Ice Ride

Since I mentioned biking season was over last post, and it was time to talk about ski adventures, what do you know I end up going for my first bike ride today in months.

I was getting an oil change on my car at lunch, so I decided to pack my bike, and go for a short ride while the work was getting done. The bike of choice of course is the IceJammer - hardtail with studded tires. I guessed there might be a few icy patches on the nearby Deschutes River Trail, so decided to check it out and see how the tires gripped. On the way there, encountered several frozen mini-ponds (in between a puddle and a pond), and on these flat icy surface the tires gripped well. Then hit a steep icy pot-holed climb, and made it up that too.

Got to the trail, and my eyes lit up at the huge expanses of solid ice. This was high quality ice too - a thick hard transparent layer. We had some heavy snow recently, then a thaw where everything got wet and slushy, and then a deep freeze. This was the kind of ice that ice climbers love. A very uneven surface too - pockmarked with frozen footprints.

Was railing along quite happily, the tires only slipping briefly every now and then, when came to the first long steep climb - a granny gear grunt-up. Amazingly, was climbing up this with minimal slippage. Right near the top was a little step up, where you have to torque the pedals pretty hard to get over it, and sometimes get off the seat a bit and transfer your weight forward. Since was already probably at the grip limits of the tires, decided to step off here, or risk a nasty clumsy spill on the ice. But as soon as my foot (clad in hiking boots), touched the ground (solid ice), down I went with painful suddenness, and started sliding down the incline along with the bike. Tried to get up a couple of times, but there was virtually zero grip on this slick solid ice. Now bruised and not so brash, I managed to make it up the hill by bushwacking up to the side of the trail. I guess if you've got studs on your tires, you need them on your boots too !

Hit a few sketchy downhill ice sections - these are really nerve racking, as any braking force has to be applied ever so slightly, lest the wheels lock up and go sideways. Studs work great as long as the tire is rolling - but when motionless, maybe only a couple of studs are gripping.

So now I need to buy studded boots and maybe studded gloves too. Hell, a studded body suit would probably be best ! Or I could just wait until Spring until I hit the trails again.