Each climate requires different clothes. Don’t you agree? Being somewhat more stubborn than others, it took me two years to figure out combinations that worked well in all conditions. With an aim toward shortening the learning curve, I present the following discussions on clothing options. Now, just because you don’t see it here doesn’t mean
I rather suspect that, in the end, almost any bike can be used. What do you say? You can go winter cycling on your summer bike, even your skinny tired road bike. Some icebikers prefer just that. Cuts through the snow, down to the traction, they claim. It’s not till you experiment with something else
In winter everything becomes problematic. Even the simple bike computer. The problem is not the computers themselves, but trying to use them can be maddening when you have winter gloves, or worse, lobster claws or mittens on, and your fingers are an inch wide. Those little buttons are often hard to push. Since much winter
Besides the fact that they are out in the cold and the wind chill, your hands are also locked in the same position on the bike for your entire ride. This can reduce circulation and you can get really cold hands, perhaps frostbitten in short order. Many options help you cover your hands in the
A lot of people have asked me how I can ride through a New England winter. Dressing properly for the weather certainly has a great deal to do with my enjoyment of it, but I have to admit that I also really get a kick out of the looks on people’s faces when I ride
Why do we ride in the winter? I’m frequently asked as I walk into a pub or movie theater, “Aren’t you cold?”. I just smile warmly and say “Nope”. Nearly every day coworkers used to ask if I had taken my bike, thinking “It’s worse weather than yesterday, there’s no way he rode his bike”
Winter cycling offers the opportunity to retain, and even enhance, your cycling skills over the whole year. There are very few days during the winter in which cycling becomes impossible. If you’re able to cross-country ski, then you’re ready to cycle. The secret to successful winter cycling is that you stay warm and dry, maintain
Winter bike tires can make your winter bicycling commuting safe. Now, you might be wondering do I really need winter bike tires? What difference does it make? A tire is a tire after all! I am glad you asked. Winter bike tires have special tread patterns. The studs are positioned in a way to provide
I still have the beautiful Italian made rollers that I saved up for in my 20s, and also a wind trainer (a rear wheel stabilized in a truss). But more regarding equipment later. I live in an area that has on average 4 meters of snowfall each winter and temperatures routinely get down below -18
While researching for a bicycle touring graphic we are making, I came across Iohan Gueorguiev who have done some very cold trips in Canada in the middle of the winter (unlike most people he actually seems to enjoy cold weather and icy roads). Prefering summer myself, I thought it was interesting to talk with Iohan
Editors note: The Åland Islands group consists of nearly three hundred inhabitable islands, of which about eighty are inhabited, the remainder being desolate rocks. These islands form a continuation of Åbo skärgård (in Finnish, Turunmaan saaristo), the archipelago adjacent to the southeast coast of Finland. More info about the Åland Islands. Visibility There were
“Hello, this is Richard Chin. I’m calling from…” ” Oh great, another telephone survey. It was Saturday morning and I was packing for an adventure. A telephone survey was not going to happen. I was about to hang up when he said “…ththe Pioneer Free Press in St Paul. I’m a reporter covering the Arrowhead
Before we get practical a little of the magic. Cruising through a white landscape while the sunlight makes the snow sparkle like millions of microscopic paparazzi popping off as you glide by. The light provided by a low sun making a fine layer of powder snow rising off your front tire glowingly reveal hypnotic changes
Legendary among racers and largely unknown elsewhere, the Iditasport Impossible is a human-powered winter journey tracing Alaska’s historic Iditarod Trail. It’s more of an expedition than a race; we navigate unmarked dogsled and snowmachine routes 1,100 miles from Knik to Nome, and support is limited to boxes of food and clothing sent to checkpoints prior
In March of 1998 I completed the Iditasport Extreme, an on-snow race which followed the Iditarod trail for about 350 miles, beginning at the roadhouse on Knik Lake and finishing in the village of McGrath, in interior Alaska. In the months prior to the race I drew on all of my wilderness and endurance racing
I am a long time Mountainbike Journalist from Austria. My friends and me have formed a progressive Mountainbike Freeride group years ago, Headquarters in Innsbruck, Tyrol/Austria. The Group is called the “VertRiders”. There’s also a web project which is planned to be updated in January. Believe me, the “Verts” are totally addicted to winter riding.
I have a very bad tendency to seek tough mountain bike events. The events where you compete against yourself, where finishing is an accomplishment. The ones that make your parents wake up at night in a cold sweat. It all started in 1994 when I registered our team of five for the 24 Hours of
Icebikers have special needs when it comes to the layers next to the skin. While normal outdoor winter activity may require a simple pair of cotton long johns under jeans, this simply won’t do for winter cycling. Cyclists produce great amounts of heat (and sweat) and the traditional approaches to warmth just don’t work. First,
Ice bike ride Saturday After last weekends hectic organization of Winnipeg’s inaugural Ice Bike Event this weekend was spent in more leisurely pursuits. On this Saturday the whole family rose late. After breakfast Josh and I headed off for a ride up the Red River. There was a strong South wind so we ended up
Icebikers sometimes think themselves unique or inventive, and almost always believe themselves to be resourceful. These beliefs are all true of course, and athletic, competitive, self-reliant and macho suggest themselves frequently as well. Icebikers sometimes think that winter cycling is relatively new, an invention of the last 10 years or so, made possible by modern
There is frequently much discussion as to why we cycle slower in winter than in summer. There are several reasons put forward for this often-observed phenomenon, some of which are well-reasoned and some of which are pure nonsense. Why Are You Slower In Winters? Some of the reasons put forth for slowness in winter are
Note that bike speed into still air is the same as wind speed. Cyclists are often moving at 15mph even on very cold days. A quick glance at the chart below indicates that you loose heat at a rate that seems much colder than the outside temperature. 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5
In the winter of 98/99 Icebike.org conducted a survey of winter cycling using an automated web page which tallied answers to the twenty questions printed below. The survey was first posted only on the Icebike mailing list. After the membership of that list responded, the survey was made available to the internet as a whole
There are certain winter riding techniques that seem to be useful in many varieties of snow and ice. If you are new to ice biking you may find the collected experiences of dozens of other ice bikers from all over the world used in the first year. These winter cycling tips were garnered from the
Lights aren’t a winter cycling issue, but since it is dark longer in winter, you tend to need bicycle lights in the winter. You want to be sure that your choice works in the cold. Remember, that if you ride the roads, you need brighter lights than on the trail, because roads tend to be
Winterizing a freehub is simply overhauling it with the right lubricant. This piece should help you decide whether you need to winterize your freehub and get you through the procedure if you decide to try. Manufacturers assemble freehubs with varying amounts of fairly thick grease in the bearings and pawls. At temperatures below about 20
Many icebikers end up being rain bikers or snow-melt bikers or in some other way attract a lot of dirty water to the backside of their biking togs. Sooner or later the original idea of fenders dawns on the soggy rider and then the search is on of a good pair, which weighs nothing, looks
Cycling mirrors are one of those subjects that bring on arguments almost as intense as the “Helmet Wars” found in any cycling discussion on the Internet. They come around once every 6 months or so and usually leave a lot of acrimony hanging in the ether. Roadies think they are too sexy to use mirrors,
Last fall I noticed that my well used rain pants were no longer waterproof. They tended to cling when wet, and the nylon had worn thin in the seat. The zippers had long since failed, and been replaced with Velcro, and even that was failing. No matter how much ScotchGard Outdoor I used on them
Looking in the various bike catalogs you see that the super warm tights are good down to – get this, 45 Degrees (F). Well, that takes care of October, but what about Winter? The availability of cold-weather tights has been spotty at best. This has caused some icebikers to seek other sources of clothing such
What to wear in the winds of winter? How to keep from freezing? This is what keeps a lot of folks from icebiking, fear of the cold. But as we have stated elsewhere, fear of overheating is more warranted. This is not to say that you can’t get cold out there. However, as long as
What’s there to know about keeping a head warm? You put on a hat and that’s all. But wait! There’s more to it. You lose a lot of heat through your head. When icebiking, the heat loss through your head can be a blessing if you are working up a sweat. However, most of the
Icebikers have more reasons to wear glasses than most cyclists, and more problems with them too. In addition to prescription lenses, other reasons to wear glasses include howling winds and blowing snow. When riding on broad expanses of snow, such as a frozen lake, sunny days can be so bright as to be downright painful,
What to wear on your feet is a big question and the source of much discussion among icebikers. There are basically two schools of thought on the subject. Use shoes designed for cycling, making additions or changes to accommodate the cold, such as adding neoprene booties over the shoes or Gore-Tex socks to retain the