Dave's advice is always pretty solid advice. For me it has been a very long, successful race season that ended mid-August. I had one big, very difficult ride that I wanted to be in decent form for in October, so I modeled my training accordingly. Now I am just staying active and having fun on the bike, riding when I feel like it. I will slowly taper my on bike training and increase my core and strength training (yoga, P90x, some lifting, etc.). My taper will likely match the change in weather as it gets to the point where riding outdoors will not be possible. I will not do any time on the trainer until January, so if I can't get outdoors from Thanksgiving till then, so be It all of my training will be strength and core with maybe some running. My reasoning for not getting on the trainer is more from a mental aspect, I know how hard it was to train indoors last year and my training hours will be increased this year, up to 18.5 hrs during my last week of base training (hopefully I can do some of this outdoors). I don't want to burn all of my mental fortitude in December when having done so will not matter in July, what will matter is having the ability to click away as planned in the late part of the winter until the weather lifts.
With regards to intensity, I am not to afraid of throwing a couple of 20 minute intervals in once a week, even starting in January. It is the shorter, more intense intervals that I will be shying away from until it gets closer to go time, that and doing multiple days a week of 20 minute intervals (I may start two days of LT intervals as early as mid-February). These things seem to nip away at your mental desire and physical ability to make yourself hurt, if you start them too soon you will find it hard to put yourself in this place come July when it actually counts. Plus if you limit them it makes it easier to make the ones you do quality intervals as opposed to half hearted intervals just to say you did some.
