its perfectly fine to do races in the off-season if you'd like... There just comes a point where you really have to sit back and think about what races are important to you. The problem I find is that every athlete wants to crush every race. This isn't optimal in that you are likely to plateau and never make big gains.

I know there is research out there but I'm too lazy while watching the super bowl... Athletes with bigger peaks and valleys have overall better results than those that stay on top of their game consistently.

So again, it is perfectly fine to race, but you will have to check your ego at the door if it isn't a primary focus.

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COROS Sports Science

Why wouldn't you continue intensity the whole year around to some degree?

Those races sound like a great way to get through a boring winter.

Exactly. The base period shouldn't necessarily mean only doing easy, slow miles. Rather the workload should be 'less specific', moving to 'more specific' as the race season draws nearer. How much more or less specific the workload will depend on the individual athlete.
For some, 'less specific' will still include a relatively large amount of high-intensity work, and for others it will include very, very little.
For most, there is no need to drop high-intensity work completely, and as Pedalbiker says, some winter crit races sound like a great way to build some high-intensity work into the program.

But to reiterate ddalzell, you'll have to accept that you probably won't be in top shape for these races, and your performances will reflect that. Unless you want to target these races, in which case you'll need to rearrange your training so that they don't fall within your base period!

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On twitter talking about Triathlon, Cycling & Sport Science - @taffytriathlete

Depends.
Some people just naturally hang out to their high intensity talent really well. So say you are anaerobically gifted, but not aerobically, you might just drop the intensity to a minimum, do 40 hours a week of zone 2. Hit the intensity during race season and it comes right back.

Or if you just psychologically or physically get worn out by intensity, then drop it so you can get more volume in.

Some people handle it fine, and so they do it all year (I did). But that equation might change if you were doing 30+ hours/ 150ctl type workloads

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
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Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter