Originally Posted by
Arcanum
I have yet to fall during the winter, despite riding on every kind of surface imaginable. *knocks on wood* A couple close calls where I tried to turn faster or sharper than I should've, but I've always been able to catch myself with a foot down.
Three rules for riding on ice, hardpack, and mashed-potato slush:
1) Studded tires are your friends.
2) Do not lean into turns; if you need to lean into a turn, you're going too fast.
3) Except for emergency stops, only brake or accelerate when going straight. You have a fixed amount of traction, and using some for acceleration or deceleration means you have less for holding on to your turn.
+1000 This is why I put on the Studded Nikia tires in the late Fall when it looks like we'll get our 1st frozen precipitation, and they don't come off this the frost is definitely gone... black ice by its very nature is nearly impossible to see, and going down can realy hurt. Even if you get your foot down, you can see that generally that doesn't help much as your foot will slip we easily as the bike tire.
Happy riding,
André