Studded Shoes

Riding with studded tires is great. You get traction on ice and you are able to ride in conditions you normally wouldn't be able to ride in. They work so well that when you stop on ice and put your foot down, you are astonished when your feet don't have the same traction.

I've been thinking about ways to solve this problem for more than a year. I've thought about using one of the many traction attachments (Stabilicers, YakTrax) and trimming them to leave the pedal cleat exposed. Just from looking at the pictures of the traction attachments, I didn't think they would hold up if I started cutting them apart. Eventually, I decided that there wasn't a good solution.

Yesterday, I became more motivated. I was riding along a trail and encountered a difficult section of mud, water, ice and frozen leaves. The trail was lined with ice and I was looking for a good place to put my put down. I found a spot, unclipped and when I put my foot down, I fell faster than I thought possible. I had found a small patch of clear ice that was thin enough to see through to the leaves.

After work, I started looking at a pair of Stabilicers that I already owned. These have replaceable cleats, so I took one out to see what it looked like. These are essentially screws with a head designed to grip well on ice. I removed a few of the cleats and screwed them into the rubber sole of my mountain bike shoes. I experimented with the placement of the cleats and made sure I could still clip into my pedals. I ended up with three on the outside edge of the shoe and two on the heel.

This morning, I gave these a try and though the weren't perfect, they worked pretty well. I just needed to be aware that there was no traction on the inside edge of the shoe. I'll experiment some more to see if I can get better coverage.

A bit of advice - don't walk inside with the studded shoes on.

Mt. Liberty (but not Flume)

February 10th saw me returning to the White Mountains for another winter hike. The target this time was Mt. Liberty and Mt. Flume, the two southernmost peaks on Franconia Ridge. The forecast called for temperatures in the upper 20's with winds gusting up to 25 mph with worsening conditions in the late afternoon. My hiking companions were Chris, Greg and Tom.

We started at the Basin parking area and walked down the bike path to the beginning of the Liberty Spring Trail. Even though it had snowed the night before, the snow wasn't deep and the snowshoes stayed on the pack.

As soon as the trail started upward, I realized that I had overdressed. I was sweating badly even after removing most of the layers I was wearing. Everyone else was sweating, too.

Eventually, Chris and I pushed on ahead. Greg and Tom had decided before we even left the car that they weren't going to hike to Mt. Flume. They would hike to Mt. Liberty and wait for us at the Liberty Spring tentsite while Chris and I hiked to Mt. Flume.

As the trail became steeper, we decided to put on our snowshoes, mostly for better traction. As an added benefit, the slope was perfect for using the Televator heel lifter on my MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes. This amazing device makes it seem like you are walking up stairs.

With the extra weight of the snowshoes and the increased steepness, I was sweating even more. My shirt was soaked and so was my hair. I put on a hat to control the sweat and to make sure I was staying warm enough. At the same time, my legs were getting tired. I began to think that it wasn't a good idea to continue on to Mt. Flume. We talked about it a bit and agreed to turn around after reaching the Mt. Liberty summit.

Near the summit, we paused to put on some warmer clothes. The wind was blowing at a good clip and visibility was low because of all the snow blowing around. Properly clothed, we climbed the last little bit to the summit.

The descent was very quick and it wasn't long before we reached Greg and Tom, who were just wrapping up a picnic-style lunch. We continued the descent while the snow started to fall more steadily.

At one point, we stopped to shed a layer and have a bite to eat. Just before we started off again, the winds kicked up and we were instantly in blizzard conditions. I've never seen the weather change so fast. The winds were blowing hard and snow was blowing everywhere. It continued this way for the rest of the hike.

We didn't make it to Mt. Flume, but it was still a great hike. Until you've been in the mountains in the winter, you can't imagine the beauty that surrounds you.

Studded Tires - Very Nice!

Since I began commuting by bike, I've been making do with non-studded tires. For the most part, this led to only a few nervous moments while approaching icy patches. I've used studded tires on my mountain bikes and know how well they work on ice, so I didn't hesitate to order some for my commuter bike.

As I've mentioned in the past, I decided to buy a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires. Even though I received the tires a few weeks back, I waited until the conditions were appropriate to put them to the test.

After a few weeks of relatively dry weather, the weather turned ugly - multiple days with snow changing to freezing rain, changing to rain then freezing solid. The time was right.

I had read about people having difficulty mount these tires on the wheels, so I was prepared for a wrestling match. This didn't happen since I was able to mount the tires without even using a tire lever.

After using the tires on five commutes with varying snow, ice and dry conditions, I have to say I am very happy with the tires. They held tight through all conditions and I was able to ride confidently on some roads I would be nervous walking on. The downside is that the tires are heavier than what I am used to and they are louder on dry pavement that my other tires. A small price to pay for being able to keep riding.