. The evening light reduced in an ever depressing timed pattern. Only a matter of minutes each day, but it begins to cramp our fun, squeezing our play further into the dark. For those of us who work full-time, we begin to think about only riding at the weekends, we dig out and charge the lights for the odd spot of night riding, and visits to the bike park at the weekend become more frequent, as the hills are sodden with rainfall. Surfers amongst us begin to feel the chill of the winter in the ocean, and the thickness of rubber increasing a millimeter at a time, until we’re covered in a thick restrictive coating, struggling with numb, cold and damp hands, and cursing the time it takes for our vans to warm up. 
As the nights become darker we head off to work and return home in blackness, the weather changes frequently like our moods, and often winter seems even more gloomy unless we get our fix of weekend fun, riding wheels or waves. This is winter, and we’re in the thick of it, and to alleviate the grimness, holidays are booked, spring events are planned and Christmas seems like the only hope for some. But another celebration gets nearer and forces our spirits to lift a little. I can nearly relate to the Pagans celebrating the end of the descent into darkness, and the beginning of the return of the light. Now seven short days from the shortest day we’re not far from driving past bright yellow fields of daffodils in full bloom and that lightness that brings us post-work joy; and although the 21st will pass quickly, we still have some dark nights to battle through and we have to remain strong. 
Excitement mounts though. Christmas will pass with a little more time off to have some fun with our mates, either side of family commitments, and then New Year strikes. Resolutions are made and quickly broken by the less committed, but we, the outdoor enthusiasts, are ready. Bikes have been prepped and serviced, new tires and christmas bling has been added to our steeds, trails have been cleared and our new clothing, mostly bought as a treat to ourselves will be laid out and ready to wear. New surfboards are ordered and due for delivery in time for spring  and the 4/3mm wetsuit is dry and ready for action. As the light returns to our evenings, so does the warmth. The hope of a quick surf after a long day, or a few laps of the hill become reality. Getting home at five with light until six brings options and opportunity. The power hour is back on, and as sunset draws back out, the evening light is something that we look forward to more than others, at least that's what I think. Being a weekend warrior just isn’t enough and maybe that’s why we dream and crave an endless summer.