Winter Cycling - how to ride in winter

I was wondering how you ride a touring bike in the winter

Butt on the seat, feet on the pedals, hands on the bars, eyes forward and away you go!

Butt on the seat, feet on the pedals, hands on the bars, eyes forward and away you go!

...which is exactly how I'm doing it!

Thank you for the reply. I'm a middle school student who lives in upstate NY and I'm just looking for general advise on how to ride in colder weather/ snow.

The big question is studs or no studs. When I was younger I rode in winter (Norway) on ordinary tires but as age comes upon me I find it more and more important to stay in control. My advice is to get as expensive studded tires as you can afford. Go slower, take it easy in turns and try to stay as loose as possible. Most scary situations will sort themselves out (except in turns that is). I like to ride older bikes with a longer wheelbase on snow. Dress as you would for crosscountry skiing. Not much clothes but beware the windchill factor. Stay warm on feet,head and hands and you will be just fine.

Studs are great. I find the Freddies Revenz also slow me down to the right speed for ice. Ditto staying loose. It helps you recover from slips and if you do fall makes the falls less nasty. Take some yoga, too, or another martial art to keep yourself flexible.

There are tips listed at icebike.com (http://www.icebike.com/). There are also some tips at the Tuesday Night Urban Assault (http://www.tnua.net/) ride's site. If you're in or near Rochester, join us for TNUA some night. The rides work out to about half training, skills and technique, and about half social riding. Tell your parents that the TNUA rides end by 8 or 8:30, so there's still plenty of time left for homework.

With regular tires, very carefully I would think.....

Dress as you would for crosscountry skiing. Not much clothes but beware the windchill factor. Stay warm on feet,head and hands and you will be just fine.

+1 XC skigear rocks!....:D :eek: :D

Thank you for the reply. I'm a middle school student who lives in upstate NY and I'm just looking for general advise on how to ride in colder weather/ snow.

I ride year round up here near Watertown. I've got a beater old Raleigh mountain bike I ride in the winter. Can't recommend riding something nice, the salt and crap will eat it up. Fenders are a must. I wear a camelback under my coat to keep the fluid from freezing. You can pick up good cold weather clothes at Gander mountain or Dicks Sporting goods, they call it cross country skiing clothes. I tuck a hunting sock in my shorts in front of the boys to keep them warm when it's well below freezing, this is very important, no joke.

If you need motivation to ride during the winter join the Winter-Cup - we still need two riders in our team.
Apart from that - just go out and try it - you will like wintercycling...

Layer up, wear tights, put on fenders to ward off the snow and slush up your butt crack, and ride. Rode Saturday in 18 degrees and several inches of snow and ice here in Wisconsin ... busted my ass on a turn once, so just be careful cornering. Use fatter tires and keep the road skinnies indoors. I bike five days a week through winter and love it ... indoor trainers are for sissies!