Snow Riding

Riding in bad conditions is a fact of the sport, and here in Colorado it is part of commuting. It usually doesn’t snow very much during any of the cycling seasons, but it snows a lot right when people first start switching from cyclocross to mountain biking. This is usually the most annoying part of the year for riding. The days are just long enough to ride after work, warm enough to go riding, but there is still a couple inches of snow on the ground. If however you have the right cold weather gear it is possible to have a lot of fun in the snow.

The first thing to worry about when riding in the snow is warmth. If you can’t stay warm  enough the whole ride will be a very unpleasant experience. It is also important to have multiple layers. It may seem really cold out, but once you start plowing through a foot of snow you will get hot. The most important part dressing to ride in the snow is to wear a hat under your helmet! Without a hat your ears will start to sting almost immediately, which can hurt bad enough to stop riding.

The second part of snow riding is tire choice and tire pressure. With any tire in the snow it is super important to ride with low pressure. Low pressure allows the tire to spread out more on the ground, which makes more contact area and more grip. I will be close to 17 psi when it is snowy and slippery, but because of this on exposed pavement it can be easy to fold the sidewall of the tire. Tire choice is also important when riding in snow and is dependant on the type of snow you are riding on. I like to ride with my most aggressive tire in deep snow. It helps dig through the pow and onto solid ground. For hard packed snow I like file treads with really low pressure. The file tread doesn’t dig into the snow, and instead it floats on top of it making the rolling resistance really low. If there is a combination of hard pack snow, ice, pavement, and deep snow then I will use an aggressive tire in the front and a moderate tread in the rear. But it is important to remember that the tire choice should only help you and good technique will allow you to ride safely.

The technique to riding in the snow is like a combination of mud and sand riding. It is slippery like mud, and you float around much like sand. Like mud riding braking, accelerating, and cornering should all be done separately. If you try to brake and turn, the front wheel usually will lock up and slide. Accelerating and cornering will make the back wheel spin and you will not move anywhere. While riding in the sand the bike drifts from side to side, and gets taken by ruts off your intended path. In snow it is no different. Your tires dig into ruts and when you try to get out of them you slide. The best way to stay upright is to let the bike go where it wants, even if it takes you from one side of the course to the other and back. But if you do have to fight it to stay out of the course tape, the only way to do so is moving your body. If you try to steer the front tire will dig in and you will get bogged down immediately. But if you use your torso to steer, then the bike will follow much more smoothly. Ruts are faster than deep snow, so using your body to stay in one can make tough sections a lot faster. Even throwing a foot out to stay in a rut is better than going into deeper snow. It may feel weird at first, but once you master the body language it will be much easier.