Discussion: winter biking

who bikes in winter somewhere where there is actually snow and ice on the ground?

I do sometimes. Mountain biking on snowmobile trails when the snow consistency is right.

do you just use a standard mountain bike? bet crashing is more fun since you have the snow to cushion you

I ride through the entire winter on my mountain bike. Extreme cold - below zero - will shorten the ride.
The only time I will not ride is if there is black ice on roads. I've fallen several times in those conditions and it can be dangerous.
Riding in fresh snow is a blast and is not that slippery. Especially if its a wet snow.
Studded tires are available and I am considering a pair. Then I will take on that black ice!

A club member swore off winter biking after she got a nasty wrist injury that took a long time to heal.

Just my regular bike. I stay off roads for the most part, and do it only sometimes -- if the snow is better, I'll ski or snowshoe. One thing to be aware of is that mountain bikes with suspensions that use elastomers tend to get rock-hard when it's cold. I have an air-shock fork, which works fine, as will suspensions with metal springs.

Swearing off an activity after an injury can be a prescription for stopping all activities. Still, there are plenty of things to do in this world.

Except for the 10 days or so that we actually have snow on the roads in St. Louis, I ride my regular road bike. I don't do a whole lot of mountain biking in the winter, but I've found that regular hard pack tires do fine in snow. For ice, you need studs.

The bigger issue is keeping your hands and feet warm, since even our cold days are often wet. Neopreme socks are good for the 30-degrees-with-melting-snow-on-the-roads days. You might need a separate pair of cycling shoes, though, because they are considerably thicker than normal socks.

I managed to ride my $15 garage sale Peugeot road bike to the train station thru half of last years winter. I must admit that I dropped the bike-to-the-train commute for the ease and comfort of my car for the rest of the winter when I scored a parking permit .

On fun rides:
For gloves, I have a pair of snowmobile gloves that are not very thick. Used with a pair of liner gloves, I can get a 90 minute ride in with temperatures near 0.
Shoes can be tricky. I use heavier trail sneakers ( wind proof) . I wear 2 pairs of thin-ish socks and a Vapor Barrier Lock sock over them. Most of the time, instead of VBL socks, I just use a plastic grocery bag. They are free, disposable and will keep out freezing water - when you step in a stream - away from your socks.

Swearing off an activity after an injury can be a prescription for stopping all activities.

Mm, true, but several months of physio just to get normal wrist function back may be more reason than other injuries, depending on how important the activity is to you. Being hit by a car while cycling caused another club member most of a year off orienteering with the physio, getting even basic running function back. A colleague was out for a while with a broken clavicle. I'm not aware of as many serious injurires with, say, orienteering, but admittedly that's anecdotal. I run on ice and snow, but avoid biking on them...different downsides (depending on traffic, off-road options, etc.).

My favorite link for winter cycling tips and gear is http://www.icebike.org/

Last winter I used Moose Mitts (http://www.trails-edge.com/retail/te_shirts/amfbik...)
for commuting. They are rather pricey, but kept my hands warm when used along with a light pair of winter cycling gloves.

I read in a magazine once an article about making your own set of studed bike tires:

1) Get a bunch of wood screws (play with length and head type to see what works best).

2) Screw them through from the inside of your tire so they're sticking out on the outside.

3) After all your screws are in, line the inside of your tire with a couple of layers of duct-tape to prevent the screws from puncturing your tubes.

I've never tried this, but it seems like it might work pretty well. It will add a lot of weight to your bike, but might help keep the rubber side down. I would guess that a countersink flat-head or pan-head screw might work best. Probably don't want to try it with a expensive set of tires either. I used to bike to class in snow all the time and there were a few days when studs would have been mighty nice.

Veering off topic, but so what's new...

I'm not aware of as many serious injurires with, say, orienteering, but admittedly that's anecdotal.

I'll add my own lifetime stats to the data set:

Road Cycling: 15,000 hours. Injuries requiring significant time off: Broken ribs (3 wks), separated shoulder (twice, 3 wks each), broken hand (2 wks, but could do many other sports).

Off Road Cycling: 1500 hours. Broken ribs (4 wks).

Running: 5000 hours. Stress facture (6 wks), shin splints (4 wks).

Orienteering: 1800 hours. Broken foot (6 wks), dislocated shoulder (2 wks), sprained ankle (twice: 4wks, 2wks).

Cycling has by far the best ratio of training time to injury time. Orienteering is worst. Of course, I've had more minor injuries than I could possibly count while riding, but serious injuries are relatively rare if you wear a helmet.

One caveat: most of the serious cycling injuries came relatively early in my career. I wonder if one becomes less prone to injury after riding 50,000 miles or so. Also, most of the cycling was in my 20's when my body would bounce back from a crash much quicker than it does now.

Well, you seem to have avoided the two classic cycling injuries: broken collarbone, and "Augh! The left side of my body is one big abrasion!".

Meanwhile, the number of ankle sprains I've been aware of in orienteering is too high to count. Plus lacerations, often requiring stitches.

"Augh! The left side of my body is one big abrasion!".

Hmm... My recollection is that competitive cyclists don't really count that one. I think the only ones that count are the ones that prevent you from riding. Speaking of which I broke my collarbone in a bike accident last year. :-(

My worst "orienteering injury" was a broken wrist after slipping and falling on the ice while walking to the train station in Lillehammer, Norway in 1996 after Ski-O WOC. I thought it was only sprained, so went ahead and skied the Swedish Vasaloppet course (89 km) the next day.

Oh, almost forgot. I have done the 15-mile commute many times on a bike in winter. As others have mentioned, studs are awesome. No ice can stop them. I have passed stuck cars that couldn't make it up the hills with them. I have seen angry drivers lean their heads out of their stuck cars and yell "Hey, are you crazy?"

Guess I was lucky with the collarbone - you're right that it's pretty rare to find someone with over 800 races who hasn't snapped it. As for the abrasion thing, that falls into the "more minor injuries than I could possibly count bucket" although, again, most of that was early on. My last five serious seasons (about 400 races), I only went down twice.

Used to bike in the winter all the time in the snow. Loved it! Now I live in CA where there's no snow except for the mountains- not cool.

Got lots of practice keeping the bike under control - its actually good practice for getting a good feel for the bike and how it handles. As long as you keep things under control realizing you need to be much more careful and less agressive its good fun.

Still, donuts in a car in a big parking lot or iceboating takes the cake. Man I miss Michigan! Go Blue! (18 Nov 06)

"I have seen angry drivers lean their heads out of their stuck cars and yell "Hey, are you crazy?""

Classic! Funny how something out of the ordinary boundary in peoples heads is hard for them to process even though it makes sense. .

Got lots of practice keeping the bike under control - its actually good practice for getting a good feel for the bike and how it handles.

Michael Shumacher, arguably the best driver ever, once said, "In the dry, all four tires talk to you; in the rain, they whisper." The only problem with learning bike handling on ice is the aforementioned concern with injuries. You go down so fast on ice that you have no time to protect yourself. If your really want to learn how to handle a bike, there's no substitute for cyclocross.

I bike to work all winter, not every day, but at least a couple of times per week. My commute is about 40km round trip with a mixture of paths and roads. Snow and ice are present from October through to March.

It is a lot of fun, but you need to be prepared. Studded tires are essential. I used some Nokian ones that were about C$90 each. They are on their thrid season. I've heard that you only need them on the front, but I have them front and back, and the bike never slips, even on black ice. I use some Lake Winter biking boots which are quite good, but I still haven't found the best socks for them. Finding breathable gloves is a bit of an issue, but x-country ski gloves actually seem to work quite well. I also invested in some top end lights for cycling at night. I use a 10W Halogen and tail light system on the bike, together with a 50W eqivalent HID on my helmet. Everyone can see me coming!

Sounds like no-one can see once you're past either!
Trouble with cycling all year round here in Blightly is that I can cope with cold, I can cope with rain, I can cope with snow, but it's the miserable combination of the rain and wind that seems to make up our winter here that makes it depressing.
Still, that's what roaring fires and winter ales are for.

Eric:
Not many of us are surrounded by USCF Cat 2-3 cyclists when we ride...could that have something to do with your impressive injury stats?

The combination of wind and rain in Blightly sounds like a blast! Nothing more energizing that being outdoors in strong weather! Hoping for a precipitation filled winter in NY!

Clark: don't surround yourself with cat-3's! I finally downgraded myself to 3 a couple years ago and BAM! two pack crashes (one resulting in the above refrenced broken ribs). The Pro/1/2 fields are much better at staying upright. I pretty much restrict myself to 40+ fields now. Faster than cat 3, but a whole lot safer.