General Cycling Discussion - Riding in the Snow :)

Well here in Maryland we have gotte a nice blanket of snow, which is slowly still coming down. I've decided to ditch what training I had for the day and take my mountain bike out to just have fun. :D I'll let you know how it goes

-Arleigh

I skipped the bike commute and went for swimming laps instead. Did a all new high... 52 laps. Last time did 36. I'll be at that magical 72 laps (1 mile) pretty soon.

Gotta love swimming in a pool and looking outside to see a mini snow storm. Just feels odd.

PBW

I think I'm gonna hit the trail this afternoon. Should be fun.

Both my bikes have slicks on them and I'm too lazy to switch to my MB tires. Plus, this stuff'll be gone by tomorrow... I hope and pray... LOL

PBW

It was fun and intresting guys. Felt like I was learning how to bike all over again. Fun huh? We have a good foot-2 feet in places around my community. Going to go back out after I thaw out :D

Hey Arsbars,
We've got a nice blanket down in the tristate area too, but compared to your 2 feet, I guess it's just a relative dusting. :) We went on a shop ride last night in the snow "storm". The town was in chaos but we had a blast. It's nice that all the local trails are now frozen and great for mountain biking. Hopefully the white stuff will keep coming. Maybe this thread name should now be, "do you look forward to riding the snow". YES!

Hehe.. have fun Ars...

I've done my fair share of biking in the snow... even biked in a blizzard once. It's ok, but not what I think of as fun. It's almost impossible to keep a steady pace going. And it always seems like your front tire is sliding out to one side or the other. And forget about clipless pedals.

I've always wondered why they don't have some kinda way for you to attach a ski to your front wheel so it just rides on top of the snow. Then when you turn the wheel it would kinda crank to the side and cut into the snow like you do when you are skiing. To me, that would be cool to try. Course, you'd need a good studded tire on the back to keep the "motor" going. Plus a good disc brake on the back. :) Or heck, just remove the front wheel and attach a ski to the fork with an extension so you keep the same height.

PBW "Would that be a ski-bike? Or a bike-ski?"

I skipped biking in favor of walking. I didn't feel like denting up my car for the 2.5 miles to work, so I walked through downtown Annapolis. It was nice, except for the uncleared sidewalks. Now that ice is coming down instead of snow, I'm really glad I don't have to drive or bike home.

I just came back...it was a freaking blast. I didn't wander too far from home, (only about 100 yards) and I took my rigid beater Huffy. It was a freakin' blast! I tried my hand at some freeride-type of things, and of course fell on my ass. But hey, the six inches we got in columbia was enough to cushion my fall.

Another fun thing...riding into drifts and snowplow piles and trying to jump them, and of course NOT succeding, but hey, it was fun.

I think its warming up some...I was sweating with my LLbean Warmup jacket on. I hope it melts and freezes again. Can you say, "four-day weekend"?

Jeez, Asbars, you have two feet in Annapolis? I'm in Columbia (about 15 southwest of baltimore; about 25 northeast of DC) We only got about 6 so far, and the snow is starting to taper off!

Would it be terribly wrong of me to ride my mtb in my complex without my helmet? I left it at work, which sucks, and I really want to go outside and ride. I think I'll just stay in bed today :irritated

I didn' t ride with my helmet today, mainly becasue all I did was go infront of my house on the main road. I think my area (riva) got the most snow I've heard about. It's about a foot and half (bit more) but in areas were it drifted around last night/ early AM its up there.


:) Snow rocks!

The novelity has worn off... I'm ready for it to melt already LOL.

PBW

Snow can be fun, but just don't use clipless pedals.

Do wear your helmet, the fun often involves falls.

Too much rain/ice mixed in down here South of the Patomic. Just walking was crunch crunch -;)


Originally posted by P. B. Walker

I've always wondered why they don't have some kinda way for you to attach a ski to your front wheel so it just rides on top of the snow. Then when you turn the wheel it would kinda crank to the side and cut into the snow like you do when you are skiing. To me, that would be cool to try. Course, you'd need a good studded tire on the back to keep the "motor" going. Plus a good disc brake on the back. :) Or heck, just remove the front wheel and attach a ski to the fork with an extension so you keep the same height.

PBW "Would that be a ski-bike? Or a bike-ski?"

I've often thought of this. I'd wrap the rear tire with rope for traction.
Joe
:crash:

You don't like clipless pedals? Snow riding is fairly technical and I like the control that the clipless offeres. I find that mine work okay most of the time in the snow. Last night it was icy and I had to occasionally kick my foot to get the ice out of the cleats, but in general they worked fine. I have Times. The folks with SPD pedals were having a little more trouble with the ice.

We're still riding in the snow! Check out my gallery from this weekend (And last weekend). We're hoping to get a tonne more in before it gets too cold!!

Winter Riding in Kanata, Ontario, Canada! (http://www.mtbkanata.com/cgi-bin/DUgallery/cat.asp?iCat=37)

Joe

Originally posted by joeprim
I've often thought of this. I'd wrap the rear tire with rope for traction.
Joe
:crash: Ummm OK so you'd be using disc brakes I would suppose? V-brakes cranked out to allow the rope to pass? shudder