Ice Biking: Now with real ice!!!

Yesterday,8AM. (Yes, I was running late. Gaming has that effect.) 25 degrees with an inch of snow on the ground and more snow falling. In a nutshell, the perfect time to ride! Since I'm still a n00b at this, I learned sevreral things on my ride into work:

1. Don't stand up to pedal when riding on packed snow. It takes all the weight off the rear wheel and can lead to a nice spill.

2. The ruts in the snow are there for a reason: use them. Don't fight them- resistance is futile! Stay in the rut or fall on your butt.

3. If you don't like the ruts you can ride in the grass. With 2" of fresh, virgin snow. This is akin to a mime performing "man walking into wind". And still, no standing.

4. When going down a hill, my inclination (no pun intended) is to wonder "how fast can I go before hitting the bottom?". Add packed snow to the picture and the question becomes "How fast do I want to be going when I hit my bottom?". Speed is no longer the goal- control is.

5. No substitutions or comprimises on gear. I didn't have on my slick 'cold gear' pants, but instead some regular slick running pants. They just weren't the same! Plus they had a small hole in the right knee and it was very noticeable after a few miles.

6. Curves are bad (well, in this context anyways!). Down hill curves are the worst. Especially when the downhill side of the curve is a small drop-off into a pile of limestone with a creek running through it.

It is often said that the Inuit have over 100 words for "snow". I bet most of them are expletives...


(oh, and this is also a myth -> http://www.socc.ca/inuit.cfm )