These 4 Crucial Strategies Keep You Riding Through Snow and Ice
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Biking in the snow and on ice can certainly present a challenge. You have to watch out for frigid temperatures, bitter winds, and dicey road conditions. While icy and snowy surfaces deter many riders from logging miles outside during the colder months, you can still build some base miles or commute around town with a little practice and some forethought.
Here’s how to stay upright and pedal smoothly when cycling in snow and on slippery roads, according to two bike coaches who’ve been training riders in frosty cities for decades.
1. Gear Up
The same way you wouldn’t ride your bike at night without lights, you want to outfit your road bike properly for icy conditions. As a rule of thumb, Dave Palese, cycling coach and general manager at Gorham Bike and Ski in Portland, Maine, recommends riding with the widest, knobbiest tires you can fit on your frame.
On ice, studded tires (which are equipped with metal spikes on the tread) offer the best grip, but they’re heavy and noisy. On light snow, general winter tires—like Continental’s Top Contact Winter II tires—should do the trick.
In addition to making sure you have the right tires, you also need the right tire pressure. Run a slightly lower PSI than you usually would on clear roads. “The lower pressure will allow for the tire to create a bigger contact patch [with the ground] and provide better traction,” Palese tells Bicycling.
To avoid getting sprayed by any wintry slush, you might want to invest in some fenders, too. If your bike doesn’t have dedicated fender mounts—which is often the case with race bikes and some gravel bikes—you can use guards, like the SKS Raceblade Pros, that attach directly to your bike. You can also add on buddy flaps (fender extensions) if you’re riding in a group to keep your friends from getting soaked.
As on any low-light ride, never leave the house without front and rear lights and reflective gear to ensure you’re visible to drivers when biking in the snow—no matter what time of day it is.
2. Plan Your Route
Before setting off to bike in the snow, take some time to think about which roads will best serve your ride. Sue Lloyd, the owner of the Inspired Training Center in Denver, and a level II USA Cycling coach, advises cyclists to seek out roads that are frequently plowed or get a lot of sunlight. For example, in Denver, she likes to ride on the north side of streets that run east-to-west because they face the sun so the snow melts faster.
Pro tip: Take notice which roads are getting the most sun on clear days and record your observations in your training log or fitness tracking app. You can even keep an eye out for frequently plowed roads while driving.
Also, always be cognizant of snow banks on the shoulder of the road, which take longer to melt and can be littered with debris and salt that can corrode parts on your bike, like the chain and drivetrain. After your ride, it’s a good idea to wipe down your bike with a wet cloth or give it a full wash to avoid any grimey build-up.
3. Sweat the Technique
Riding in the snow and ice is all about being proactive—instead of reactive. Palese advises riders to always think about what might lie ahead on a slippery street: “Where does this road go? Is there a stop sign at the bottom of this hill? If I take this route, will I be far from any help or home if I have an issue?” These questions can help you prepare for the unexpected.
Steering is a bit different in slippery conditions. On dry roads, you might maneuver your bike by leaning from side to side around turns, but on the ice and snow, Lloyd tells Bicycling that steering your handlebars is more effective than leaning. “It’s not unlike the strategies and skills I use to train cyclocross riders,” she says. “Use your upper body to direct the bike through a turn rather than leaning [the rest of your body] through it.” Make sure to keep your eyes directed at where you want to end up by “looking through the turn.”
For braking, make sure to apply pressure with both brakes before you need to turn or stop to help control your speed, just as you would in regular conditions. But it’s always important to anticipate that braking will take longer on icy surfaces.
“When making a turn, the slowing and braking needs to happen before the bike is unsettled by the turn,” Lloyd says. You don’t want to be the one fishtailing through a stop sign, so brake early and proactively.
When riding uphill, avoid shifting your weight too far forward so that your back wheel has enough weight on top of it to keep it from sliding out, Lloyd says. Keep in mind that standing can throw off this equilibrium.
Similarly, on a descent, she suggests positioning your center of gravity so that it’s above your bottom bracket and keeping your pedals level with each other to maximize balance.
If you do end up teetering off-balance, Lloyd says that a slow, high-impact fall can do more damage than one where you slide across the ground. “If you go down, you’ve got to tuck and roll and try to protect your hips, elbows, and shoulders,” she says. “Allow your body to move through the fall and try not to stop it to absorb the energy.” You might walk away with some road rash after a skid, but you diminish the chances of breaking a bone by literally rolling with the fall.
If you’re nervous about falling, Lloyd recommends swapping your clipless pedals with flats to make stepping off your bike easier if things get wobbly.
4. Know When to Stay Inside
Above all, use your best judgment to decide if it’s worth cycling in snow or biking on ice. Palese emphasizes that every rider has a different threshold for the temperature and conditions they feel comfortable riding, but you shouldn’t take any unnecessary chances. “If you have to skip a workout due to road conditions or weather, you aren’t going to lose any fitness by missing one or two sessions,” he says. “If it looks dangerous out there, ride inside or try a different workout that day.”
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