Sounds like you were lucky mate. I dont use my gixer at this time of the year for this very reason! Its just not worth it, and for me, it just takes all the fun out of it worrying about the chance of ice or grit on the next corner.
I partly agree about riding off road bikes making you a better road rider, but if its going to happen, being the best off roader in the world wont help you at all. I used to race motocross and have currently got a road legal WR450 thats im just using for fun and green laning at this time of year so the gixer is staying in the garage for now.
I jus dont see how people can ejoy sports bikes at this time of year personally. The risks are high in the summer as we all know, but riding in the winter just multiplies the risk 3 fold.