What was Sheldon's take on it?

You are moving when you pedal, but you can also correct any slide using that motion instead of using brakes. You can also slow down on the ice without touching the brakes.

Maybe the constant pedaling causes more little slips, but I'd rather have small slips that I can correct. I didn't go down once last year, and the last half of the winter was brakeless. So far it's looking good this year, but I've only had to ride on glare ice twice.