Nah.
Two reasons:
1) No time. Lately things have heated up at work. I've been working 10 hours a day (at least), and there are only 10 hours of light. And my religious beliefs forbid riding a trainer for longer than 21 minutes.
2) No fun. I sold my main road ride on ebay several weeks ago. I still have my first road bike, a 2004 Giant TCR, that will get me through the winter. But as much as I like that bike, I have to admit that the thought of going on a long road ride isn't that thrilling. The thought pinning it at a cross race and frothing at the mouth for 1 hr, however, is quite thrilling. Likewise, the MTBing this fall has been grand. Case in point: yesterday I found myself eating the dust of the likes of Sager, BZ, E. Jones, Jon, and the Bartman -- that was waaay thrilling. I didn't see those guys base training.
Life's just too short to base train. And I like to think I get some fitness benefit by CXing and MTBing.
Maybe I'll pay for it next year. In fact, just a few months ago around July, I swore to myself that I was going to get more structure in my training plan and build a good base this winter. Now that it's winter, I remember the problem with my plan: no time, no fun.
Those of you that know me know that I am deeply committed to training and therefore know that I wouldn't nonchalantly shrug off an important component of training. Inference? I'm not personally convinced that winter base training is essential. . . yet anyway. I'm not saying that it isn't useful. I'm just saying that it's not essential.
My theory on why base training is a ritual amongst serious cyclists: base training is so absolutely miserable that once you base train for 6 months in the dark and cold, you can endure anything that that regular season presents.
Am I wayward? Can anyone convince me why I should be base training?
And you base trainers out there, what kind of miles/time are you putting in?