Winter Riding

In preparation for the snow last night, I swapped out my knobbies for my studded snow tires.  I used to hate riding on the snow and ice, mostly because it hurts when you fall, and you fall a lot.  I smacked my elbow so hard once that not only did it ache for months but I also developed some kind of growth that eventually erupted in a pungent mess of green silly string like pus and small white flecks of bone (at least I think it was bone).  Not much fun.  So at the end of the winter of '09, I got fed up and purchased a sweet set of studded tires.  Shipping was slow and I ended up getting to put them on my bike the night before the streets finally thawed out.  I made up for it last winter, leaving the studded tires on for three months straight.  And I managed to stay upright the entire three months.   I swear by these tires.  I'll never ride another winter without them.

Since getting my tires, I've really started to enjoy biking on the ice and snow.  Its a whole new challenge.  You don't control the bike.  You just let the bike go where its going to go and correct it when you need to.  It's a little unnerving but if you try to control the bike, you are going down.