Riding (and falling off) in snow

miss notax

Well, I had my first experience of riding in snow last night - fell off about 8 times but all in all good Riding through the white fluffy snow was great fun, but on the way home when my lights went meaning we had to ride / walk on the road which was sheet ice was less fun..... It was about -3 degrees and I was absolutely frozen when I got back. And it HURT when I fell onto iced tarmac!

Am feeling a bit battered and bruised today as a result, and have some spectacular bruises coming up - but great fun

scale20

My Mrs is the same, I took her out for her 1st snow ride/walk on Monday it was good fun but she was on her a$$ more than on her bike, now covered in bruises and gorse rash

miss notax

Oh good - it's not just me then!!!

I found not being able to clip in really off-putting.... My cleats kept on getting buried in all the ice on my shoes - obviously the answer is not to put my feet down and to keep riding, but easier said than done!! And my feet kept on sliding off the pedals :oops:

I did enjoy it though - it was fun, albeit a little surreal

.blitz

Personally, I rate riding in snow just a little above root canal work. Pottering about and being cautious gets me down and I struggle to derive enjoyment through the simple matter of being on a bike. I don't mind the cold but the treacherous conditions are a PITA

26 to Life

I usually switch the diff lock on and then it's all good. I think it's gotta be done a couple of times, then I'm in the 'no thanks' camp. I rode a load of built trails in BC in autumn with a sprinkling of snow on them. That was pretty....um...interesting.

clodhoppa74

i want to try it to be honest, and if there's snow about this weekend i'll be having a go. it's been an age since i went out on the bike

RealMan

Annoyingly I just came back from a skiing holiday, and they decided my luggage would be better off if it stayed in Switzerland. So I have no gloves or proper socks to ride with. Thus, I'm not doing much riding.

dazoo666

Been riding to work all week despite the snow (and ice). Thoroughly loving it although surprised at the amount of people that think i'm off my head for trying. Feel safer than walking or being in a car to be honest.

richen

riding in the snow is ace fun and the joy of fallin ginto a big pile of the stuff is a lot of fun. however iced roads and spds on the commute to work is not a great deal of fun! so just stickingto the forest for now!
enjoy so much!

fatwomble

For once I didn't fall off, will try again over the weekend

dave_hill

scale20 wrote:

My Mrs is the same, I took her out for her 1st snow ride/walk on Monday it was good fun but she was on her a$$ more than on her bike, now covered in bruises and gorse rash

Good god, have you not learned by now that women, wheels and snow just do NOT mix... :shock:

pdid

dave_hill wrote:

Good god, have you not learned by now that women, wheels and snow just do NOT mix... :shock:

Yep

Vegman

Bimmers and sno just don't go.. one area where the 'perfect driving machine' falls short! However I do miss our old coupe. Gti works much better in the snow though.

JamesB

miss notax wrote:

Oh good - it's not just me then!!!

I found not being able to clip in really off-putting.... My cleats kept on getting buried in all the ice on my shoes - obviously the answer is not to put my feet down and to keep riding, but easier said than done!! And my feet kept on sliding off the pedals :oops:

I did enjoy it though - it was fun, albeit a little surreal

1. Release tension on SPD pedals (asuming that is what you`re using)---helps get feet out quickly

2. stamp cleat onto pedal before clipping in--sheds snow

Northwind

Think I fell once today, after what I thought was trail turned out to be a snowbridge over a stream, enormous wheeltrap And a few near misses, some heroic tripodding at speed to save front end slides... Great fun. Though, we did pick a route that was well suited to snow.

newborn

I can't see the fun it mate. You just slip and get stuck every 2 minutes, end up freezing your tits off, I'll wait untill it melts so I can enjoy the real value of biking in the middle of knowhere, flying along single track and having a good day out.

tlw1

been out yesterday & today and had a ball!

Northwind

newborn wrote:

I can't see the fun it mate. You just slip and get stuck every 2 minutes, end up freezing your tits off

Not so much... I got slightly cold feet today after about 4 and a half hours out in the hills, but that was it. For a lot of the day, I was too warm Slipping and getting stuck depends a bit on your choice of trail though, there's trails around here that are almost unrideable so we just don't ride them, and stick to the bits that work. Also, to be fair snow riding does involve a bit of a different skillset that you need to build up, nobody's good at riding in the snow til they've done it a bit.

The other thing is, it can really help your riding... Snow really punishes stiff riding, you need to be constantly loose on the bike. That's how you should be all the time, but if you're anything like me it probably doesn't work quite like that, lower grip is good for showing if you're stiffening up, weighting the bike badly etc. Stuff you can usually get away with (but still shouldn't be doing), you can't get away with. So, that's good I think.

I was out on a group ride a while back and most of the group- including some very good riders- looked at a slightly muddy, wet, rooty descent and said "That's too slippy, not riding it". But I was able to think "I've done that in the snow, it can't be any slippier" and so got up the nerve to do it, which I think I never would have otherwise.

Nothing wrong with avoiding it though of course, it's your riding and anyone who tells you you SHOULD enjoy riding in snow is a tool. But, maybe you could.

dave_hill

dave_hill wrote:

Good god, have you not learned by now that women, wheels and snow just do NOT mix... :shock:

pdid wrote:

Yep

Oh lordy, add a Bimmer into the equation and you've no chance... :roll:

miss notax

Well, fortunately our cars have got through the snow un-bashed (although I did have to abandon the Volvo at one point...)!

One of the photos from last weeks snowy ride (and it was dark!!);

Mark_K

Good to see the ladies out and about in the snow i was out with the wife in our winter wonderland on Sunday! I fell 4 time's she didn't fall at all :oops: But she did enjoy laughing her arse off at me floundering around in the white stuff :?

muddylegs

In the snow, and the dark, now that is the best of both worlds.

mayonaise

Is it only me that hasn't fallen off whilst snow riding? :?

muddylegs

No, I have'nt. (YET) Mind you all our snow has nearly gone we did not get the snow they said we would get.

Northwind

mayonaise wrote:

Is it only me that hasn't fallen off whilst snow riding? :?

I've only fallen off while intentionally doing something stupid Part of the fun for me is pushing the grip too far, you usually need to be shifting to do that so pushing the front or drifting the rear at more survivable speeds is good fun. You can rein it in and just ride safely but... nah Lots of big daft foot-out slides and miracle saves for us in the last couple of rides.

LoUiS1985

riding in snow is awesome fun.......... not knowing which way the bikes back end is gonna swing to at any given moment really keeps you on your toes and gives your brain a good workout, as well as your body!!

I've been out several times during this snow covered winter and although nearly coming off hundreds of times, only managed to properly bail about twice, which IMO isn't too bad at all. As long as you've got some good, waterproof, warm winter wear then jobs a good 'un! And whats more, the scenery is amazing when everything's glistening white and covered in snow!!

dav1

Me and a mate were out on saturday.

Both fell off once in a park where we went to ride up a small mound. Unfortunatly the kids sleds had converted the powder into an ice layer and wheels went from under.

Had a slip on a country track, hit some ice, spun 360 but stayed upright on the bike by unclipping and using my foot to stabilise.

Most worrying one was on the way to work this morning. As the salt has knackerd my MTB i took the roadie. Assumed that an upcoming corner was clear and went in at a decent pace. Hit some black ice, rear wheel stepped out and i drifted around the corner.
Thankfully front held on though.

Epic fun

asdfhjkl

mayonaise wrote:

Is it only me that hasn't fallen off whilst snow riding? :?

I've not fallen off in the snow - but icy roads? That's another story

TheHelpfulDevil

Being a roady and hating the turbo trainer i borrowed a friends MTB....OMG love it! i used to ride BMX few year back now. i forgt the fun on throwing yourself around and not worring if you fall or sctach your stead. The snow only added to the fun...can't wait to go out again!

dave_hill

miss notax wrote:

Well, fortunately our cars have got through the snow un-bashed (although I did have to abandon the Volvo at one point...)

WHAT??? You had to abandon a Volvo in the snow?? :shock:

Mine loves it, it's like a little (well gurt big 2-tonne) puppy, it looks at me with it's big eyes (well headlights) and says "are we going out in the snow again today?? Are we?? Are we??"

It's the only car in our village that's never once been stopped by the snow - and that includes two Discoverys and a Landcruiser....

miss notax

dave_hill wrote:

miss notax wrote:

Well, fortunately our cars have got through the snow un-bashed (although I did have to abandon the Volvo at one point...)

WHAT??? You had to abandon a Volvo in the snow?? :shock:

Mine loves it, it's like a little (well gurt big 2-tonne) puppy, it looks at me with it's big eyes (well headlights) and says "are we going out in the snow again today?? Are we?? Are we??"

It's the only car in our village that's never once been stopped by the snow - and that includes two Discoverys and a Landcruiser....

Yep! Admittedly it was rather a big hill and I did have about 6 wheels and tyres in the back (for the rally car...) but I just couldn't move! Obviously Chris (my other half) maintains that he could have managed a three point turn going up hill on ice in a blizzard to get home, but that's another story.... :evil:

It took me over 3 hours to go under 1/2 a mile, so in the end some kind people helped push the volvo onto the pavement and I walked back to the office where I met my other colleagues who couldn't get home and we went for a beer and dinner. The evening took an even stranger turn when Chris turned up to rescue me - driven by his mum :shock: So I was in fact rescued by my (very lovely!) mother-in-law!!

Got the volvo back a few days later but it's still holding it's head in shame.....