JUST because it's cold outside doesn't mean you can't get out on your bike and where better to go than Christmas Common. Go now, while it's dry, and you won't even have to hose the bikes down afterwards. Just as well with the hosepipe ban.

It's a bright Saturday morning, at least not freezing or raining, so we load our mountain bikes into a car and drive to Christmas Common.

In summer, the Chilterns between Christmas Common and Henley are full of cyclists. Oldster tourers with mudflaps on mudguards; garish Lycra-lovers on carbon-fibre racers; pootling families; a handful of Tory MPs; and, of course, lunatic mountain bikers bouncing down the trails and bridleways.

It's no surprise the Ridgeway around Christmas Common is so popular, winter and summer. The hills are enough to entertain all day, on the road or off. It's easy to get to and there isn't much traffic to interfere with your fun.

Bring anyone who says there's no decent mountain biking around Oxford and they'll soon change their tune. Just point your handlebars south-east and get lost in the fantastic maze of quiet B-roads and interconnecting off-road routes.

Not only is the cycling good there are some wonderful, dense woods, and buzzards and kites in abundance.

The only (slight) downside to the Ridgeway is the lack of watering holes and snack shops, so bring all the water and snacks you need. You'll definitely get lost. An OS map's essential but even with a compass, you'll never distinguish all the trails and tracks. And the good news is it doesn't matter. You can go round and round, up and down the hills for hours, never once going over old ground and never once knowing exactly where you are.

We start at the crossroads near the Fox and Hounds pub and follow the bridleway that veers left through Queen Wood and wends its way for miles through the National Trust reserve to Turville.

At the bottom, we take the road round to Pishill and head south on the Oxfordshire Way. After three hours, our feet are solid blocks of ice, and here comes the Chilterns' health warning. No matter what the temperature is in Oxford, Christmas Common has the special quality of always being at least five degrees colder than it is where you live.

The stingy 10C drops to 5C on the Ridgeway, and this reduces to 5C with downhill windchill. Blood doesn't reach feet at that temperature, but we're thankful it isn't wet as well. We take the most direct yellow lines on the map connecting us to where the recovery process can begin at the Fox and Hounds.

The pub does large but expensive sandwiches and decent soups, as well as more extravagant fare, all of which can be enjoyed in the front garden during warm weather. In cold weather, its low beams and open fires are more the ticket. The blood ebbs back into our frozen toes. We pat ourselves on the back for being so mud-free that we can sit where we like and no bike-hosing when we get home!